"You're right it does, so maybe there's something more going on here." Everly flattened against the elevator wall again.

"Yeah it's called coercion."

She argued, "No, you've had it from the first day."

So tired. "What's that?"

"You cared," she explained. "I know doctors. I see their intent before I ever hear them speak. I'm quiet because I watch, and I watch because talking too much gives away all your secrets, but listening earns you the secrets of others, and when you're at the mercy of everyone it's essential to know what makes them tick. When I watched Logan I knew he was going to become that asshole doctor who drives a BMW with some dumb acronym on his license plate like RES4PREZ. He's all glory lights and void of connection. The worst kind of doctor."

I asked, "So what does that make me?"

The elevator stopped. Everly remained in place, but answered, "You took me to Central Park, and told me your secrets. You've always treated me like a person."

Nurse Ratchet was waiting for us when the doors opened. Everly gave a brief smile to me and then exited. I wasn't reprimanded by the nurse because at the foot of the hallway Timothy waited for Everly.

He's was more curious than wrathful.

Few Things Happen by Coincidence My stepmother Marta was in the middle of packing summer clothes in a spare room when I arrived home.

"Oh, hello, Callum."

"Where's Pop?"

"Resting." Her fake smile was more honest than her words. Rest in our house meant he was passed out drunk. I stepped into the room and nearly choked, covering my arm over my mouth. "What the hell is that smell?"

"It's a mixture of moth balls and cinnamon. Not pleasant, I know, but I was in the middle of pulling out summer clothing and found some decorations in the-" Marta paused immediately and looked away from me. "Well, I just found some old boxes. There were scented pine cones inside. It's quite amazing the smell hasn't gone away, not even after such a long time."

My stomach churned with betrayal. "You have no business in my mother's attic."

"I was only looking for our suit cases so I could start packing for Montauk. Andrew said he'd get them down and then he stayed up there for the entire morning. When he came back down empty handed he went straight to his office and then I lost him to . . . " She swallows down the bitterness she never allows to surface. "He was just very emotional."

I relinquished because I had to get this anger in check before I could go to the attic.

"Why didn't you just wait for me?" It was a stupid question and her eyes agreed. Still I argued my case. "Christ, I'm not thirteen. I can go up to the attic."

She folded her arms across her chest. "My name is Marta."

"I'm aware, but you see, there's this deal Christ and I have when I'm pissed off; he lets me take Holy names in vein in exchange for my noble work healing the sick. We're good to each other like that."

"Mocking our Lord isn't an improvement on taking his name in vain, Callum."

That freed the ire. "And pretending to be my mom, after you were upstairs snooping through her shit, trying to figure out why my father just can't let her go isn't helping to ebb the contempt I have for you right now, Marta."

She ignored the venom I spewed because she waded through it for nearly a decade. "I wasn't snooping. I would never do that."

"Too scared of what answers you'd find?"

Marta turned away. "Yes."

"God would be so proud of your commitment to Him and your willingness to tell the truth."

"Pride is a sin," she chastised, "If you went to church with us you'd know that, Callum."

"Then what's the point-strike that question-I don't want to know. The luggage? Yes or no to help. I could be doing something useful like studying right now. Think fast."

"I'd love to spend time with you under the guise of packing summer clothing. Yes." I followed her out of the room until we reached the ladder leading to the attic.

"I detected a bit of wise-ass in that response," I said. "Will God wait until we're done packing to smite you? I don't want to be guilty by association."

"Being a wise-ass isn't a sin," she argued, "If it were . . . you'd have been toast a long time ago."

The attic reflected a world that no longer existed. My hand rested on the hardwood flooring I remembered playing on as a child as my mother rehearsed her lines. The tall gold-framed dressing mirror still rested against the far wall, near the window.

A few boxes in the back of the room hid the luggage Marta needed. I couldn't talk myself out of digging inside of the boxes where I found four red velvet Christmas stockings. My hands tremored as I stared down at the broken lines of glitter where our names had started to chip off. For a moment I thought it best to shove them back inside the box, but it felt too wrong, so I shoved them under my arm and moved on to finding the luggage. Before I crept back down the ladder, I mustered a bit more bravery and opened the drawer where I remembered Julep's Bible was hidden. At first, my only thought was to take it and leave it on Marta's pillow to screw with her, teach her a cruel lesson about not prying through my mother's things, but as I pulled out the book and flipped through the pages I paused on the passage about hope being an anchor to the soul.

A soft voice reminded me that few things in life happen by coincidence.

The Tether Was Too Tight I spotted Everly in the back of the cafe near the bookcases.

A peculiar thing happened when I looked at her this time-I guess you could say I went blind for ten seconds-but I think the truth was the rest of the world faded when she was in the room. My senses knew that Cecily sat in the right hand corner texting away on her iPhone, and the rest of the cafe was scattered with a few people from the hospital I knew, but in the midst of it all, there was only Everly at the bookcase, still holding all of my attention and want in the world.

Her smile was polite and in no way matched the feeling that arose when I first saw her. I could have been anyone else. Just another person looking for a book. The word "deflated" wasn't enough to describe the low that replaced my high. But I understood.