SHE didn’t want to see anyone. She could say she’d planned a day of leisure for herself, a trip to the spa, whatever. It was her birthday, she could do what she wanted. But she hadn’t planned anything and the prospect of staying home alone depressed her more than the idea of facing the class made her anxious. And Mary had made Anna promise she’d let her take her out to lunch. It would be a disappointment if Anna canceled. So to Oerlikon Anna went. She hadn’t slept. She lay in bed the entire night, the day’s events tumbling in her head like clothes in a dryer. It had been a day of revelation. I brushed against happiness and I liked how it felt and I want to feel it again. When the last guests left Bruno drove the Gilberts home. Anna waved goodbye through the kitchen window. The boys were upstairs, playing quietly. Polly had been asleep for an hour. Bruno wouldn’t be home for at least forty-five minutes. She had the house effectively to herself. There was ample space and time for her to think.
