Anna smiled, her eyes sparkling with happiness at the secret message. She stared at the tiny work of art and thought about Vronsky hand drawing it for her while he listened to the song, thinking of her as he sketched. What a wonderful box of Valentines, each one more surprising and unique than the next. These gifts were très romantic! They couldn’t have been given to any other girl; they were for her and her alone.

It was then that Anna finally admitted she had been thinking of him for the last week and half as well. She’d wondered if Vronsky remembered her dogs were competing at Westminster, and now she had confirmation he did. Her heart fluttered at the thought that maybe he would be there. Would he dare? Could he be so bold?

Anna grabbed her makeup bag out of her purse and decided a touch-up might be in order. As her mother always advised her, you never know when you’ll get asked to go leaf-peeping in some cute guy’s Lambo.

V

Kimmie hadn’t seen Dr. Becker, her pediatrician, in a few years. Competitive athletes see sports-medicine doctors, and all last year she had only dealt with orthopedic surgeons because of her knee. But Dr. Becker had been her pediatrician since she was a baby. After a few minutes of catch-up with her mom in the exam room, Dr. Becker asked her mother to go wait outside while he examined Kimmie. As soon as her mother left, his demeanor changed. Dr. Becker was the doctor of choice for a lot of rich kids in Manhattan, so he was a guy who had seen and heard it all before. He was incredibly successful because he knew how to handle the parents of rich kids as well as the kids themselves.

Kimmie told her doctor how she’d started to feel mysteriously achy and tired a week and a half ago and then said nothing more. Dr. Becker gave her a look that said, “Cut the act and just tell me the real deal.” There was something about his look that made Kimmie realize she needed to do exactly that, which is when she started crying … and blabbering. He listened for a bit, and then typed something on his iPad. Seeing him record her tale of woe made her incredibly self-conscious, so she stopped talking.

“So you started feeling bad after this sweet sixteen party on the second, but you really started to feel bad in the last five days? Is that correct?” Dr. Becker questioned.

Kimmie nodded.

“During this party, were you drinking or doing drugs?” Dr. Becker asked, prompting her to continue.

Kimmie, still crying, shook her head. Like she would ever dare admit such a thing to the man who used to give her lollipops after every visit.