I nod toward the window, toward my family. “This is how I want to fill my life.” I swallow, overwhelmed with the rightness of the choice. “Not with scholarly articles and stacks of papers. Not with tenure and postdoc work. I’ve enjoyed getting my doctorate, but when I choose what comes next, I want it to include this.”

He follows my gaze out the window. “I can’t blame you.”

“You don’t think it makes me a quitter? Or a coward?”

“I guess that depends.” He takes a deep breath, and I wonder if it’s fair to either of us to ask him this question. I already know he’d like me to stay. “Are you giving up a dream? Are you turning down a job you want because you’re scared of starting new somewhere?”

“Being a college professor wasn’t ever a dream. It was just . . . a job.” I laugh. “And pursing a PhD was the best way to drag out my school years when I wasn’t ready to enter the real world.”

He’s watching me. “Close your eyes.”

“Why?”

“It’s a little visualization exercise. Just do it.”

“Okay.” I obey and wait. What is he doing?

“I know it’s hard, but try to forget what’s stressing you out right now. Imagine everything works out easily, and five years have passed. The stress is gone. The decisions have been made and you’re happy.”

I smile. It’s a relief to imagine being beyond this moment in my life. It’s not a hardship to imagine when I’ve moved past these worries, past my defense and my career choices, past George and the decision of how I’m going to tell his wife the truth.

“It’s five years from now,” Easton says, and his deep voice helps me relax. “You have the day off and you wake up on your own. You roll out of bed and walk out of your bedroom. Where are you? Who’s there? How do you feel? What are you doing with your day?”

“I . . .” The image is so clear, and my heart aches with how badly I want it. This future.

“Keep your eyes closed,” he says softly. “Look around. Step outside if you want. Grab your planner and open your calendar—what do you have coming up this month? This is the life you built, and you love it. Study the details. What makes you smile? Like any life, there’s good and bad, but what are the parts that make the tough moments worth it? What excites you? Here, in this moment, five years from now, you can find all the answers you need.”