EPISODE 7: THE LETTER ## CHAPTER 1: CORNER TABLE No cat. Dolly is at home on the middle of the bed, which is the whole bed now. I am in Mount Pleasant with a latte I do not want and a view of the door. I got here at 1:45. The meeting is at 2:00. Fifteen minutes of being the kind of neurotic that arrives early so she can choose the chair that sees the entrance. Sugar packets in a line. I stop lining them up because it looks like a person waiting to be hurt. The shop smells like cinnamon and wet coats. A steamer screams and then shuts up. Two men at the counter argue about a boat motor. None of this is my life. That is why I picked it. Neutral water. Far enough from Johns Island that I will not have to explain this table to anyone I buy avocados with. Shelby said do not engage. Mama said that girl has some nerve. Dr. Reeves, Tuesday evenings, calm voice: what might you gain, what might you lose. I gain the part Jacob will never say to my face. I lose the version of Kayla I built so I could hate her cleanly. She walks in at 2:03. Younger. I knew that from the pictures and...