I told her she and Nicholas were always welcome, and I looked forward to seeing them.After I hung up, I sat quietly contemplating the conversation tha... I’d just had. All I had before me were a series of bad choices, and I couldn’t see a way out. For me, I could probably safely stop seeing Doctor Bradford, though that would cause problems with Al. But, one thing was for sure, and that was that my sister couldn’t stop seeing Doctor Fremd. Not at this point, and probably not for quite some time.If. Kokata slumped to the ledge, staring at he who shouldn’t be there. His Lei wouldn’t be home in time. Tomorrow would come without Lei. The termites would arrive and he would have to fight them. That was the only reason Death could have to watch his home. Unless… Kokata spun and ran inside to where the man lay. ‘Valo?’ he called. ‘Valo?’ ‘What?’ asked the man, going straight from sleep to alarm. ‘Are you sick?’ asked Kokata. ‘What’s going on?’ asked the man. ‘Are you unwell? Do you feel like you. ‘All right,’ he said, hoping he didn’t regret his decision. Suzanne stood and stepped from behind her desk. Moving a stack of books from the chair next to Wade, she sat down and faced him. ‘Your file gives me the basics of your record, Wade. It’s the man here,’ she said, tapping his chest, ‘that I see parts of.’ Wade wanted to tell her it was all a joke. He needed to hear what she was going to say. ‘All those years that your mother physically abused you, she never understood that you just. ”“You’re in Washington in the winter. Rain and fog, always. You can count on it.”He turned and looked at Ariel, perched on the bar stool from the night before. He went to where Ariel sat and took his hand.“I don’t know how to say what I want to say. It’s probably too soon to say it. I don’t even know what’s going on with me, but I’ll just say I like you. A lot. I want you to be a part of my life. I want to a part of yours if you’ll let me.”Ariel looked deep in his eyes. “Thor, I don’t want to.