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hands.
    â€œBye-bye time!” Maya was squealing.
    Yolie had established a hello and good-bye ritual that Maya loved, which made transition times a lot easier.
    â€œBye, Maya!” Yolanda cried, a big grin on her face.
    â€œBye, Yolie!”
    â€œBye, Mommy!” Yolie said.
    â€œBye, Yolie,” Melanie replied.
    But Melanie’s heart wasn’t in it, and Yolie was too observant not to notice.
    â€œAre you okay?” she asked Melanie.
    â€œTough day at work. I’ll be fine now that I’m with her.”
    Yolie scrutinized Melanie like she might decide not to leave Maya with her. “You sure? Because I can stay awhile. Andres is working on an article tonight anyway.”
    â€œPositive. I’m going to give her a bath. You go home and have a nice night.”
    A few minutes later, Maya was splashing in the water playing withher plastic doll. She was a perfect little doll herself—big brown eyes shining, chubby cheeks glistening—and she was the most important thing in Melanie’s life. They had a deal. Melanie worked long hours, but when she got home, she belonged to Maya. Somehow, she found energy and cheerfulness to show to Maya, no matter what had happened at work that day. Unfortunately, today’s events were presenting a bit of a challenge. Melanie sat on the closed toilet seat, calling on every ounce of concentration just to stop herself from staring off into space.
    â€œMama, see the baby.”
    â€œShe’s beautiful, just like you,” Melanie said, injecting extra perkiness into her voice. Kids sensed from your tone if you were upset about something.
    â€œMama look, baby’s swimming!”
    â€œWhat a good swimmer she is. Mommy’s going to get you swim lessons this summer, too. I bet you’ll love it.”
    As Maya played in the water, Melanie’s mind started wandering, and a sigh escaped before she could catch it.
    â€œMommy’s sad?” Maya asked, looking up. She reached out with a wet hand, and Melanie leaned over so Maya could pat her cheek.
    â€œNope, I’m happy when I’m with you,” Melanie said.
    Reassured, Maya went back to her doll. But Melanie was fibbing. Of course she was sad. A few hours ago on the sidewalk, Lester Poe had been blown apart and Melanie’s life had changed. She couldn’t say for sure what she’d expected from that relationship, but she’d expected something. She recalled the dinner Lester had taken her to last summer. The restaurant was a sleek box carved from lavish materials. Copper floor. Teak walls. Snowy linen tablecloths laid with precious china and silver. And from every window, the lights of the city at their feet. She’d been nervous at first. Lester was famous, and besides, she wasn’t quite sure what he wanted with her. Supposedly this was a recruiting dinner, but when they’d met—at a cocktail partyfor a political candidate who’d been under investigation—she’d felt the chemistry. She suspected that his interest in her was more than professional.
    â€œSo I read your résumé,” Lester said as he filled her wineglass. “You know we both went to Harvard?”
    â€œI did know. I looked you up in Martindale-Hubbell.”
    â€œI hated it there. I was such a nobody.”
    â€œI can’t believe you were ever a nobody.”
    â€œWell, at first anyway. A poor Jewish kid from Brooklyn trying to keep up with the rich prep school boys. It toughened me up. Sink or swim, and I swam.”
    â€œIt was still like that when I was there. Everybody else was so connected, and if you didn’t fit in, too bad. People were rich . Me, I couldn’t afford a sandwich in Harvard Square. I did dorm crew to pay my tuition.”
    â€œYou cleaned toilets?”
    â€œYeah, didn’t you? I thought all the scholarship kids did.”
    â€œDidn’t need to. An uncle of mine was a bookie in Dorchester. I worked as