“Who doesn’t like decorating cakes?” I said, knowing I’d never decorated a cake with anything other than canned frosting and press-on candies that you had to peel off a piece of cardboard that was so stiff that it cracked the decorations. I was so excited, you’d have thought they just made me a network anchor on the six o’clock national news. And I was excited to take a shot at something creative.

“Great! Can you come in tomorrow?” she said.

“Sure! Why not?” I said. “And Barbara?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks,” I said.

“Let’s see if you’re still grateful in six weeks!” She laughed and stood, indicating the interview was over.

“I’m going to go and buy supper now,” I said and left her office to forage.

In the produce aisle I was filling a bag with apples and I put them in the wrong cart. Then I walked that cart the whole way up the aisle. Just as I was about to add lemons, I realized it wasn’t my cart. I looked up into the face of an old classmate from high school.

“Ted?”

“Holly?”

“Yeah! Wow.” Ted’s appearance was vastly improved over the years. No acne, for one. “What are you doing here?”

“Manhandling the cantaloupes and rescuing my cart. You?”

No wedding ring.

“Buying groceries?”

“Okay, well, nice to see you,” he said and handed me my bag of apples.

“Yeah, you too.”

Wow, he got cute, I thought.

Thinly cut pork chops were on special, so I grabbed a family-sized pack of a dozen, a double box of Stove Top stuffing, a huge jar of applesauce, and a bag of frozen spinach and drove back to the island singing along with the radio. I had a job! And I was about to enjoy a perfect meal. I’d fry up some bacon and use that grease to sauté my pork chops. And I’d bought myself wine in a bottle. I was celebrating. A job! I’d been liberated!

When I pulled into the driveway, Archie and his boys were getting out of his car with enormous backpacks that looked like they would topple the boys over from the weight of them.

“Hey, Mith Holly!” Tyler called out.

“Hey, Tyler!” I called back. “How was your day?”

He gave me a thumbs-up. I started unloading my trunk to bring the groceries inside.

“Do you need help?” Hunter yelled at the top of his little lungs.

“Oh, no, I’m fine! But thank you, sweetheart.” He was so darling.

“How’s your momma?” Archie said, coming over to the low hedge of pittosporum that edged his property. “I thought you might be bringing her home today.”

“No, not yet,” I said, and somehow my voice sounded strange to me.

“I’m sorry. Have you had bad news?”

“No—well, yes. For the moment, she’s all right. But long term? It’s unclear.”