He took a moment. “I didn’t call you all those years ago for Riley and if I’d told her we talked, she would have asked a lot of questions about how you felt about her, how you felt about your situation, your feud, for lack of a better word. It would’ve been all about her and her relationship with you. That’s not why I called you. You were around my house for years, all your growing-up years. I called you for me.”

 “Oh, Adam,” she said softly.

 “And same goes for you. Every time I called, it didn’t take long to get around to Riley. Riley and Jock. Riley and you. Even after years had passed. I’ll say one thing for you and Riley—you have some amazing stamina, keeping that tired old feud alive this long. It’s still got some energy—you got tears in your eyes when I introduced you to Maddie.”

 “No,” she said, shaking her head. “I mean, yes, that’s true, I almost cried. Can you keep a confidence? What am I asking, of course you can. You haven’t even told Riley how much we’ve talked since I’ve been back. It wasn’t because Maddie should’ve been my child. Not at all, even though anything would have been preferable to where I landed in the end. Lord, what would I have done, pregnant with only Rosemary to lean on? No, it was because on top of everything else I went through with my husband, my marriage, it turns out I’m also infertile.”

 Well damn, Adam thought. It was his turn to be shocked speechless.

 * * *

 Three days later Emma was introduced to Lucinda Lopez, family, marriage and individual counselor. “It’s the first time Adam has ever asked a favor of me,” she said. “He was my first friend in teaching, a great teacher. I was not such a great teacher but I think I’m a good counselor.”

 “You didn’t like teaching?” Emma asked.

 “It paid the bills and I did an adequate job. I know I did all that was required of me. But there are some teachers, like Adam, who instinctively know how to inspire. He might’ve grown some real scientists. So—he tells me you’re on a very limited income but in need of counseling. I haven’t read your intake form yet—does that describe you?”

 “I’m on workers’ comp right now and looking for a new job because... Well, that job isn’t going to work out. And the reason for that is the same as the reason I need counseling.”

 “All right, we’ll get right to it. But before we take a lot of time on the story, tell me what you can afford. It’s very important that you pay something for your counseling, that you make it in some way a priority. At any time you might decide it’s not working for you, and that’s entirely up to you, but please understand—if it’s free, you won’t value it. Make an effort, please, not for me—I’m not in need. For you. Your results will be better if you stretch yourself. If you commit.”

 “I don’t know. I don’t know how often I’ll be seeing you. Can you help me with it?”

 “The cost of the session? Sure. I provide a sliding scale based on income. Here’s the graph,” she said.

 Emma looked at it. She was taken aback by the numbers there, which ranged from thirty-five dollars for a one-hour session to one hundred twenty-five. Presumably, she’d try to meet with the counselor at least twice a month. Even seventy dollars cut deeply into a budget as tight as hers.

 “We better get right to it,” Emma said.

 “I’m ready whenever you are,” she said.

 Emma launched into her story, the condensed version. That took fifteen minutes, interrupted by a few questions from Lucinda, merely for clarification. It took only that long for Lucinda’s face to begin to seem soft and accessible to Emma. She was a very pretty Mexican woman with just the slightest threading of silver in her pitch-black hair, the deepest black eyes, the softest smile. Her voice was likewise soft, but very confident and gracious.

 When Emma had brought Lucinda up to the present, the counselor said she’d like to go back in time a bit, to before Emma met her husband.

 “How far back?” Emma asked.

 “I’m flexible,” Lucinda said. “Take me back to a time that seemed pivotal in your life. A time of change, maybe? A time that required a great deal of you? A period of adjustment and a shift in your priorities. Does anything stand out?”

 She thought for a moment. Then she said, “The year after high school. When I went away to college. A year after my father died.”

 “Good. Try, if you can, to tell me not just the events that you think caused a major change in your life, but how those significant events made you feel then and how remembering them makes you feel now.”

 “We may run out of time,” Emma said.

 “And try, if you can, not to worry about the time. We don’t have to do it all today. In fact, a great deal is achieved in counseling when you leave me with things you’d like to think about. Because, Emma, I’m not going to solve your problems. You are. I’m just here to direct the traffic.”

 When Emma left, she hugged Lucinda. “Do you think I’m completely crazy?” she asked.

 “I think you’re remarkable. I’m so glad we met. Be sure to thank Adam for me.”

 * * *

 Emma called several hotel chains to ask about job availability and each one invited her to fill out an application and possibly be called back for an interview. No one she talked to seemed interested in hiring. She looked in all the newspaper ads and online for employment opportunities, as she had been doing since the day she returned, and nothing promising turned up there, either.

 She tried to bolster herself to call Riley and ask for help.

 Sometimes words fade over time, sometimes they fester, blister, even swell. Burned into Emma’s mind was when she screamed at Riley, “I don’t ever want to speak to you or see you again in my life!”