The River Inn didn’t have television in the rooms—apparently it was a point of pride, as it was mentioned on their website. She thought of calling her mother, but it would be late in Kraków, where her parents were helping her grandmother for a few months while she recovered from surgery. And besides, she’d avoided going into too much detail with them about the house project. In comparison to the one-bedroom apartment in Greenpoint where she’d grown up, and where her parents still lived, the house seemed shockingly extravagant. Without knowing exactly why, she’d always minimized the luxuries that Ted’s job afforded them when she spoke with her parents.

She scrolled through her phone until she found the number for Aneeta Dhillon, one of the few people that she knew in town. Aneeta and Maja had worked together at the gallery ten years ago, and they’d been friendly, going out for the occasional drink after work. But Aneeta left the gallery after just a year, and Maja had been surprised to receive an invitation to Aneeta’s wedding twelve months later. Ordinarily she would have declined—what was the point of trying to keep up a friendship that had already fizzled?—but a quick scroll through Aneeta’s wedding website changed her mind. It was being held in a pretty riverside town, and there was a whole weekend of activities planned: a wildflower hike, tubing on the river, and cocktails at a historic inn.

Maja and Ted booked a room in town and made a weekend of it. When they weren’t hanging out with the wedding party, they explored, ducking in and out of galleries and antique shops and laughing at the store that sold only Christmas ornaments, even in July. It felt like a world away from New York City, even though the drive was less than two hours. When they learned that Aneeta’s new husband, Adil, made the commute to the city to work as an attorney at J.P. Morgan, the seeds were planted.

Maja and Ted started coming down to New Falls for regular weekends. But within a year Aneeta was pregnant and consumed with renovating a big house in town, and the visits became less frequent, and, to be honest, a little less fun. They’d still kept in touch, especially when Maja started looking for land in town to build a house.

Aneeta picked up on the second ring. “Hello? Maja?”

“Aneeta! I’m so glad that I caught you. How are you?”

“Fine! How’s the house? Almost done?”

“Actually, there’s a problem with the house,” Maja said, her voice quivering. “Aneeta, can I come over?”

“You’re in town? Of course, come over!”

“Thank you. It’s just me—Ted hasn’t made it down from the city yet. I’m staying at the River Inn. I’ll walk over.”