“Sex.”

“Yes.” She blushed. “Phil has a high sex drive, and if I had been paying a little attention, I would have noticed the sudden drop in our sex life.”

Dr. Drayton shifted in his chair. “Communication is the key to a healthy relationship. If you’re truly concerned there is someone else, talk to him.”

“I’m not. I mean I think there may have been, but there couldn’t be now. He’s been too…” she paused, searching for the right words, “attentive to me all week.”

Dr. Drayton gripped the arms of his chair. “Anything else you’d like to discuss?”

Lina sensed he was ready for their session to be over. “No, I think I’ve shared enough for one week.”

Moments later, he was following her out into the waiting area. “Five minutes, Scottie,” he said to a boy of about thirteen who was waiting with his mother and then, after a quick goodbye to Lina and Katie, he was stepping back into his office.

He closed the door, leaning his forehead against it. “Fuck.”

3

“He’s amazing,” Lina told her sister, Adele, as they stood in the living room of a house about to go on the market a couple of days later. “He brought her back to life. I just feel so grateful to him, I could kiss him.”

“Really?” Adele’s eyes opened wider. “Is he good-looking?”

Lina laughed. “Actually, he is good-looking. Here, take the other end,” she said, pausing as she gripped the end of a couch. “We’re going to slide this beside the window and then move the two chairs here.” Moments later, Lina stood back, inspecting the change to the room. “Perfect.”

“Oh my God, it opened up the whole room. You’re like a decorating savant. Are you sure you don’t want to make money doing this?” What had started as a favor to Adele, looking at a few homes she was preparing for resale and suggesting ways to best showcase them, had resulted in an almost-weekly job offer from the owner of the real estate firm where Adele worked.

“Maybe after Logan starts high school in the fall. Help me move this,” Lina said, taking the end of a coffee table.

“So back to this good-looking doctor,” Adele said several minutes later as they walked towards their cars. “Is he single?”

“No more Dan? I liked Dan.” Unlike most of Adele’s recent boyfriends, Dan had lasted long enough to warrant an introduction to the family.

“Dan was too blah, too predictable. Seven months was three too many with him.” Adele went through men like shoes, constantly finding a new favorite. At forty-two, she was twice divorced but still determined to find Mr. Right, a feat Lina saw as nearly impossible considering Adele seemed to lose interest after the infatuation stage of a relationship. “Why are you avoiding my question? Is the doctor single?”

“I think he’s married, and even if he wasn’t I would never let you near him. He’s done too much for me to pay him back with a broken heart.”