“Do you two talk, your mom and you? Chew the fat, as my grandmother used to say?”

“Sure… I mean, she’s busy a lot. But who isn’t, right? Yeah, we talk.” She hoped he didn’t ask her about what. She’d have to make up something.

“And how ‘bout Dad?”

She shrugged. “He’s nice. He takes me to concerts, shopping. We get along great.”

“Great?”

C.M.-Crazy Megan-chides, Is that the only word you know, bitch? Great, great, great… You sound like a parrot.

“Yeah,” Megan said. “Only..

“Only what?”

“Well, it’s like we don’t have a lot to talk about. He wants me to go windsurfing with him but I went once and it’s a totally superficial way to spend your time. I’d rather read a book or something.”

“You like to read?”

“Yeah, I read a lot.”

“Who’re some of your favorite authors?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Her mind went blank.

Crazy Megan isn’t much help. Yep, he’s gonna think you’re damaged.

Quiet! Megan ordered her alter ego. She remembered the last book she’d read. “You know Márquez? I’m reading Autumn of the Patriarch.”

His eyebrow lifted. “Oh, I loved it.”

“No kidding. I-”

Dr. Peters added, “Love in the Time of Cholera. Best love story ever written. I’ve read it three times.”

Another ecstatic ping. The book was actually sitting on her bedside table. “Me too. Well, I only read it once.”

“Tell me more,” he continued, “about your father.”

“Urn, he’s pretty handsome still-I mean for a guy in his forties. And he’s in pretty good shape. He dates a lot but he can’t seem to settle down with anybody. He says he wants a family.”