By then, Letty had been living in New York for nearly two years. During her first subway ride she’d seen a man in a clerical collar expose and fondle himself while staring directly into her eyes. She’d had her wallet stolen in an H&M, been casually groped by more customers than she could count, and actually fended off an overly aggressive grill cook with a five-pound block of frozen ground chuck.

“I’m interested in an apartment,” she said coolly, “but that’s it. I’m not gonna sleep with you, and I’m not into kinky shit, so if you are, forget about it.”

He tilted his head and seemed to be considering her in a new light. “What’s your name?”

She hesitated for a moment. “Letty.”

Table Two pointed at the name badge pinned to her uniform. “According to that, your name is Chynthia.”

“Oh, yeah. Long story. It’s actually the name of a character I played in a Law & Order episode. I played the hooker who finds the politician’s body in the bathtub in a motel room at the start of the episode. You know, like, the part before the music goes, ‘BAH-BUM!’ I liked the sound of the name, so I borrowed it.”

“You’re an actress?”

“Sometimes. Not enough that I can afford to quit working here.”

The cell phone he’d left sitting beside his plate buzzed. He looked down at the phone, then back up at her. “Okay, Letty, I gotta take this. I look forward to hearing from you.”

“Maybe.”

He picked up the phone. “Not that you asked, but I’m Evan.”

6

FRIDAY MORNING, JOE LEANED AGAINST the front counter, sipping his coffee and watching the motel’s newest guest making her way across the courtyard, a plastic laundry basket under one arm, with the little girl in tow.

Letty was dressed in shorts and a tank top, and the little girl was dressed in the same pink-and-white bathing suit she’d been wearing all week.

“There’s something off about that woman,” he told his mother.

Ava looked up from the computer screen, lowered her reading glasses, and followed his gaze. “Why do you say that? I think she’s perfectly nice. Look how hard she worked, getting that unit cleaned out so she’d have a place to stay. She’s quiet, minds her own business. And that Maya is adorable. I wish we had half a dozen guests like Letty.”

“Tell that to the Feldmans.”

“Those two! They’re not happy unless they have something to complain about,” Ava said. “They came in here Wednesday, in a snit, wanting me to post a sign at the pool saying that it was reserved for lap swimmers from eight to nine P.M. I told ’em to blow it out their bungholes!”

Joe laughed softly. “I bet that went over great with Ruth.”