The year of remaking herself ended with Linda’s unsparing honesty of her own lapses into despair and defeat and the difficulties she had had trying to stay in one place, to finish what she had begun and not respond to emotional distress by running away.

She finally answered the woman’s question. “You know, I think so.”

“Are you sure, sweetie?” Her mother had slid off the table and stood wrapped in a thick towel, all of which was at odds with the look of concern on her face.

“Yeah, I do. I’m going to have a walk with her this afternoon.”

“Well,” her mother said briskly. “We’ll talk about that in the mud bath.”

In spite of her mother’s well-voiced concerns, Marissa stood at the entrance to the Osage Rose Garden a little before three. Rain was threatening and she hoped she didn’t regret her vain disdain for a raincoat and waterproof shoes in favor of a clingy sweater that made her eyes turquoise and slender, foot-flattering slingbacks. Her freshly painted toenails were Pretty Boy Pink to match her fingernails. The wind threatened to destroy the complicated hairdo the spa stylist had urged her to try.

She didn’t feel quite like herself but she forgot all about that as she watched the nondescript rental car turn into the parking lot.

She had always seen the tall body as strong and the woman within even more so. But now she knew that there was vulnerability and steel mixed together. Linda wasn’t a fantasy made up by vacation endorphins, she was a flesh-and-bone woman, as complicated as any.

Linda paused for a moment, looking across a small patch of grass toward Marissa. The wind that presaged the storm front lifted her hair from her face and Marissa knew now not to say what pierced to her core, that Linda was beautiful, beautiful beyond Marissa’s ability to describe. If she said it Linda might never believe that Marissa wasn’t looking at her face or her body, but the whole of her.

She found a smile. She couldn’t believe she was thinking about trusting again, not when the hurt was still there from the last time.

“Hi,” Linda said softly when she finally reached the spot where Marissa stood waiting.

“Hi. I read the book.” Then, to her surprise, Marissa started to sob.

“Oh, honey,” Linda murmured and she pulled Marissa into her arms. “Don’t cry about it. Please. That’s not why I gave it to you.”

“I know, I know,” Marissa said when she was able. The firmness of Linda’s embrace was intensely comforting. “I didn’t realize I was this upset.”

“I almost didn’t give it to you because you’re so tenderhearted. I never want to make you cry again.”

“It’s not you that’s making me cry. It’s what happened to you. I so much wish I could have been there and helped you somehow.”

“I’m here now, that’s what matters.”

The shaking in her arms eased and Marissa relaxed into Linda’s embrace.