“What else can I do? I can’t change how long it takes,” I reply. “If it takes seven years, it takes seven years. I would have to wait.”

“You could report Martin as having abandoned you like I am going to do. You could have your marriage dissolved, too,” Belinda says.

But I don’t want my marriage dissolved. I’d rather be viewed as Martin’s widow than an unmarried woman. I don’t want to go back to being Sophie Whalen.

“I would never be able to prove Martin abandoned me,” I say instead. “He was good to Kat and me. And he owned that beautiful house and all the furniture inside it. Plus he had three thousand dollars in a bank account. He wouldn’t just leave all of that as your James would have left you and your inn. I could never prove that he would do that.”

The three of us are quiet for a moment. I don’t want to report that Martin has deserted me, but I’m not convinced I should report him missing, either.

“What if I report him missing, and in their search for him, the police go to what’s left of the house and find his remains?” I ask. “Won’t they wonder why I didn’t know he was in the house when it burned? Won’t they wonder why he didn’t get out? The police and firemen and army soldiers were going up and down the neighborhood streets, shouting for people to evacuate. I read that in the papers. Won’t they wonder why Martin didn’t heed their command?”

“Some people don’t listen to authority,” Belinda replies. “They will probably think he was a foolish man who didn’t listen to them. He will be a casualty of the earthquake and fire. They will declare him deceased, won’t they?”

I ponder this for a moment. Perhaps Belinda is right. But what if she is wrong? What if going to the police to report that Martin is missing leads to a deeper look at Martin’s life? A deeper look at mine?

“I could just quietly disappear,” I say. “Nobody is going to miss me in San Francisco. No one is looking for me there, and no one’s going to find me here. And I don’t need Martin to be missing and then declared dead for me to be free to marry another. I am already not legally married to him.”

The others around the table are quiet while they consider my words.

“Would you still call yourself Sophie Hocking, then?” Elliot finally asks. “Is that the name you would go by?”

“I don’t see why not.” I turn to Candace. “If anyone here in San Rafaela asks, I can say that I am your sister-in-law. It will seem natural then for me to be the person who takes Kat if and when your disease claims you.” I do not mention that in due time, people would surely forget that I wasn’t Kat’s real mother, because we would have the same surname. There is another reason why I would like to keep Martin’s name, but I don’t need to share it with Candace; I don’t even need to think about it. It has nothing to do with any of this.