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said to Corinne.
    Corinne blinked. “Do I know you? You look famished, but…”
    “Familiar, I think you mean.” Sarah patted Corinne’s shoulder. “Yes, you know me. I’m Sarah, your nurse.”
    “Sarah Cassidy,” Louise confirmed, bending closer. “You remember. Moira Cassidy’s girl, Moira had that wonderful bakery on Main Street.”
    But Corinne was . frowning. “Sarah. Sarah, Sarah,” she murmured, then brightened. “What a nice name!” As if with a huge effort, she lifted her good arm and held a limp hand out in Sarah’s general direction. “How do you do? I’m Corinne Parker.”
    Nora turned from buttoning her raincoat, startled; Parker was her mother’s maiden name.
    “Is this your house, dear?” Corinne asked Sarah.
    “Sweetheart,” Ralph said, leaning toward her, “you’re Corinne Tillot now.”
    “No, Mrs. Tillot , it’s your house.” Sarah listened through the stethoscope for a moment while Nora, now worried, watched; Louise put a stubby, protective hand on Nora’s arm. Absently, Nora noticed a chip in the dark red polish on Louise’s thumbnail.
    “Pressure’s a bit low,” Sarah murmured to Nora and Ralph. “But I think she’ll be okay. Has she been disoriented all day?”
    “Not like this.” Nora knelt beside her mother. “Mama?” she said. “Hi. How do you feel?”
    Corinne blinked again. “Why, I feel fine, dear. How are you? Hello, Sarah, Louise. What a rainy day, isn’t it?”
    Ralph smiled and Louise said, “My goodness, yes. Nice weather for ducks.”
    Nora laughed with relief and hugged her mother. “I’m just going out with Mrs. Brice to do the shopping. Okay?”
    “Of course, dear. Have a nice time. Buy yourself a treat. You deserve one, doesn’t she, Louise?”
    “She certainly does.”
    “Your mother might have had a tiny TIA,” Sarah said sotto voce to Nora, following her and Louise into the front hall. “But I think she’s come out of it fine. I’ll keep a close eye on her, don’t worry, and I’ll call Dr. Cantor from my car phone after I’ve observed her a bit longer. It’s possible he’ll want to see her or prescribe something, but I think her regular medication should still be okay. She’s been having it regularly, yes?”
    “Yes,” Nora said. “But I wish Father would let us take her to the hospital when she has these spells,” she added wistfully.
    “So do I,” Sarah said. “But”—she patted Nora’s arm—“we know he won’t, and that’s that. Besides, I really do think she’ll be fine.”
    “When you girls have finished your tea party,” Ralph bellowed from the kitchen, “maybe one of you would deign to get me my pills. My heart’s been racing; I didn’t sleep a wink last night.”
    Sarah grinned at Nora. “He’s in top form,” she said. “Off with you. Don’t drown!”

Chapter Six
    Rain pelted against the windows and wind made catspaws on the lake, but still Liz lay in bed, though it was well into morning. She’d bought some groceries the night before after turning on the water in the cabin, and then cooked herself a quick supper of bacon, eggs, and toast. She’d stripped the newspapers off her parents’ bed, made it, swept the floor, and, trying not to think, crawled under the covers. But she’d gotten up several times, sleepless, to make cocoa, to read, to look for suddenly remembered books, games, puzzles. She wasn’t sure but what she’d finally slept a little; certainly she’d heard the rain start. And now it was coming down harder than when last she’d noticed.
    I’ve got to do something, she thought, getting out of bed stiffly and stretching. I’ve got to decide.
    She struggled into jeans and a turtleneck, then went downstairs into the gray morning, thinking, all my childhood is here, all my roots, my beginnings. She ran her fingers over the surface of the table in front of the sofa, over the sofa’s corduroy cover, over its worn wooden arms, remembering lying there for most of one summer after