“I know it’s expensive, but do you like it?”

“Did you see this?” Anthony held up the fact sheet, like a teacher holding up a flunking exam, and Mary was the worst student in class.

“I know the asking price from the listing.”

“You didn’t tell me.”

“I told you it was a reach.”

“It’s not a reach, it’s Everest!” Anthony laughed, but Mary didn’t.

“Do you like it?”

“Of course I like it. What’s not to like, except the price and the location?”

“What’s wrong with the location? It’s right off Ritten house Square, the best location in Center City. I can walk to work, you can walk to the library or the train.”

“I know, but-”

“But what?”

“Come on.” Anthony puckered his lower lip. “It’s a bit much, don’t you think?”

“No, I don’t think. What’s that mean?”

“Over the top. It’s so much more than we need.”

Mary blinked. “What is? It’s a house, and we need a house.”

“Do we need a gourmet kitchen? Most of the time, we eat take-out.”

“Now we do, but we don’t have to,” Mary said, starting to feel bothered. “We won’t always do that. We can make nice meals.”

“But we won’t, and we didn’t even see the rest of the house.”

“I know, and we’ll look, but it’s already perfect for us, I can just feel it. Why shouldn’t we have a nice house, if we can?”

“But we can’t, babe.” Anthony’s expression darkened, and his lips pursed. “I can’t.”

Mary swallowed. They were finally going to have this conversation, so she spoke from the heart. “Don’t worry about it, I can afford it,” she said, softening her tone.

“What are you saying? It’s a reach even for you, isn’t it?”

“I know that, but I can afford it.”

“So what does that mean, in practical terms?” Anthony asked, pained. “I can’t afford to buy this with you. I don’t have even half of this down payment.”

“Then I’ll buy it. I’ll put down the whole amount, and you keep your money.”

“Babe, I can’t even afford half of what this monthly mortgage would be.” Anthony looked stricken. “It might be within your reach, but it isn’t in mine.”

“Then don’t pay anything. Here’s what I think.” Mary finally had clarity. She should have talked to him about this a long time ago, like Judy said. “I can afford the whole thing, and I want you to live with me. It doesn’t matter who pays.”

“It does to me.” Anthony’s expression went cold. “I can’t do that, I can’t let you do that. I’d feel kept.”

“But you’re not. Somebody has to make more than somebody else, and it happens to be me. It just happens.”

“Not to me.”

“Yes, to you.” Mary tried to moderate her voice. “It’ll be my name on the deed, if you don’t mind, but no one has to know. We love each other and we live together, that’s all.”

“I can’t do it, babe.” Anthony thrust the fact sheet at her, and Mary gave up, throwing it to the ground.

“Then how do I win? I can’t win!”

“It’s not about winning and losing.”

“Women make that deal every day, and nobody thinks it’s weird!”

“It’s not a deal, either. No man in the world would feel comfortable with that arrangement.”

“I know one who would!” Mary shot back, angry, and she didn’t have to explain who she meant. Anthony went red in the face, his dark eyes glittering with bitterness.

“I’m not him, and I’m not buying this house.”

“Well, I’m trying to make partner in a law firm, and I can’t be less than I am so you’ll feel good about yourself!”

Anthony looked stunned, and even Mary couldn’t believe what she’d said. It was true but unsayable, which was a category she hadn’t known existed, until now.

“Then buy it, partner.” Anthony turned away and walked out of the bedroom, his steps echoing in the large, empty house.

Bennie pummeled the bright little hole, over and over again. The animal’s constant scratching had thinned the wood around it, and the lid was splintering along the crack. She picked at the edges of the hole with her fingers, then she bashed the wood until painstakingly, excruciatingly, and infinitesimally, she was widening the hole, its golden circle like her own personal sun.

It was the size of a dime, and she was aiming for a quarter, and so she kept going. She had to finish before the animal came back. Her face was soaked with sweat, perspiration drenched her entire body, and though she could breathe, the air in the box had grown hotter. She hit harder, and suddenly, something fell through it onto her face. She blinked and shook it off, reflexively. It felt like dirt, and then she understood.

I’m buried alive.

She forced herself not to panic. She started pounding again, but her hands were bloody and every blow hurt, so she hooked her hand inside the neck of her cotton shirt and yanked hard. It tore the shirt down the front, and she wrenched the fabric back and forth to rip it to the bottom, ending up with a bandage, of sorts. She wrapped it around her right hand, pressing it into the open wound with her chin. The pain brought tears to her eyes, but she got back to work, pounding and picking.

She stayed strong thinking of Grady. If she got out of this alive, she would call him and tell him that he was more important than work, more important than anything. That she thought about him every day, he was always in the back of her mind, and that she had called his office once and hung up, like a teenager. She’d even Googled him to see what cases he was working on, she’d read his articles and briefs online. She would beg him back.

She stuck her finger through the hole to keep widening it, grabbing the edge and wiggling it up and down to break off more and more pieces of wood. There was no other way to keep going, and she hit the lid again and again with her bandaged hand, powered by the sheer will to live.

And the memory of a love she’d left behind.

“Hi, I’m Bennie Rosato, here about my dog, Bear.” Alice stood at the reception window, with Grady, and the vet student behind the plastic shield was different from last night’s. He looked young, with a tiny black goatee and a neck tattoo of a bar code, which Alice guessed passed for a bad boy, among graduate students.

“Hold on, are you the Bennie Rosato?” he asked, his dark eyes lighting up. “My girlfriend’s at the law school, and she took your class in appellate advocacy last year. She loved you. Her name’s Sherry Quatriere. Do you remember her?”

“Lemme think a minute.”

“Dark hair? Dreadlocks? She’s Jamaican.”

“Of course. Sherry. Give her my love.”

“I’ll tell her, she’ll be so excited. Let me go check on your doggie.” The vet student jumped up. “Why don’t you take a seat over there?”

“Thanks.” Alice turned, and she and Grady walked over to the waiting area, which was empty except for a lady with a plastic cat carrier on her lap. They sat down in the plastic bucket seats next to a wall of memorial plaques in honor of dogs and cats, which proved to Alice that there really was a sucker born every minute.

Grady saw her looking at them. “Don’t read them. They’ll make you sad.”

“I know.” What a waste of money.

“I’ve been thinking, I was supposed to leave tonight, but I’d like to stick around for a couple of days. Between Bear and Alice coming back into your life, what kind of boyfriend would I be if I blew out of town?”

No! “But don’t you have to be somewhere?”

“I have a deal tomorrow in Pittsburgh, an employee buyout of some trade magazines, but I could get my partner to fill in. I’ll tell him it’s a family emergency. As far as my other matters, I have my laptop and I can work anywhere. Set me up in an office at the firm, I’ll be fine.”