The call would come between two and four. She had the afternoon off. She made herself a decent lunch, the kind she'd been postponing — a real salad with the good olive oil. She did the dishes. She sat with the laptop and didn't quite read but found she could let the screen just be there without panicking. At quarter to two she moved to the chair by the window. The light was nice. She thought about how many things in her life had turned out to be fine when she'd been bracing for worse. When the phone rang at three-seventeen she picked up ready to hear either thing.
