Patricia
Mike's wife. Birds. Camry. Maine in August.
The other half of the only stable two-person system in the foursome’s social network.
Three rescue greyhounds named after astronomers — Galileo, Hubble, Hypatia.
Keeps a bird-sighting log. Knows what Mike has, knows that nobody else knows.
Doesn’t appear in this dinner. The absence is part of the world.