For each, three years had been a long time to go without the other. Like a conjurer's trick in reverse, you only see companionship when it's not there. When they saw each other next, there was no more discordance. You cannot have serious disagreements with a man when simply having him there, breathing and frowning and smiling and being maddeningly alive, his heart beating and his eyes gleaming, is a miracle. Just to be able to look at each other, to know that the other was there, was enough. Time had worn them smooth, like a stone in the sea.