Maybe I've gone far enough, she thought. Mama says she needs her fairy tales. But then she turned to her daughter. The look in Rose's eyes was knowing—it was almost cynical. No, Mama, she needs the truth. And I need to tell it. Lu drew in a deep breath.

“But it wouldn't be fair for me to tell you that I'm just trying to earn a living. I love what I do. I'm very good at it and I love that too. I won't give up my work because it makes me happy—even though that means that you have to be quiet in the mornings when you'd rather talk, and I'm not there at night when you have your dinner.” She stopped for a second and then finished, “I won't give it up, not even if it means leaving you alone when you've just lost your nonna.”

Rose's eyes were fixed on her, but the cynical look was gone.

“You may not like that about me,” Lu said. “But it is who I am. The good part is, I won't be giving up my life for you, so you'll never have to feel guilty about me. And when your turn comes, I'll try to help you get what you want in any way that I can.”

Once more the room was silent. Then Rose stood up, and for once she wasn't crying or whining. “I don't want to go to a boarding school. I'll live in New York. And I won't go to a Catholic school,” she said resolutely. “I loved the nuns at St. Mary's and you're trying to replace them for me and you can't. There are plenty of good prep schools here. I'll go to one of them. And I'd like Miss Pearl to stay on so she can take care of me when you're gone.”

“Good,” Lu said, wondering when the hell this conversation had turned into a negotiation. Still, it could have been worse. “And maybe this summer after your school lets out, you can come with me—”

“Oh no,” said the pretty child standing in front of her. “I don't want to go on your tour with you. I'll stay here.”

Lu told herself it was totally unreasonable to feel hurt.

“Fine,” she said briskly. “Now, I've got a show to get ready for, and we have to decide what to do with you. How did you get here?”

“I told the doorman at the apartment to hail a taxicab for me.”

“I'll have to warn him not to let that happen again.”

“You won't have to. I won't do it again.”

There was something in the way she said it—a maturity Lu had never seen from her before. She said, “I believe you. Thank you.”

Her daughter nodded.