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pets.
    “Off.”
    He knew she was tough, that she could attack in the courtroom like no one else, that she was a trial lawyer twenty-four hours a day. When he’d devised his plan, he’d seen it as building a logical case for bringing Christopher home. He’d never thought she’d look so betrayed. He’d expected her to be bothered, perhaps even angry, but to see her so hurt—that was something he wasn’t prepared for.
    The locks on the front door buzzed as they opened. Richard jumped up and looked around the room, then sat back down and picked up whatever book was on the nearby table. He heard footsteps coming down the hall towards the living room.
    “Sorry I’m late,” Carol said, as she headed for their bedroom. “I’m exhausted.”
    This was it. The first step in her apology ritual. Or was it more of a game?
    “Okay,” he said. But this was too important to be left to a game. “Carol, I’m sorry about this afternoon. I shouldn’t have sprung on you everything I’ve ever thought. I should’ve given you a chance to breathe.”
    There was a long, tense pause. Richard wanted to fill the void, but waited instead for her response.
    “I shouldn’t have lost my temper,” she finally said, as she turned to face him.
    Lost her temper? She hadn’t lost her temper—she’d fallen apart.
    “You know,” he said, “we took summers off every year when we were kids.”
    “I didn’t go home,” she said. “I went to camp and had a great time, making friends, learning things.”
    “It’s just one summer, Carol. It won’t be that big of a disruption.”
    “You’re really that clueless?”
    She turned and walked into their bedroom, but he followed after her.
    “Clue me in, Carol. Let’s get to the bottom of this.”
    She turned to him, her face firm and resolute. “Look, of course, I’m worried about messing up our son’s future with this wild goose chase of yours. I don’t want to see him fall behind because of the sabbatical, or maybe even get released from Newman for becoming uncompetitive. But there’s more to what happened today than that.”
    “Uncompetitive? You don’t seem to see—”
    “Do you want me to tell you what’s going on or not?”
    “You’re right.” Richard fell back into a chair. “I’ll just listen.”
    Carol sat on the bed. “You know how messy my parents’ divorce was. I was just a kid, but I knew what was going on. I heard a lot of ugly things a kid shouldn’t ever have to hear.”
    He nodded.
    “One of the things Mom said over and over was this: ‘You can never trust a man. All men want is control over women.’ I don’t think that—not for a minute. But, sometimes, I really do
feel
that way. So when you did what you did today, I felt manipulated. I felt betrayed.”
    “I’m sorry. I never meant for you to feel that way.” He sat on the bed next to her and held her hand, glad when she didn’t pull away.
    “Do you have any idea how difficult it will be to write and have him home at the same time?” she asked.
    “No, but I want to find out.”
    “That’s not all you want to do.”
    “What do—”
    “Everything goes back to your brother, Richard. You know that.”
    “No, I don’t know that. In fact, I would—”
    “You two were so close, such good friends. And, then, you lost him. He was gone from your life. And ever since then you’ve been afraid of losing the people you love. You’re afraid of losing Christopher.”
    Richard knew she was right at some level. He took a deep breath.
    “Nobody wants to lose someone they love,” Richard finally said.
    “Of course not, but you analyze everything to death because making a decision means losing the other alternatives.”
    “Maybe, but not this time. I’ve made my decision. I’ve given you what you want for years. Why can’t you give me what I want for three months?”
    Carol closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Look, I made that little trip to the library for you. There’s a trip I want