Tori fixed her usual breakfast of toast and decaffeinated coffee and got ready for work. It dawned on her that she was unusually relaxed. Maybe the bath, she thought again. They should put it in pill form. Then she realized there were a lot of pills that could make you relax but she had never tried any of them. Maybe she should have before she got pregnant. Maybe it would have made her less numb to the loneliness.

Tori put herself together but with a little more effort that morning. A little more eye shadow and blush and a good blowout with her hair. She looked in the mirror and gave herself a thumbs-up.

Satisfied that the house was in good order, she made her way out the door, into her car and off to work, stopping at the coffee shop on the way. She figured Mr. Layton, George, might need a little pick-me-up donut after a frustrating day of golf. She could not remember a time when he had been happy about how he played. But from what she understood about the game, it was frustrating to a lot of people. She wouldn’t know. She had never played.

Tori pulled into the parking lot and entered the shop. She realized it was Thursday and looked around for the woman who wanted her to go to Ringo’s but didn’t spot her. She had hoped to get more information from her. She shrugged and ordered the usual, paid the check, and headed to the office.

When she reached her desk, she pulled out the pad and paper of the notes she had made about divorce in North Carolina. Did she really want to go through with it? Should she try to have a conversation with her husband and air her issues? That would seem like the reasonable, adult thing to do, but she wasn’t sure if he had ever reached adulthood in his emotional intelligence level. They had loved each other once. Or it had felt like love at the time. Then again, she had only been eighteen, with no idea what life was about and what was expected of a spouse, a job, a friend. Responsibility. To each other first. The rest of the world came second. She thought about that for a good long time until George Layton stood in his doorway and asked her to come in.

“Have a seat.”

“Am I in trouble?” Tori felt more nervous than usual.

“Not at all.” He gave her a warm smile. “I see where you were going through some of the law books about divorce.”

Tori was surprised that he knew she had been researching the subject.

“You left one of the books upside down,” he said kindly.

“Oh, dear.” Tori was embarrassed. “I hope you don’t mind that I went into your office when you weren’t here.”