LAST EDITED ON Jan-05-15 AT 03:48 PM (EST)
 
I think I need to say "thank you" and "oops" both here-- thank you, first off, for pointing me in the right direction, and oops because I wasn't trying to criticize this story, but instead I was looking for a guideline if I ever got into a similar situation in my own writing.

"This is probably a stupid question, but . . ."