I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, taking comfort and courage from that rich perfume. It smelled like home. Exactly where I belonged. “Hello, may I help— Ellen!” Martin rushed from behind the counter, then drew up short a few steps away from me. “You haven’t been returning my calls,” he said. I nodded. “I know. A…a lot has happened. I wanted to try to explain.” He nodded, still cautious, arms folded across his chest. “Alice is in a hospice in California. Her cancer has come back.” All the stiffness went out of him, and he held out his arms to me. “Ellen, I’m so sorry.” I stepped into his embrace, and it was like coming home. To a real home, full of love and warmth and all the things I’d longed for all my life. I struggled to compose myself. “There’s more, but I can’t talk about it now.” I would tell him everything later. He deserved to know the truth, but first, I wanted to enjoy this closeness. This acceptance. I stepped back a little, though he still didn’t completely release me.
