“O’Hara,” she finally said, “I speak from long experience—when it comes to romance, all bets are off. I like to think that I’m a sensible person, but I’ve done some extraordinary things for love. And even the things that didn’t work out, I don’t regret.”

“Are you actually married?” Scarlett asked.

“Oh, let’s not tell folktales right now,” Mrs. Amberson said. “My point is, the only way we learn anything is by taking chances. I can’t really explain what Lola’s done, or why, or say if it’s a good idea or bad. Nothing in this world is black or white.”

“What do I do?” Scarlett asked.

“Well,” Mrs. Amberson said. “You can’t control other people. They’re going to do things you don’t like, that you don’t agree with, that you don’t understand. But, by the same token, they cannot control you. You’re stuck in this situation. You have to decide what outcome you want. What do you want, right now?”

“I want my sister,” she said. “I don’t want to…lose my sister.”

“How could you lose her?”

“She’s gone,” Scarlett said. “She’s living at the Peninsula, and I don’t even know what’s going on with her or what she’s going to do, and…”

“Do you think your sister wants to lose you?” Mrs. Amberson asked.

“No.”

“Have you spoken to her? Called her?”

No, Scarlett had not called her. She’d been too angry.

“The answer seems simple enough,” Mrs. Amberson said. “I know you are more than capable of being direct. Go to your sister and tell her you do not want to lose her. Find out what is going on. Go do it now. Get to the bottom of it before it becomes a much bigger problem. And I know Lola. She undoubtedly wants to talk to you.”

Murray came along the edge of the sofa, sniffing a trail on the floor. He wriggled his pencil-thin stump of a tail nervously at her, in a little show of encouragement.

Lola answered on the first ring.

“Are you talking to me?” she asked.

“I called.”

“I’m at work right now,” she said. “But can we talk? Or meet?”

“You’re at work?” Scarlett asked.

“I work on Wednesdays. But I get a break soon. Can we meet at the park? Southeast corner, by the book stands? In an hour?”

Lola appeared right on time, wearing a little black skirt and blue Bubble Spa T-shirt. She approached Scarlett cautiously.

“You’re still working?” Scarlett asked. “Even after…”

“Sure,” Lola said. “I had to cover for those few days, though. I had the flu, remember?”