“They told me I’m stuck. That I’m not moving on.” She set her elbows on the table and leaned forward. “They said I think my pain and loss are more special than anyone else’s and that’s why I can’t move on.”

“I’m sorry. That must have been awful.”

“It was. They ganged up on me.” Unity looked at her list then back at Ellen. “Are they right? Am I making what happened more than it is?”

“No. You suffered a horrible loss. You’re not wrong to miss Stuart. You loved him.”

Unity’s gaze was steady. “But?”

“But maybe it’s time to stop assuming that your life has to be over, too. Stuart is gone, but you’re still here. You could find someone, have kids.”

“I don’t want kids if I can’t have them with Stuart.”

Words Ellen had heard before. “Maybe it’s the wine talking,” she said slowly, “but I think it’s more you won’t let yourself have kids with anyone but Stuart.”

Unity stared at her. “That’s not true.”

“Are you sure? Like I said this morning, I had to deal with a lot of arbitrary rules in my time. I’m good at recognizing them. You’ve made a lot of decisions based on grief. Maybe they were right at first, but I don’t think they’re right now.”

“I can’t think about that now.”

Ellen nodded rather than push. “Just think about them later, okay?”

“I will because you’re my family and I love you.” Unity sighed. “Okay, we’re doing this?”

“We are. We need to.” Ellen picked up her list. After half a bottle of wine, the words swam a little, but she could still read them. “Learn how to do a smoky eye. Get a tattoo. Sing karaoke. Wear clothes that fit for a least a month, which I have to say is really dumb because if I’m buying new clothes, I’m going to wear them for more than a month.”

Unity motioned for her to keep going.

“Have sex with a hunky guy. Get drunk, and not by myself. Hey, does tonight count?”

“No.”

“You’re kind of a pain in my ass.” She returned her attention to the list. “Go out dancing. Wear a bathing suit at the beach.” She grimaced. “I’m so pale, I’ll blind people.”

“Not the point.”

“Be that way. Is that all? Oh, rent an impractical car for the weekend and go wild.” She put down the list. “I’m not getting a ticket.”

“That is entirely up to you.” Unity reached for her own list. “Get a tattoo. Go skydiving. Learn to rock climb. Wear a dress and three-inch heels.”

Ellen waved her hand. “Without a bra.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Just wearing a dress and heels is no big deal. No bra, missy. You have great boobs. You’ll be fine.”

Unity shook her head, then dutifully noted the change. “Look at three houses or condos, even though I don’t want to move.”

“Not at Silver Pines,” Ellen added. “No wistful shopping with the old people.”