Lou hefted his glass, swirling the amber liquid onto the sides with a movement that came back as easily as starting over on a bicycle. He knew that Vicki was riveted on him. It didn’t matter.

Get it over, the voice in his head insisted. You’ve earned this. Just get it over. Afterward you can just stop.

He brought the drink closer to his lips. The aroma drifted up his nostrils like smoke from a French cigarette. His mouth was desert dry.

Then, with the rim of the glass just an inch from his lips, he hesitated. He could feel the pull—a gravitational force beyond his control.

Just get it over.… Ten years is enough.… This one drink, then start over.… You’ve earned it, man.… Dammit, you’ve paid your dues.…

He tilted the glass until the distance between the bourbon and his lips could be measured in millimeters. The white noise of the tavern gave way to a deep silence. This was it. He just had to get it over with. Then, in the moment before he drank, a vivid image of Emily filled his mind. She had been a child the last time he had lied to her—too young to understand his dishonesty or to be ashamed of him. She was not too young now.

The spell shattered like dropped crystal. Lou pulled the heavy glass away from his mouth and set it down.

“Not today,” he said, wondering if Vicki could tell he was shaking. “I’ll get to a meeting later tonight.”

“Good idea. We should go ahead and order something to eat. Then maybe you can go right from here.”

“The list is online. I’ll check it after you finish your story. I’m okay now, I really am.”

They ordered burgers, Lou went online as promised, and Vicki exchanged their untouched drinks for Diet Cokes.

“I’ll give you the short, waiting-for-cheeseburgers version,” she said. “So I was living on the streets of Cincinnati, occasionally sleeping at homeless shelters, but sometimes I just found a bush in the park and slept under it. Cincinnati has beautiful parks.”

“How long did you do that for?”

“About a year. Then I was semi-adopted by a couple I’d met at one of the revivals. They didn’t have children of their own, so they took me in. Really nice people. They got me enrolled at an alternative high school and I took my GED exam. Next thing I knew, I was getting a scholarship to Ohio State, and after that my masters in micro. Then I got a part-time job at the CDC and finished my doctorate at Emory, and here I am.”

“From a GED to a Ph.D. Slightly impressive.”

“Not your average, everyday fairy tale, I’ll give you that.”

“And your parents?”