“I was just getting to the point,” Jules said incredulously. “Isn’t that kind of your thing?”

“In the office, yes. Elsewhere, Julia, I enjoy talking to people I like about things we have in common. Is that a shock?”

It was, actually. Jules’s face must have said as much because Vivian rolled her eyes. “Then let me be clear. I like talking to you about things other than my schedule. I like talking to you in general.”

I’ve never cared for yellow.

For reasons she couldn’t explain, Jules heard Vivian’s voice in her memory. She was telling Jules about a color she didn’t like, sharing a preference with her for no reason. The tiniest moment that was enormous for Vivian Carlisle, followed by a dozen other moments: observations, reflections, confidences.

Might as well admit it: “And I like talking to you more than I like talking to anybody else. More than I ever have with a friend.” Jules had never spent night and day thinking about a friend, wondering what a friend would think about this or that, being reminded of that friend at every turn.

Vivian made a humming sound clearly meant to convey, See? I told you I was right.

Jules sat cross-legged on the sofa, propped her elbow on her knee, and put her chin in her hand. “You’re having a kid.”

For a second, Vivian went too still and her eyes shuttered. “Yes.”

“We’ve got to talk about it. When you say you want to have me as a ‘companion,’ what does that mean? You’re going to be a mom. It’ll take up a fair bit of your time. How do I fit into that?”

Vivian nodded. She put a hand on her stomach, perhaps without realizing it. “I’m not asking you to co-parent, Julia. You have your whole career ahead of you, and it’s not like any of this is your doing. You can be involved to the extent you want to be.”

“I appreciate that, but I’ll be involved one way or the other, won’t I? The baby will be a full-time job on top of your other full-time job. If I’m not involved, when would we even see each other?”

“We’d manage,” Vivian said with the stubbornness of someone who’d bent the universe to her will for years. “Julia, if you want something enough, you make it happen. I wouldn’t be asking you for this—I wouldn’t ask you for anything if I didn’t take it seriously.”

“I’m taking it seriously too. I made a list, actually.”

“A list?”

“Yep.” Jules reached for the tablet resting on the coffee table next to her saucer and opened the Notes app. “Want to see?”

Vivian didn’t scoff. Instead, she took the tablet and looked over the screen.

Jules waited on pins and needles while she read.