“How are you feeling?” I asked Louisa from my phone before Patrick and I left for my office.

When I woke, as per usual, I was alone with a note in Sterling’s scrolling script, telling me that he would be to my office by ten thirty. If I was ever going to do as Lorna suggested and tell him how I felt about him before he left each day, it seemed I’d need to do it before I fell asleep.

“The same.” Her voice was without its normal pep.

“You ...