Maybe it was easier to say things like this with a puppy around. Yeah, that was her story and she was sticking to it.

"Because I'm scared to. I'm tryin' to work out a way to say 'Hi, Francie, I can explain where I've been, but to do that I gotta tell you all about how I lied to you about huge chunks of my life, so I hope you're sitting down.' Y'know, without making her more pissed off at me than she already is."

That . . . might kind of be impossible at this point, Katchoo.