I’d had several unexpected visits from Ian since I moved. If he was dropping off plans for Amelia and Fritz, he’d ring my doorbell. At first I found it intrusive. But after a while I kind of got used to it. We’d have coffee or a drink, depending on what time of day it was. He never stayed for very long. Fortunately, he’d stopped asking about Jasper, but I could still see the question behind his eyes.

In early May he came by late in the day and suggested we go to dinner at a pub in Brooklyn Heights. We sat in a booth and ordered hamburgers, fries, and a bottle of red wine. He told me about the estate he was designing in New Jersey. Then he told me about a pied-à-terre he was designing in Rome. We talked about symmetry, asymmetry, light, shadow, focus points.

The waiter delivered our burgers. CNN was playing on a television behind the bar.

“I have to go to Rome next week,” he said. “Will you come with me?”

His invitation was the last thing I was expecting. “No.”

“Just for a weekend.”

I didn’t want to go to Rome. Not with Ian. “I have an obligation.”

“Are there rules about Rome?” He tried to laugh.

I looked down at my plate to put ketchup and mustard on my hamburger, then arranged the lettuce and tomato. “I can’t.”

My “relationship” with Ian, if you could call it that, was supposed to be on a slow track. His request felt like a trick.

“You’re trying to live someone else’s life,” he said, “when your own life could be terrific.”

Ian wanted to believe that he understood me better than I understood myself.

In reality, he didn’t have a clue. Not a clue.

The following day, Eliza greeted Natalie at the front door. My cat was growing used to Natalie’s visits. Natalie knelt on the ground next to her. She stroked her behind her ears.

“My mom says she’s allergic to cats. She used to say she was allergic to dogs. One day my dad brought Itzhak home. He said he’d return him if she sneezed. And she didn’t.”

I hadn’t told Natalie about Itzhak biting me, and I gathered Amelia hadn’t either. I felt it was unnecessary information, especially since the dog’s behavior toward me had returned to normal, and I was doing my best to put the incident behind me.

Eliza purred contentedly and licked her paws.