“Don’t worry,” Rob said. “I told them you had gone up to the retreat house to see Caroline, but that her sisters weren’t supposed to know about it. The guys were so busy talking about how you’d sneak into a convent that they went along with the whole thing.”

“I was at home,” John said dully. “With the phone turned off.”

“It wasn’t a good day for you yesterday,” Rob agreed. He looked at the letter for a long moment. “I thought you were going to take a chunk out of Patty-Cake a time or two. Not that she doesn’t deserve it.”

John pressed the bridge of his nose with thumb and forefinger and counted to three. “Okay, I did let that crap about the photocopier get to me,” John said. “A mistake, huh?”

“Let’s just say you gave her what she wanted.” Rob crossed over to the couch and sat. “So what do you think is going on with Caroline?”

“You first,” John said. “Please.”

Rob thought for a minute, his head turned to one side. “A couple of possibilities come to mind. I would say she hadn’t got your letter when she wrote this, so my first guess is that she has got some idea about Angie and is about to dump you.”

“But—”

“Let me finish. That’s the most obvious answer, but it doesn’t sound like Caroline to me.”

John, who had come to this same conclusion almost twenty-four hours ago, nodded. “Go on.”

“The list of things serious enough for her to run off like this is pretty short. I’d guess her sisters are worried about her wanting to be a nun.”

“Probably they are,” John said. “But I can’t see Caroline going into a convent.”

“Too melodramatic by far, you’re right. Have you considered that she might be in love with somebody else—”

“Nope,” John said.

“Okay.” Rob was looking at him closely. “You’re sure?”

“As sure as I can be. You know Caroline, she’s not adventurous. And I can’t think of any man around her who might have … distracted her.”

“Maybe it’s somebody from her past,” Rob said. “Maybe it snuck up on her.”

John heard an unusual tone in his brother’s voice. “Is there something you know you’re not telling me?” he said. “Something about Caroline and somebody else? Are people talking?”

“Hold on there,” Rob said. “Don’t get carried away. No talk, no gossip, no rumors, no suspicions. Caroline isn’t Mama, okay?”

John nodded, relieved. The idea of people snickering behind his back was enough to make his gorge rise. “So what do you think it all means?”

“I don’t know,” Rob said. “Beyond the fact that you’re stuck until she comes back here and you can ask her. What was Angie’s take?” And after a moment: “Please tell me you’ve talked to Angie about this.”