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meaning that it could not be refiled in the future.
    It never was.
    “John told me that he made that all go away by spending twenty-five thousand dollars,” Kate said. “I’m still not sure whether he paid that to lawyers or to the woman—but we never heard any more about it. He said it was all a misunderstanding anyway, and I believed him.”
    John was ultimately believable, especially to a woman who loved him and trusted his vows to help people—his vows that both of them would help a lot of people. And the very idea that he might force himself on another woman in any sexual way was unthinkable to her. Not John. He was an honorable and concerned doctor, and simply wasn’t like that.
    Shortly after they began their relationship, at John’s suggestion, Kate invited his best friend—Dr. Stanley Szabo,* a doctor of dental surgery who was also an expert in nutrition—to rent the empty room and bath in her condominium. He was going through a difficult divorce, and it seemed an ideal answer for all three of them. It helped pay her rent until John was able to move in with her and shareexpenses, and it helped John’s good friend, who was working for John at the time.
    Kate had never before detected a whisper of jealousy in John, but she caught her first glimpse of his capacity for rage because of this living situation—or, more accurately, as an adjunct to it.
    John and Kate had a date one night, and when he walked in the door, he was very angry. He was furious that his best friend, now living in the condo, had parked in the driveway in John’s usual spot. John couldn’t understand Kate’s thoughtlessness in allowing that to happen. How could she expect him to park on the street?
    Kate was dumbfounded that such a trivial thing would set him off. John called off their evening and drove away, still angry. But Kate made sure he had his parking space after that, and she put his reaction that night in the back of her mind. John apologized, explaining that his blood sugar had been low and that had made him lose his temper. They resumed their relationship the next day and never spoke of his “parking tantrum” again. It was only an aberration.
    She knew John was a perfectionist, even about things that shouldn’t matter that much. Kate learned that he dressed so well because he had a personal shopper who bought all his clothes for him. It was one of the more benign things she hadn’t known about him.
    Early on, she was a little surprised to find that John drank more than she had realized. However, it didn’t seem to be a problem, since they were both extremely health oriented and she didn’t think John would do anything in enough excess to damage his body. He liked wine, but most Californians did.
    Sometimes she saw bursts of inexplicable fury in John, not unlike his anger over his friend taking his parking space in her driveway. Kate blamed it on the times he’d had too much to drink; he attributed it to low blood sugar, fatigue, or some other problem that was out of his control. Once, when they still lived in San Diego, John took a hammer and smashed a ring he’d given her to bits. He put holes in the walls with his feet and his fists. And he was full of road rage, too, furious if another driver cut him off.
    But his tantrums faded away as quickly as they came.
     
    When the Brandens’ legal separation was a fait accompli, John moved in with Kate. Neither of them was anxious to get married, but they did foresee a bright future as friends, lovers, and partners. When his divorce was final, it seemed that they had smooth sailing ahead, and they really were going to make it together.
     
    With the divorce, John’s ex-wife and his younger daughter no longer worked at the Bayview Medical Center. His older daughter, Tamara, had taken over the clinic. Even though the Lakhvirs’ lawsuit was settled, John didn’t go back.
    Somehow, they had accomplished an almost tranquil transition, although John was insistent that he