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Just sometimes I think it would be nice to do something creative, too, that’s all. What did you go to school for?”
    â€œI didn’t,” Cal said, without a trace of self-consciousness. It had never bothered him that he hadn’t gone to college. It bothered me considerably that I hadn’t earned my degree. After my parents disappeared, it was just too hard to go back, and then I was pregnant with Marshall. It felt right at the time, but I’d never gotten comfortable admitting that I’d gone to school but never graduated. People tend to ask where you went to college, not whether you graduated or not, and so my answer was always honest, but perhaps not always complete.
    â€œReally?” Ada said.
    â€œNever wanted to. My parents couldn’t afford it, and I wasn’t good enough in high school to get a scholarship, but it didn’t matter. I knew what I wanted to do, and I knew how to do it. College isn’t for everyone.”
    â€œYou told me I had to go,” Marshall said.
    â€œYou didn’t have any idea of what you wanted to do,” Cal pointed out. “Still don’t, as far as I can tell.”
    â€œOf course you had to go,” I said, shooting a cautionary glance at Cal. “And Meghan will go too.”
    Meghan nodded. “I want to go,” she said.
    â€œWill you study music?” Ada asked. “Marshall says you’re a great pianist.”
    Meghan shook her head. “No, I’m no good.”
    â€œShe is,” I protested. “She just doesn’t have the confidence.”
    â€œNo,” Meghan said again, firmly, and I sighed.
    â€œDo you want to do what your mom does?” Ada asked. Meghan looked at me briefly, almost scientifically.
    â€œNo,” she said. “I think . . . I don’t know. Maybe I’ll be a lawyer.”
    I made some sound; I don’t know exactly what it was. A laugh, a choke, down in my throat, and she added quickly, “Or maybe a teacher.”
    â€œI bet you’d make a great teacher,” Ada said.
    â€œSure she would,” Marshall said. His hand stole under the table, and I could tell he’d grasped Ada’s. “And you’ll make a great lawyer.”
    â€œAnd what will you make?” Cal asked.
    â€œI was thinking about moving to poli-sci,” Marshall said. “You’re right. I haven’t been able to focus on what I want to do. But Ada’s really helping with that. I think there’s a plan for me.”
    â€œAnd do those plans include dessert?” I asked, standing too quickly and making the legs of the chair scrape against the floor. “Cal, want to help me?” I turned away with my plate before I could register his response.
    â€œWhat was that all about?” he asked as I dumped the remains of my pasta down the sink.
    â€œI just—What’s all this about becoming lawyers?”
    â€œSo what? They’re just reacting to Ada. Meghan will change her mind twenty times before she even reaches high school. And I’d be happy if Marshall would decide on anything. What do you have against lawyers, anyway? That’s a pretty unoriginal bias for you.”
    â€œIt’s not that I have anything against them. I just thought our kids would do something less . . . corporate.”
    He sighed. “I don’t know, Chloe. Could you just try to have a good time this week? Stop criticizing their future before they even get there.”
    â€œOh,” I said, turning around with my hand to my throat. “Forgive me. Was I being critical? I thought that was your job.”
    â€œStop,” he whispered fiercely. “Just stop, Chloe. Damn, what’s wrong with you? Is it the tattoo? What? Let the kid grow up, would you?”
    â€œLike you have?”
    â€œAt least I’m trying.”
    â€œThat’s why you won’t let him take the boat? In broad daylight? After asking nicely?”
    â€œIs that