The only bright spot was Marcus. She saw him in the morning when he came to pick up his lunch, and at the store she bought apples and bananas that he could eat on his way to school to supplement his breakfast. Her encounters with Hilton were more difficult. She tried to keep their telephone conversations as brief as possible. She was afraid of becoming accustomed to his voice, his company, his embrace, and most of all, his lips on hers, only to lose it all when she told him the truth. This way at least she could treasure them as memories. Ava actually had a valid excuse not to spend much time with Hilton, because Linda, still struggling to cope with the aftermath of her deception coming to the surface, began coming over for an hour or so every night after dinner. A sympathetic Ava lent her ear to listen to her friend talk about whatever was on her mind. She didn’t approve of what Linda had done, but she also hated to see her friend suffer.
