father and men in general. Although she is now "clean," the stress after her husband's departure leads her to ignore mail from the tax office. She becomes a heavy smoker and starts drinking. Her past indicates that while she is a responsible worker and strong in some respects, she struggles to develop effective plans to deal with her reality. She makes poor decisions, including assuming that her single visit to the tax office resolved the issue—she then discards all correspondence from them, missing notifications that the bill remained due (despite being incorrect) and that the house would be sold to settle the debt if unpaid. The state's power to legally, though mistakenly, dispossess someone is evident. It requires a strong, persistent, and knowledgeable person to fight such a bureaucratic system, and Kathy lacks the strength and education for this battle. Consequently, she finds herself homeless, a victim of her own failures, dependencies, faceless forces, incompetent bureaucrats, and the law.

The third individual who becomes significantly involved is Deputy Sheriff Lester Burdon, one of two deputies assisting with Kathy's eviction. He has a deep empathy for women who are battered or abandoned, a perspective he credits to his own experience of his father leaving his mother during his teenage years. The phrase "the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children" resonates here. Despite being married with two young children, Lester often lets his eyes wander and occasionally engages in extramarital affairs. Dubus chooses not to delve into Burdon's inner thoughts through introspective passages. Instead, the narrative occasionally seems to eavesdrop on his thoughts while observing him. Dubus presents Burdon through his actions and interactions with other characters. Through his words and deeds, he expresses a vague discontent with his marriage and his wife, Carol, who he feels has changed from the socially conscious activist he married in college. Most of what we learn about Lester's past is through the third-person narration, which details his struggles to "win his own fights" both as a child and as an adult. We also observe his conduct as a deputy sheriff, especially in response to domestic violence incidents.

As a result, Lester takes some personal time to help Kathy by finding a moving service, renting a storage unit, and moving her belongings out of the house. Kathy Lazaro's vulnerability in her situation evokes a strong sense of sympathy in him. Although Dubus does not explore Lester's internal thoughts, he does depict Lester offering advice that later proves to be dramatically ironic. While driving by Kathy's storage unit, which he helped her find, he checks on her, and they go for coffee. During their conversation, he gives her "professional advice," suggesting she "keep your head and do it [attempt to regain possession of your home] through your lawyer. . . . If I were you, I wouldn't even drive up there until the keys were back in my hand." His subsequent attempts to pressure Colonel Behrani into returning the house, which lead to the novel's tragic events, demonstrate how far he strays from his own advice when influenced by a potent mix of desire and compassion.

Lester's inherent qualities of kindness and empathy drive him into a romantic involvement with Kathy. Their intense connection is sparked by his need to assert his masculinity and her quest for respite from her grief, loss, and despair. They find themselves together in a motel, where their physical desire serves to fulfill a deep-seated need in both of them. However, the morning after, they admit to feeling disoriented and frightened. The reality of Kathy's eviction and Lester's decision to leave his family begins to weigh heavily on them. As a result, every decision they make becomes less logical and increasingly dictated by their emotional instincts and past experiences, ultimately leading to their ruin.

Lester's affection for Kathy, partly rooted in his compassion for mistreated and neglected women, compels him to leave his wife, children, and home, effectively abandoning his role as a law enforcement officer. Dubus clearly portrays Lester Burdon as a tragic character, a man of some responsibility and authority as a community policeman. His actions result in a complete reversal of his own life and the deaths of Colonel Behrani, his wife, and their son Esmail, all unforeseen consequences of Lester's efforts to solve Kathy's dilemma and fulfill his desire to protect and care for others, particularly women.