He seemed to be oblivious to his appearance, but Kelly observed he was mostly muscle, mostly naked.

“I have to go. There’s an emergency at the clinic,” she said. What an adept liar I’ve become, she thought.

“I’m sure someone else can handle it.”

“No, just me.” She grabbed her handbag off the hall table and left. She didn’t bother with the elevator but ran down the stairs to her car.

“I have to fix this,” she said to herself as she pulled out of the parking lot. “I have to make things right. I have to stop the lies, stop the...” She blinked back tears. “I have to stop wanting what belongs to other people.”

All the way back to Mason, she strengthened her resolve about what she had to do.

When Kelly got home, the house was empty. She knew her mom and Forey always went to church together, and no one ever knew where Vera was.

Kelly went to her bedroom, thinking how she had to tell Dr. Carl about Pauly, knowing that tomorrow she wouldn’t have a job. Everything was coming apart. She fell across the bed and began to cry.

She’d spent her life building her future, and now it was crashing down.

The next thing she was aware of was her mother’s arms around her. Forey, almost a second mother, was beside them. Four arms were holding her.

“It’s awful,” Kelly cried.

“What did he do to you?” Forey asked.

“I... He...”

Nella handed her a tissue and Kelly sat up. “Only a man can make a woman cry this hard. Who and what?” She wasn’t allowing her daughter to not answer.

Kelly could only tell them part of the truth. “I... I’m not engaged.” The women sat there stone-faced. It was not what Kelly had expected.

“Did Mrs. Carl buy this ring?” Forey asked.

Kelly nodded as she blew her nose. “How?”

“How did we know?” Forey asked. “People in love say goodbye to each other. Paul left without even seeing you.”

“I don’t understand,” Kelly said. “You’ve been baking cakes and choosing flowers for the wedding.”

“And we’ve had a lot of fun doing it,” Nella said.

“Maybe Vera can use it in the fall,” Kelly said. “She and Adam can—”

Nella groaned. “I can’t see your sister walking down the aisle in a white dress.”

“She’d wear red just to annoy people,” Forey said.

“Or purple. With a fringe.” Nella held her daughter’s hand. “You lied to keep your job, didn’t you?”

Kelly nodded. “I’ll be fired.”

Nella and Forey looked at each other. “Probably. Honey, we’ll figure out something.”

Kelly wanted to tell them that Adam offered to help her open her own clinic, but she didn’t dare mention him. It would lead to too many questions.

“At least you didn’t buy a dress,” Forey said.

“No, of course not.” Kelly couldn’t look them in the eyes.

Nella stood up. “You need to go to Dr. Carl now and tell him.”