We ate and spoke a long time about the last part of my change. Joel had been avoiding telling me I couldn't go back. He had not wanted to see me upset. Apologizing for his weakness, Joel told me he had been keeping a secret from me.

"There have been private investigators poking around down at your old clinic. One of them even came here, but I explained to him we had stopped dating. I told him you wanted to move away, that you headed for New York to work for an international aid group. He will find several false leads there that go nowhere."

"Your family has been looking...