“Let’s get you a car home.” Amelia picked up her iPad from the coffee table to call a car.

Amelia and Lucia both stood. Amelia planted a kiss on Lucia’s forehead. It was almost a religious gesture, very unlike Amelia. “I want you to take care of yourself. Promise me you will,” she said.

Lucia nodded self-consciously.

“Bye, Lucia.” Fritz gave Lucia an awkward thumbs-up and then disappeared into the kitchen.

Amelia helped to bundle Lucia into her red coat. Then she slipped on her sneakers, which were next to the front door, and walked Lucia outside to the car. I stood in the doorway with my hand on Natalie’s shoulder and watched the interaction between the two women on the sidewalk. Amelia, who had neglected to wear a coat herself, must have been freezing cold with her bare legs and sneakers. She put her hand to Lucia’s cheek. Lucia, with her high ponytail and round face, looked like a little girl compared to Amelia. Once Lucia climbed into the car, Amelia blew her a kiss through the window, then clasped her hands to her heart. As the car pulled away, Amelia waved both hands in the air as if she were saying goodbye to her daughter. And I suppose, in her mind, she was.

I opened the hall closet and found my coat. It was next to Amelia’s shiny purple Moncler. I’d tried on the exact same one at a store recently. One day I planned to ask Amelia if I could borrow her coat, but today was probably not the best day for that.

I didn’t want to leave, but I also didn’t want to face a moment when the Straubs wished I wasn’t there.

Amelia walked back up the front path, shivering from the cold. I kissed Natalie on the cheek.

“Delta.” Amelia stood in the doorway. “Why did you ask the baby’s name?”

The hostility in her voice gave me a sinking sensation.

She closed the door behind her. “The baby doesn’t have a name.” Amelia’s words came at a fast clip. “In the Jewish religion, you never name a baby before it’s born. Neither do you buy clothes or a crib for a baby, or you might draw the attention of the ‘evil eye.’”

“I’m sorry … I was curious,” I said, “because I overheard her talking to the baby when I walked her to the bathroom. The baby is probably better off with a birth mother who is invested in the child’s well-being. No?”