Now, she could feel that opportunity slipping away . . .

She took a deep breath and said, “I’m sorry you feel that way, Alina. If that’s your final decision, then I’ll have to tender my resignation.”

Alina’s eyes bulged, “Diana. Are you sure? Think about what you’re doing. Giving everything up. For what?”

“I have been thinking. And that’s the problem. I’ve been thinking about things for so long. Wanting them. But thinking without action is worthless. And I’m fifty-two years old. I have the means to travel the world. Why am I waiting to enjoy my life?”

Alina pushed back from her desk. She looked like she was about to say something about how it was a mistake, but then she stopped. “Di. You’re making a huge mistake. This company is your life. You can’t just leave it.”

“I can. I think I already just quit.”

“Diana. Be serious. You can’t. Why don’t you take a vacation? You have weeks and weeks of vacation time banked. Take the month of July if you feel you must.”

She shook her head. If she was going to do this, she was going to do it all-in. Not with the worry of everything she was missing at work hanging over her head. That would only compel her to check her work email every few minutes and ruin the purpose of the trip. Which was, like Macey had said, Clearing her mind.

“I don’t think so. But I appreciate everything you’ve done for me,” Diana said, then walked out the door, her legs feeling strangely wooden.

Had that really happened? Had she just quit her job? The thing that had been Priority Number One in her life for thirty years?

She expected to feel lost like a plastic bag drifting on a gust of wind. But suddenly, her shoulders lifted, and a sense of calm fell over her. With all the worries of work behind her, she found she really didn’t have much else on her to-do list at all. Just:

Dealing with the house

Making travel plans

Packing

As she opened the door to her office, she said to Sandy, “Could you get my daughter Lily on the phone? Thanks.”

“Sure . . .” Sandy said, hand on the phone, confusion on her face. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing!” Diana said, and then she realized what it was. She was smiling from ear to ear, like a crazy person on her way to the nuthouse. Had she ever been this happy at work before?

She closed the door behind her, sat down in her chair, and for the first time, didn’t bother to look at the urgent emails piling up in her inbox. Instead, she pulled away from the desk and did a few spins in her executive chair, like she was on a carousel, feeling light—relieved—like a kid again.

It was almost the same giddy feeling she’d had when she was in love with Stéphane.

Yes, I knew this was right! she thought to herself as the phone buzzed and Sandy said, “Lily St. James-Brandt on the line.”