“My pardon,” Mr. O’Neill said. “I knocked on the front door, but no one answered. I heard voices back here and followed.”

Her mouth went dry. He was here about that awful memoir. The suffocating fear of losing the college had been looming over her for days, and now he was here with the answer.

“Dare I hope your client accepted my offer?” she asked.

“I’m afraid not. Malone turned it down.”

She flinched and turned away. There would be no miraculous salvation for the college from writing a few bank checks. She braced a hand against the garden wall, gathering her thoughts. She had to try again. She had to try again now, because Uncle Oscar’s decision simply could not stand.

She turned back to the children still clustered around the koi pond. “Time for you to head back to your house,” she said to the boys, scooting them toward a low-hanging branch they used to climb over the fence separating their yards. She held the vine of wild jasmine aside so they wouldn’t crush the blooms and helped them over.

Mimi reached for her walker. “Do I have to go too?”

“Yes, sweetie. I’ll take you back to your mother.” She glanced at Mr. O’Neill. “Will you walk with me to campus? You and I need to speak privately.”

“I’m not sure what we have left to discuss,” he said. “My client was firm in his decision.”

She liked his voice. Gentle but firm and with a hint of an Irish accent. He wasn’t particularly handsome but still enormously attractive. His face was rugged, as though carved by an axe. His hair looked like it couldn’t decide if it wanted to be light brown or blond, and his nose had been broken at least once, but none of it lessened his appeal. He looked strong, like a protector, and all women secretly liked that in a man.

She led him and Mimi down the brick path to the front of the house and then on the one-block walk to the campus. Mimi’s lumbering gait made for slow progress, but Mr. O’Neill seemed to enjoy craning his neck to admire the buildings and the natural beauty of campus. He even came inside the administration building when Gwen escorted Mimi to the office where her mother worked. The building’s arched hallways and wood paneling made it feel like an old-world castle, and she squinted once they emerged back into the sunlight.

“Have you ever been to Blackstone College?” she asked. He hadn’t, so she pointed out the various buildings and the fountain splashing in the center of the quadrangle.

“What is your role on campus?” he asked. “Do you teach?”