“But I’m different now, careful and thoughtful, serious and sincere. There should be a way for people who’ve loved each other to correct past mistakes. Isn’t that what you and Mr. Grant are trying to do?”

She thought before answering. “I don’t know if that’s what I want. How much should one compromise in order to be accepted by another?” She sighed and suddenly looked much older. “My family would be overjoyed if AG and I remarried.”

I flipped open the magazine to the photos of her obsession, Thomas Cook, and held it toward her. “Better a real relationship with a real person who’s stable and reliable and still foxy, than a fantasy about someone who probably looks like a toad in real life.”

“Do you think so?” she said, a smile playing on her lips.

“Oh, yes, these photos are airbrushed and Photoshopped. They can make anyone look like Adonis. He’s not real.”

“You may be right, Young Lady.”

“I am, Edna. Now, if you need to talk again, I’ll be in my room.”

I wasn’t sure, but after I left I thought I heard her laughing.

By the time I returned to the house, the mood had changed drastically. Oswald, Gabriel, and Lily were in the kitchen with a fresh pot of coffee. Oswald had taken off his jacket, and Gabriel was pacing.

“¿Que pasa?” I said, and gave Gabriel a non-skin-contact hug.

“Hey, baby,” Gabriel said. “I was just telling everyone that we’re having a visit from our Council director tonight.”

“He’s no one special,” Oswald said, his mouth turning down at the corners. “We told the Council you still don’t recall anything.”

“He’s going to interview you,” Gabriel said. “He’ll ask the same questions we have.”

“This is unreasonable,” Lily said. “Milagro’s not in any condition to be pressured by the Council.”

Gabriel ran his hand through his pretty red-gold hair. “We’ve done everything we can to buy time. But someone is dead, or at least we think someone is dead, and that takes precedence.”

Oswald came to me and put his hand on my shoulder. “I’ve canceled my appointments so I can be here for you. Lily will give the Council director her evaluation and our cousin, Sam, an attorney, has set up guidelines that he must follow so that you’re protected from any difficulties.”

“Oswald, don’t worry. I’m very good at answering questions. Just ask Lily.”

I glanced at my shrink, who was suddenly fascinated by the coffee in her mug.

Oswald said to me, “Can we talk?”

I nodded and he led me upstairs to his bedroom. I looked around at an airy room with luxurious white linens on the bed and a beamed ceiling. It looked like the room at a luxury hotel, a room out of a magazine.