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Bloomingdale’s was too good to pass up, so we agreed to put off the kids a little longer. Then you started your own business—things were hot, you said, and you didn’t want to lose your contacts—so it was shoved off again. Why in the hell do we need a big house if we don’t have a family to fill it?”
    â€œA family’s a moot point when we can’t stand being near each other in bed.”
    â€œSpeak for yourself. I reach for you and either your nails are still wet or you’ve just creamed your face or you have cramps—”
    On and on they went, while Caroline listened silently. At last, she held up her hands to signal a ceasefire. “You’re both angry, and that’s okay. It’s good that you can let go here. I only wish you could do it at home.”
    â€œHe’d turn up the television.”
    â€œShe’d lock herself in the bathroom.”
    Caroline raised a single hand this time. “I want you to sit back for a minute and think. You’re both bottlers. We’ve talked about it before. You hold things in until you’re ready to explode. It was my impression, though, that things had been getting a little better. I thought you were beginning to talk. Either I was mistaken or something happened this week to set you back.”
    â€œNothing happened,” Paul said. “ Nothing happened. That’s just the point. I want something to happen. I want a show of her feelings, one way or the other, but she says nothing.”
    Caroline looked at Sheila, inviting a response. What she got was a belligerent “Why do I have to take the first step?”
    â€œWhy not?” Paul countered. “I take the lead in just about everything else. I was the one who suggested we come here. I was the one to compromise when you said you wanted a woman therapist.” He turned to Caroline. “But it’s not working. She doesn’t want therapy. I don’t think she ever had any intention of changing. These sessions are pointless.”
    â€œThat’s the most intelligent deduction you’ve made in years,” Sheila decided. With that, she rose from her seat and left the office.
    Paul stared after her in disbelief, then shifted his disbelief to Caroline. “Why didn’t you say something? You could have stopped her.”
    Caroline was disturbed herself, but she was trained not to show it. “Not if she wanted to leave. She knows how I feel about our sessions. She knows that I think they’re helpful, even when they become free-for-alls.”
    â€œSo what happens now?”
    â€œWe let her cool off.”
    â€œWe?”
    â€œYou. You give her a little time. Tomorrow or the next day, you can broach the subject of coming back.”
    â€œTomorrow or the next day—that’s optimistic. When Sheila’s angry, she can go for a week without acknowledging my presence.”
    â€œAnd you?” Caroline asked gently but pointedly.
    He considered that for a minute, then shrugged.
    â€œWhat set things off this time, Paul?”
    He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “Who knows? We had the big guns visiting the hotel this week, so I spent three nights there working late. Each time, she was in bed when I got home, and she’s never been a morning person.” The hand kept rubbing. He looked legitimately tired.
    â€œSo you didn’t have a chance to talk. How about this week? Will your schedule be as bad?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œWhy don’t you make a date with her?”
    â€œIf she doesn’t want to talk, she’ll turn me down.”
    â€œYou could try.”
    â€œI doubt it would work.”
    â€œWhat do you have to lose?”
    He looked Caroline in the eye and said, “Pride.”
    She had to credit him with honesty. Pride didn’t make her job any easier, but the client’s recognition of it was a first step. “Well, then,” she said, “what do