“I can’t imagine what she’s doing for work,” Shane said. He waited.

“She’s working for Rudy,” I said.

“Rudy?” Shane said. “You’ve got to be kidding me. That guy is such a phenomenal fuckup.”

“Well,” I said. “Some people stay. Some people go.”

He glanced at me. “Is she with him?” he asked.

“None of my business,” I said, but for some reason I didn’t deny it outright.

“That woman,” he said, “she never stopped talking, and now I have all the time in the world to think about the things she told me.” He looked over at me again as he said that, maybe thinking he’d get sensitivity points. I kept my face quiet. “It’s good to see you, Karen,” he said. “I’ve missed you.”

I figured he and I must have different working definitions of what it meant to miss someone. The man hardly knew me. Helen had been all torn up about him when we first met her, but if you asked me he was one of those guys who strove so hard to make a good impression that it made you want to deny him the satisfaction.

“You in trouble, then, or what?” he asked.

“I’m not in trouble,” I said.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” he said. “But it seems like if you weren’t in trouble you’d stick to nursing. Good high-wage job. Not many of those down where you’re from.”

Here I was, far from home, talking with someone who knew me but didn’t know Perley, the best part of me, the part of me I’d ruined. I’d hoped to avoid talking to Shane or anyone else about the details. I kept it as brief as possible. “Government says me and Lily have to put in a septic system or lose our kid. Where am I going to get that kind of money quick?” I said. If Shane was surprised, he didn’t say anything about it, adding to the list of things I was surely meant to be grateful for.

“Boy or girl?” he asked. Just for a moment, I thought he meant me.

“Boy,” I said. “Seven years old. What about you? Any little Shanes running around somewhere?”

“I hope not,” he said. “I’m dating here and there, nothing serious. I’ve got a friendship with a woman who runs the motel you’ll be staying at. She’s from down in the hills, too.”

“You booked me a room?” I asked. “Better be cheap. I’m here to save money, not spend it.”

“Only place cheaper is where the guys stay,” Shane said.

“I’ll just stay in the cheapest place,” I said.

“You don’t want to stay out there,” he said. “It’s dangerous for a woman. I told you. Don’t be stubborn about this.”