News travels fast around here, Kat said.

So your parents probably know you're back.

Oh yeah. I'm thinking that's why my dad keeled over.

Nola stared out the window and craned her neck to see the top of the tree line. It's real pretty here, Kat. If you like the country, I mean.

Personally, I'd go ape shit if I had to live outside of Bawlmer County.

I bet you can't find a decent calzone within a hundred miles.

Kat chuckled. I would imagine you're correct about that.

Persuasion sure is a weird name for a town, though. What's the story with that?

Kat couldn't recall the last time she'd thought about the fable. They teach every elementary school kid that this Scottish guy named Harmon McEvoy got a land grant and settled in the valley in the late seventeen hundreds. When he brought his wife here to join him, she completely freaked, refusing to live so far from civilization and so close to the Indians.

Nola threw up her hands. Like I saidno calzones!

Exactly. So Harmon built her a nice house and convinced her to stay. He /persuaded/ her to stay.

Nola pursed her lips and nodded. Huh. I bet if that Scottish dude looked like Riley Bohunk, then the girl would've lived in a teepee and been damn glad about it.

Kat shook her head, laughing. You've got to stop calling him that, Nola, or I'm going to end up saying it.

Well, he /is/ a hunk, and if you'd been more specific about his level of hunkiality we'd have made this trip a long time ago, and even though I am no longer interested in men and never will be again under any circumstances, I have to admithe's hot.

Kat sighed. He really was something special. So smart. So intense. So gorgeous. Still is.

Duh. I think we've established that. Nola's hand settled gently on Kat's forearm. Are you sure you're ready for this, hon?

Kat tensed, aware that Nola was asking about the encounter with her parents. I guess I better be, since we're almost there.

Kat? Nola adjusted her position in the deep bucket seat to face her more directly. Did you ever come close to coming back home? I mean, you always seemed so damned independent and sure of yourself, but wasn't there ever a time when you just wanted to come home and tell them everythingwhere you went, what you were doing, show them Aidan? Weren't you ever even /tempted/?

More than she'd ever let on, Kat knew. There were times when she'd been knocked to her knees with emptiness. She needed to feel Riley. She needed to hear her mom's voice. One night, when Aidan was about two, Kat waited for Phyllis to leave for bingo and packed up the baby stuff and bolted. Kat made it to the corner of Eastern and Conkling and waited about fifteen minutes for the No. 57 bus that would get her to Union Station, and eventually Persuasion. But she turned around. She pushed the stroller through the neighborhood and went right back up the marble steps to Phyllis' row house. Who was she kidding? She was already home.

If home was a place where you were loved and accepted no matter what you did, where there was no hitting and screaming and no secrets except for the ones you held far down in your heart, then the little row house at 456 California Avenue was the only real home she'd ever had.

Phyllis kept asking me if I was sure I didn't want to write my mom, Kat said. But she eventually stopped. I guess she figured it was like talking to a wall.

Nola settled back into the plush leather and sighed deeply. I never really understood that part. I mean, don't get me wrongit's no coincidence that?dysfunction' and?D'Agostino' both begin with a /d./ But we're still a family. Maybe we're all misogynists, but we stick together. I couldn't imagine just cutting myself off from them the way you did.

I know you can't. And I think you mean?masochist.'

You may be right.

Kat watched the sun begin to slip behind the trees. She cracked the window, thinking that the air would blow away the pain. It did just the opposite. She smelled her childhood. Wet leaves, pine needles, mountain rain, rich soiland the stink of buried secrets. /This is a private family matter, Katharine, and everyone would misunderstand… Your father is a good man and he never means to hurt me… He's under so much pressure with his art and I know I can get on his nerves… Why don't you run on outside and play?… He works so hard to support us… He'll be in a better mood tomorrow..

../ Kat pulled the Jaguar onto Randolph Avenue and spotted the hospital complex a few blocks away. She gripped the steering wheel hard, hoping Nola wouldn't see her hands tremble. It had been many years since Kat had allowed her mother's voice into her head like that, and it had arrived so sharp and lifelike that Kat almost expected to turn and see BettyAnn Cavanaugh sitting in the passenger seat next to her.

Kat dared to look but was greeted by a scowling Nola.

You just went white as a sheet and you're shaking. I better drive.

We're here, Kat told her, swinging into the hospital parking garage.

Let's just get this over with.

Caroline Mathis, M.D., Ph.D., flipped the cell phone shut and took a moment to center herself. As much as she appreciated Madeline's timely updates on Kat Cavanaugh's comings and goings, they certainly wreaked havoc with Carrie's peace of mind. She knew the secret to her success had always been balancea delicate titration of all elements of her life flowing together in a synthesis of logic and emotion, action and stillness, effort and acceptance. And that's how she'd handle this latest snag in her plans. It never failed. She'd simply breathe the balance in, and breathe it out again. /That bitch-whore!/ Carrie shocked herself. She hadn't meant to shout that out loud. She must be losing it. She hoped to God that her voice hadn't carried through her office door. She smacked the intercom button of her speakerphone with the flat of her hand. Alice?… I'm sorry to ask you to do this at the last minute, but could you please cancel my lecture tonight at the Board of Medicine? Something's come up in Persuasion.

Alice was quiet for a moment, then spoke softly. Are you all right, Dr.

Mathis? I thought I heard you yell in there. Is it the diabetes study?

Did I yell? Oh no! I just stubbed my toe! Can you believe it? Carrie jumped from her chair and began to pace in front of the wide bank of windows overlooking the West Virginia State Capitol.

Would you like me to reschedule?

Carrie stared, her mind a blur. /That bitch is going to ruin everything!

That bitch is going to ruin my entire lifeagain!/ Dr. Mathis?

Oh yes. Absolutely.

After the holidays?

Good. Good.

I don't even think the board meets toward the end of the year, so should I try for January?

Carrie chewed on the inside of her cheek. She chomped down so hard she drew blood, but somehow she didn't mind the pain. It cleared her head.

Dr. Mathis?

January would be perfect, Alice. Thanks.

Alice went quiet again. Would you like me to come in for a minute?

Carrie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Alice meant well. She'd been Carrie's assistant for eight years now, ever since she'd joined the Department of Health amp; Human Resources while still working toward her doctorate in public health policy. Carrie knew that Alice had been instrumental in her promotion to executive director of the Division of Rural Health. Alice certainly had provided a shoulder to cry on during last year's wedding fiasco, but deep down, she was a busybody. She was so interested in every single little detail that you'd think /she/ was the one getting married in less than three months!

Actually, I'm on my way out.

Carrie hit the off button on the speakerphone and grabbed her jacket and briefcase. She wouldn't even have time to change her clothes before she had to hit the road. If she made it out of Charleston before the evening rush, she could get to Persuasion in a little over two hours.