It’s quiet, maybe a little awkward, but it’s okay. The silence isn’t making me too twitchy. Maybe it’s because I’ve spent a lot of time with Hugo, or maybe it’s because I know he’s upset and he asked me to sit with him, and I’m doing what he wants.

He’s still crying, his tears now silent.

After a minute, he leans into me, our shoulders touching.

And we sit, together.

I can’t fix him. But I can be here for him. That’s the only thing I have to offer, and so I give what I can and let the rest go.

One morning after getting fired—again—I treat myself to a nice brunch at MKT Restaurant inside the Four Seasons, with extra mimosas, because, why not?

On my way home to take a nap before meeting Hugo, I’m gazing out the window of the cab, only a few blocks from home, when we pass the sign.

“It’s back.” The words explode from my mouth in a near yell.

“What?” Startled, the cab driver glares at me in the rearview.

“Can you pull over here, please?”

He parks. I pay him and jump out of the car, racing back down the block to the Druid’s Stone.

I push on the door and it swings open.

“You’re back!” I exclaim to . . . no one. Nothing’s changed. Same old giant cash register, same cluttered shelves, same cuckoo clock in the corner.

Same teenage girl just waiting to pop up when I least expect it, I’m sure.

I meander around for a minute, but she doesn’t appear.

I yawn. The mimosas made me sleepy. There’s nowhere to sit in here, so I head down the hallway to the garden in the back.

Still no sign of my psychic friend, so I sit on the bench and lean back, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath.

It’s nice and quiet, just the soothing tumble of water through the fountain in the corner.

I open my eyes and am unsurprised that someone is sitting next to me, sitting way too close, even though I didn’t hear her sit down.

“Hello,” I say.

She smiles. “I love this garden.”

“Me too. It’s peaceful.”

She nods and we sit together, unmoving, unspeaking for long minutes. Time passes. I’m not sure how long, but it doesn’t really matter.

“The only way through is to love, Jane.”

I lift my brows, surprised she spoke first. “Yeah, you’ve mentioned that.”

She nods.

My mind wanders. I gaze at the fountain, watching the water fall into the pond.

The only way through is to love. That’s what she said the first time I came here. No. She said, the only way through is to love, Jane.

The same thing she said just now.