She nods. “I won’t be stuck anymore and I need to do my own dream. I’m thinking of starting a yoga studio. Not quitting immediately, but getting further training and being certified and then opening up a studio. Moving emotionally out of the dealership.”

“You could open one up now and hire people to teach. And meanwhile get your certification.”

“Possibility.”

“Rents are cheap. Might be a great time to get a good deal.” Rosie loves to set things up.

“I’d love to help,” Taylor says. “I’ve got the time. It would be fun to do something productive. And I sure could build you a web page.”

“Okay,” Jeannie says. “And I’m going to tell my father that his actions have made it untenable for me to also be working with him. That I’m extremely uncomfortable about having to keep this from my mother. I don’t know what to do about that yet, but at least there’s no reason to pretend to my dad. That’s the difference. I’m not pretending anymore.”

“Yoga has been a solace for you.” I think about our morning breakfasts, Jeannie shiny with sweat.

“It’s been life-changing,” she says. “I’d like to give that to other people. A retreat where …” She hunts for the word. “Namaste exists in all its forms. Yoga. Maybe meditation. Maybe life coaching. Maybe something on nutrition and healthy foods. Green living. I don’t know.”

“Therapy?” Allie adds.

Taylor repeats, “Life coaching … that’s like training. Hmmm.”

“A women’s retreat?”

“Men, too. Why exclude them?”

Charlene enters the living room wearing soft apricot pants and a tank top, wrapped in a periwinkle shawl. Her face is washed and she smells of lime and lavender. A glass of water is in her hand as she slides back down in her seat.

“I don’t know what to do about Sue,” Rosie says. “I’m stuck in the middle, too. Maybe the three of us should talk about this.”

Jeannie shakes her head. “There’s nothing for me to say to her.”

“Maybe after Italy?”

“Then my father’s hand will be forced. Or will Sue just wait endlessly?”

Rosie shrugs, closes her eyes, and presses her lips together.

“This’ll eventually get worked out.”

“Yeah. Like being unemployed and living on the kindness of Allie is temporary,” Taylor says.

“But at a cost.”

“Maybe not a cost, but a blessing. A strengthening,” Charlene says. “Already you’ve discovered new things about yourself and a possible new path.”

Allie retrieves her coat. Her cookies and empty plate are in her hands. “I’ve got an eight A.M. patient.” Then Taylor is packed up and ready to go.

“So. Taylor, you get in touch with me. Tomorrow. I’m serious. I’ll talk with Kevin and we’ll see what we can do,” Rosie says.