I was driving. Max had lent his car to Michael and no sane person would let Lotty chauffeur them. Max graciously took the small backseat the Trans Am offered. He leaned forward to talk to Lotty over the seatback, but once we were on Lake Shore Drive I couldn’t hear them above the engine. When I turned off at Monroe and stopped at the light between the Inner Drive and Congress, I could make out snatches of the conversation. Lotty was upset about something to do with Carol Alvarado, her nurse and right arm at the clinic. Max didn’t agree with her.

The light changed before I could make out what the problem was. I turned down Congress toward Louis Sullivan’s masterpiece. Lotty whipped her head away from Max to admonish me sharply on the speed at which I’d taken the corner. I looked at Max in the rearview mirror; his mouth was pinched into a line. I hoped the two weren’t planning a major quarrel in honor of the evening. And anyway, what possible disagreement could they have about Carol?

At the half-circle connecting Congress with Michigan Avenue we ran into a jam. Cars heading to the south underground garage were snarled with those trying to stop at the theater entrance. A couple of cops were frantically directing traffic, whistling people away as they tried pulling up to the curb in front of the Auditorium.

I pulled over to the side of the road. “I’ll let you two out here and go park—we’ll never be on time if I try to get across here.”

Max handed me my ticket before unwinding himself from the backseat. Although I’d put a blanket down to cover Peppy’s traces I could see red-gold hairs clinging to his dinner jacket as he climbed out. I made an embarrassed face and furtively looked at the skirt of Lotty’s tailored coral gown. It held a few hairs too. I could only hope her annoyance kept her mind off her clothes.

I made a sharp U, ignoring an outraged whistle, and zipped the Trans Am back up to Monroe and the north garage. It was only half a mile from there to the Auditorium, but I was wearing a long skirt and high heels, not the best garb for jogging. I slid in next to Lotty in the box Michael had given us just as the houselights went down.