“I’m sure it’s two doubles,” Emily said, as she plucked up Lou’s dog and set it on the jail square. Lou picked up the piece and reestablished it on North Carolina.

“Three,” he said.

“Two.” Emily moved the terrier back to jail.

Lou sighed deeply and spoke through clenched teeth. “Okay.… Let’s … get … the … rules.”

“We’re not getting the rules.”

“Because you know that I’m right.”

“No. Because I know that I’m right. And giving you the rules would be the same as admitting that I could be wrong.”

“I could always send you to your room.”

Emily’s face lit up. “I knew it. I knew you’d resort to that. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

“Okay, I’m ashamed of myself. Go to your room!”

Lou could not keep from smiling as well. These were the times he treasured the most—though this one would sadly be ending soon. It seemed that with each passing day, Emily was becoming sharper and more fun. He loved spending time with her at his apartment, even though Renee rarely missed an opportunity to disapprove of his chosen neighborhood. The cozy two-bedroom place above Dimitri’s Pizza, across the street from the gym and not far from his old halfway house, had served him and, more important, Emily quite nicely.

“All right, then, the rules,” Lou said.

Emily dug out the flimsy, Scotch-taped rule booklet from underneath a pile of tattered Monopoly money.

“Come and get it!” She tossed it between them.

When he reached for it, she dived at him and wrestled him facedown onto the rug, bouncing on him until he cried uncle. When she let up and rolled off, he quickly read, “‘If you throw doubles three times in succession, move your token immediately to the space marked In Jail.’”

Emily looked at him, batting her eyes. “I’m sorry, Mr. Butler,” she said in a heavy Scarlett O’Hara accent, “did you say something?”

“Not really.”

“Good, because when it comes to rules, frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn. They’re stupid.”

“Oh, they have their place,” Lou said.

Emily harrumphed. “Do you know how many rules Steve has?” she asked. “It’s insane over there. But he’s still like way more strict with me than with his own brood.”

“That’s a little hard to believe.”

In a split second, she went from lying on her stomach to sitting in a lotus position. “Oh, trust me,” she said, “it’s true.”

“Example, please.”

“Okay. He and Mom won’t let me have my computer in my bedroom, and when his brood is with us, he lets David have his.”

“You can’t have your computer in your bedroom here, either,” Lou said.

“That’s not the point. The rules should be the same for everybody.”

“How are you and Steve getting along these days?”