16 Chapter 16

It was a fortuitous pairing. Carol had worked at Saint Joseph’s for twenty-three years and knew all the staff, students, parents, and even grandparents. Before the summer fair was over, I’d been introduced to half the borough and had the phone numbers of single colleagues keen for a night out. She gave me the shove I needed to kick me out of my introspective self-consciousness and resume socializing—without the safety net of Anika.

To be independent had been top of my to-do list for long enough and, although I relished my blossoming friendship with Anika, to rely on her would risk repeating mistakes of the past.