“As Meat Loaf would say, ‘you took the words right out of my mouth,’ because we absolutely do need to talk. I’ll stand, though, if it’s all the same to you.” She looks taken aback but sits down. “Would you like to begin, or should I?” When she doesn’t say anything, I jump right in. “Okay, I’ll start. I’m on my way to the orphanage to start proceedings to foster Angus.”

“You can’t possibly be serious?”

“I’ve never been more serious in my life.”

“Okay, let’s set aside the craziness of that for a minute. I told you—”

“Yes, I know, you can’t be around the baby, but since you won’t let me sell the farm and return to Cape Town with the proceeds, I’m now forced to stay.”

“Who’s forcing you to stay? If you’re so hell-bent on this stupid scheme, why can’t you take him back with you and leave me in peace?”

“I’m getting divorced—”

“Of course you are.” She snorts. “What is this now? Divorce four?”

“Three, actually, and what can I say? The fellas like me.”

“But still, why would you want to stay here? Why not take the baby and go back to Cape Town?”

“I’m a little strapped for cash at the moment, which is why I needed to sell the farm. No money from the sale means I have to stay here. So you know how to get rid of me, Dee. It’s very easy. Just sign off on selling it.”

“No,” she says, jutting her jaw out.

“I don’t see why you’re being so stubborn about this. Why do you even want to stay? My God, you couldn’t wait to get the hell out of here, remember?”

“How can you blame me for that, Ruth? After everything that happened here?”

“Oh, here we go again. Boo-hoo. Poor Delilah who was so hard done by. You weren’t the only one who had a shitty childhood, you know.”

“Oh, please. Everything was always so easy for you, Ruth.”

“No, it wasn’t.”

“Yes, it was. Do you remember when we used to play ‘the Princess and the Pea’ game? You always used to know exactly where the pea was and I never did. You were always the real princess, just like in the story, and I was the perpetual peasant.”

I laugh at the memory of it, something I haven’t thought about in decades. “Oh God, Dee. You were so easy to fuck with.”

“What do you mean?”

“I always repositioned the dressing-table mirror just before we played. I tilted it downward so I could see where you hid it. That’s how I got it right every time.”

“No!” Her face is such a picture of shock that I laugh.

“I can’t believe you never figured it out. Or that you even remember that.”