She had suggested they go out for dinner first, but he’d said he had too much work to catch up on. She thought he’d seemed a bit cold, as if he regretted the recent intimacy of their conversation and wanted to return to a more professional footing. She didn’t mind. She wanted that too. She liked him and respected him and she empathized with his pain, but that wasn’t going to help Emma. She went out to buy some groceries and, after coming home to put them away, realized she didn’t feel like cooking and decided to take herself out for dinner. She wandered into a nearby restaurant and ordered some rioja and a light dinner of her favorite tapas: jamón, croquetas, and huevos. She was happy to be alone because she wanted to think things through. She was convinced that Emma’s salvation lay in telling the truth about that terrible night. Jennifer didn’t know what the truth was, but she accepted by now that Mark was right in at least one respect—that Emma was lying.
