I had really hoped that Elliott would side with me in my decision to try to find Mack, but he disappointed me. “Carolyn,” he said, slowly, as he read and reread the note, “I don’t think you’re being fair to Mack. He calls every year so that you’ll know he’s all right. You’ve told me yourself that he sounds confident, even happy. He responds immediately to your promise-or threat-to find him. In the most direct means at his disposal, he orders you to leave him alone. Why don’t you go along with his wishes, and, more important, why don’t you refuse to allow Mack to remain the center of your existence?”

It was not the kind of question I’d expected from Elliott, and I could see the effort it took for him to make it. His eyes were troubled, his forehead creased, as he turned his gaze from me to my mother, whose own expression had become unreadable. I was glad we were at a corner table where no one else could observe her. I was afraid she would flare up at Elliott as she had at me after Mack’s call on Mother’s Day, or even worse, break into a storm of weeping.

When she didn’t answer him, Elliott urged, “Olivia, give Mack the space he wants. Be satisfied that he’s alive, even take comfort in the fact that he’s obviously close by. I can tell you right now that if Charley were here, that’s exactly what he would be telling you.”

My mother always surprises me. She picked up a fork and in an absentminded way, traced something on the cloth with the prongs. I would bet anything it was Mack’s name.

As soon as she began to speak, I realized I had been completely wrong in evaluating her response to Mack’s note.

“Since Dev showed us that message from Mack last night, I’ve been thinking somewhat in the same vein, Elliott,” she said. The pain in her voice was evident but there was no hint of tears there. “I lashed out at Carolyn because she became angry at Mack. That wasn’t fair to her. I know that Carolyn worries about me all the time. Now Mack has given us an answer, not the answer I wanted, but that’s the way it is.”