Bobby was convinced. He laughed his happy-kid laugh again and started telling her about his life in New Haven—at least, the part he wanted her to know about. She bit her tongue to keep from suggesting that she could take a train ride up there to see him, and the conversation ended with him saying that she was magnificent and her basking in his admiration—even though she knew it was undeserved.

They talked to each other on the phone about once a week after that. Bobby was always the one who called, and since Rose never knew when the mood would strike him, she tried to stay home as much as she could. Not because it bothered him when she wasn't there to get his calls, but because she hated to hear how much it didn't bother him.

But Rose couldn't stay home all the time. Lu had finally settled on a house in the country, and it had to be furnished. Surprisingly, her choice for a second home wasn't a party mansion on Long Island or a pseudofarm in Bucks County; Lu had picked a genuine country cottage, hidden deep in the woods of upstate New York, miles away from the nearest train station or grocery store. She wanted to decorate it simply, she said, with furnishings from local stores and artisans. This meant Lu and Rose had to spend hours combing the Hudson River Valley for tiny antiques shops, and chasing after an elusive cabinetmaker who, all the locals agreed, turned out beautiful handmade chairs—when you could find him. Rose begrudged every second that took her away from the phone and Manhattan.

“You're probably doing your cause more good by being out of town,” Lu said gently.

“What are you talking about? I don't have a cause,” Rose said.

But she knew Lu was right. So when Bobby came back to town, she didn't suggest getting together. And when he finally did set up a coffee date, and when it was clear that on the date he was a million miles away, she didn't panic. At least, not so that it showed.

“Robert Manning, I hereby release you,” she said.

“Huh?” He dragged himself back from wherever he'd been.

“Normal rules of decent human behavior say you don't get to treat me like a piece of furniture after not seeing me for two months. However, since you are a genius, I will absolve you of your responsibility to me. Go home and write, pal.”

He laughed and hugged her, but he also left her to finish her cheesecake alone. After that they saw each other a couple of times, but he was increasingly edgy as his deadline approached.

“You look like hell,” she told him. “Are you getting any sleep at all?”

“Not if I can help it.”

“Well, do me a favor and instead of hanging around with me, go home and take a nap.”