Maureen enjoys detailing her guerilla agility. And passing it along to others. Cate overheard her on the phone telling a friend whose car had been T-boned on Ashland to get the car out of the shop and over to CarMax fast, to beat the accident report, in case there was anything gravely wrong with it. Even though she has lived an entire life within the roped-off area of upper-middle-class privilege, she maneuvers like a new immigrant, as though she needs to climb her way up through an unwelcoming culture. It’s a game she plays, maybe to add a little burr of friction to her smooth life of ease and plenty. Cate hasn’t confronted her on this sort of stuff; she hasn’t yet been able to find a way into that conversation. She’s never had this dilemma before. Questioning someone’s ethics isn’t something easily brought into any conversation. Any talk along these lines would be big and damaging. For now, she’s waiting for other shoes to drop.

But really, what if they do? She’s going to point out to Maureen that she’s ethically challenged? And who is Cate to judge? She doesn’t have gray areas herself? Although when she tries, she can’t really come up with any of these sorts of tactics in her own behavior. Or, for that matter, in the behavior of anyone she knows besides Maureen. But are these sorts of shabby edges reason enough to break up? It’s kind of the same as Maureen’s affair with her sister. Although initially shocking, if she looks at these pieces from a few angles, gives them time to wear down, they begin to seem more like quirks. And addressing any of this would imply the existence of a totting-up. No budding relationship could survive that.

It’s way too cold for humans at the dog beach. Not too cold at all, though, for the two other dogs whose humans were able to rouse themselves and dress in layers and layers plus two hats, plus boots with heat packs stuffed in the toes.

Cate sits on one of the broken benches scattered around the beach, facing the brutal, steel-colored waves. And in an instant she has left her current circumstances behind, sucked back and down.