‘‘Yes, I guess I am. I had another man do that to me. My father,’’ she added, coolly now. ‘‘I wanted to be a dancer, and he knew I was pinning my hopes on it. I can’t say he ever encouraged me, but he let me go on taking lessons and wishing. And when I needed him to stand up and help me try for that dream . . . he cut the threads. I forgave him for it, or tried to, but things were never the same. Then I got pregnant and married Jack. I guess you could say that cut his threads, and he’s never forgiven me.’’

‘‘Have you tried to resolve things there?’’

‘‘No, I haven’t. He gave me a choice, too, just like Ethan did. Or what they seem to think of as a choice. Do this their way. Accept it, or do without them. So I’ll do without.’’

‘‘I understand that. But while it may buffer your pride, what does it do to your heart?’’

‘‘When people break your heart, pride’s all you’ve got left.’’

And pride, Anna thought, could turn cold and bitter without heart. ‘‘Let me talk to Ethan.’’

‘‘I’ll talk to him, as soon as I can work out what needs to be said.’’ She blew out a breath. ‘‘I feel better,’’ she realized. ‘‘It helps to say it all out loud. And there was no one else I could say it to.’’

‘‘I care about both of you.’’

‘‘I know. We’ll be all right.’’ She gave Anna’s hand a squeeze before she rose. ‘‘You helped me stop feeling weepy. I hate feeling weepy. Now I’m going to work off some of this mad I didn’t realize was in there.’’ Shemanaged to smile. ‘‘You’re going to have a damn clean house when I’m done. I clean like a maniac when I’m working off a mad.’’

Don’t work it all off, Anna thought, as Grace went inside. Save some of it for that idiot Ethan.

IT TOOK TWO AND A HALF hours for Grace to scrub, rinse, dust, and polish her way through the second floor. She had a bad moment in Ethan’s room, where the scent of him, of the sea, clung to the air, and the small, careless pieces of his daily life were scattered about.

But she drew herself in, calling on the same core of steel that had gotten her through a divorce and a painful family rift.

Work helped, as it always had. Good, strenuous manual labor kept both her hands and her mind busy. Life went on. She knew it firsthand. And you got through from one day to the next.

She had her child. She had her pride. And she still had dreams—though she’d come to the point that she preferred to think of them as plans.