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York’s Lower East Side someplace in the middle, Anna thought Kripalu was actually not a bad option. At least they weren’t selling glassine bags of smack on the nearest street corner. If only Susan had chosen to announce her destination in a somewhat more conventional fashion.
    “That’s nice,” Anna said guardedly. “How long do you plan to stay there?”
    “Forever, maybe. I got a job. Working in their kitchen.”
    Anna had to let that one sink in. Her sister had a lot of interests, but yoga and Eastern religion had never been among them. Nor was she a particularly spiritual person, except when it came to distilled alcohol. Plus Susan had an eight-digit trust fund. She didn’t need to work, period.
    “This guy Raji I met at SV turned me on to it,” Susan continued. “He said it’s the perfect place to be after SV. He was a cook there.”
    “You don’t know how to cook.”
    “So I’ll peel a few potatoes or something. I was going to go there after L.A. anyway. I’m just moving up the timetable. And don’t worry. I’m alone. Raji went home to Bombay.”
    “I wish you’d have stopped here first,” Anna said. “To let us know. At least at the airport.”
    “I just couldn’t, okay? Dad triggers me. Mom triggers me. Mom and Dad together, it’s like stepping in front of a machine gun with a fucking target on my chest.”
    “Uh-huh,” Anna replied, just to keep her sister talking while her parents looked at her pleadingly. They were desperate for some information. But Anna stayed focused on Susan.
    “Anyway, Raji says Kripalu totally changed his life.”
    “Then why was he in rehab?” Anna asked.
    “Hey, chill on the judgments, Anna,” Susan admonished. Then her voice softened. “People like Raji, like me . . . there’s this thing inside us that we’ve got to fight our whole lives. Sometimes we don’t win that fight.”
    “I understand.”
    Anna didn’t, really, but God knows she was trying.
    “Understand what?” Jane asked impatiently. She held out a slender arm. “Give me the phone, Anna.”
    Anna shook her head at her mother. “You do what you have to do, Sooz.”
    “I can think up there, Anna. I think. I hope.” Susan laughed nervously. “Hey, listen, do me a favor? Can you explain to Mom—?”
    “You should talk to her, Sooz. She came all the way from Italy.”
    “Forget it!” Then Susan softened. “Later. I promise, Anna. Tell her that. I’ll call you in a week or so, okay? And them, too.”
    “Okay. I guess.”
    “Love you, baby sis.”
    “Love you, too.” Anna clicked off, turning to her parents. “She said she promises to call you guys in a week.”
    Her mother rubbed her temples with elegant French-manicured fingers and sighed. “Her promises are meaningless, Anna. Surely you know that by now.”
    “If that’s how you feel, then why did you bother to come?” Anna asked her. Defending her big sister was habit. Anna had always been the dependable one, Susan the flake. But even at her flakiest, Anna still loved her.
    Jane’s chin jutted upward. “I was willing to give her another chance. Are you going to fault me for that, Anna?”
    “No,” Anna replied, chastised.
    Jonathan patted his ex-wife’s arm. “I’m glad you’re here, Jane. Why don’t we just give Susan a little time to sort things out?”
    “Sure. Why not?” Jane asked rhetorically. But Anna could see that she wasn’t at all convinced.
    Tired from the surfing and the drama, Anna dozed off on her bed. Her cell rang a couple of times; she tried to ignore it. But when she couldn’t get back to sleep after the second time, she decided to check her messages.
    The first one made her snap wide awake.
    “Anna, hey. It’s Ben.”
    Ben. His voice always managed to hit her somewhere south of her navel. She’d been glad when he’d returned to Princeton. But hearing him now gave her instant second thoughts.
    “So, I’m calling from Princeton. I waited, you know, a long time to call. But I think