“Good.” Another pause. “Anna mentioned you met someone.”

Emilia sighed. “Of course she did. She spends too much time with toddlers.”

“Are you sure you’re ready to date again?”

“Mom. I’m not dating anyone.”

“Okay, okay. Would you tell me if you were?”

“Mom.”

“Ben offered to egg Hannah’s car for you.”

“Ben?” Gentle Ben, threatening violence on her behalf? She smiled into the phone. “Tell him he needs to work on his aim first.”

“Have you thought at all about going back to work? I’m not pushing, just curious. You’re so talented, Emmy. There’s so much you can still do if you don’t want to go back into practice.”

“I’ve been trying not to think about it.”

“Ben suggested business school. You could go into veterinary management. You’d still get to be a doctor, but you could own your own business.”

“I’ll think about it when I’ve decided to stop not thinking about it.”

“Or horses. You used to love horses. Couldn’t you switch to large animal? You’d be like James Herriot!”

Her mother’s idea of large animal medicine remained firmly rooted in the James Herriot books she’d read to Emilia as a child, despite Emilia’s best attempts to persuade her that times—and medicine—had changed.

“It’s a whole different field. I haven’t thought about equine medicine in years, mom. I can’t just switch.”

“Why not?”

“Because . . .” Morgan’s face rose in her mind. “Because that’s not who I am.”

“You can be whoever you want to be.”

Emilia laughed without humor. “I can’t. Not with my loan. And thinking about going back to work makes me . . .” she couldn’t finish the sentence.

“You promised to call me if you felt yourself going downhill again.” She heard the panic in her mother’s voice.

“I’m not. The meds are working, and it’s nice to be out of the city. I talk with Shanti twice a week. I’m okay. Just overwhelmed.”

“Of course you’re overwhelmed, love. Remember what your father used to say?”

“Day by day,” they said in unison.

“So go and enjoy this day. Get out of that house. Eat something. You are eating, right?”

“Yes, Mom. I’m eating.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” She slid the tear-dampened phone into her pocket.

“What do you want to do today, Nell?” Big brown eyes widened hopefully at her tone. “Should we go for a sail? A real sail?”

The dog tilted her head.

“Don’t worry. I bought you a life jacket.”

•   •   •