The cigarette tasted bitter, but she could watch the smoke rise, the funny way it curled up, caught the breeze and disappeareda small fixation that soothed her and took her mind from the doldrums of being alone. Shed hoped her therapist would be there that afternoon, but hed called to cancel. The housekeeper was off for the week, at Carlys insistence. She couldnt see paying the woman when it was just her in the house. When Jenny had asked Ben for the week off, Carly assured him shed be fine. Now she was in Pittsburgh, visiting her sister, Ben was in New York and she was by herself in Bens big house.
Each piece of her life that deserted her left her feeling more alone. Looking at the empty house from the outside, she hardly had the will to go back inside.
When it began to rain, the
