"Mom, I'm going on an exchange to Washington," Colette says as she drops a zippered suitcase on the bed. Margaret looks up from the tea cup she set down two minutes earlier and stares at the suitcase like it's a foreign animal on the coffee table. "You're going alone?" she asks. The words are steady, but the fingers at the rim of the cup tremble. "Not exactly—Fitzgerald is coming too." Colette forces a casual smile and presses the lid back on the suitcase as if that will stop the tremor in her voice. "Fitzgerald? Is that Fitzgerald Emerson from your study abroad?" Margaret stands, moves closer, and her eyes search Colette's for a detail she can hold on to. "The one who recommended you to his firm?" "Yes." Colette doesn't add more. No need to mention the months in foreign libraries, the nights translating legal contracts for pocket money, the way Fitzgerald escorted her to a lecture once and later to the airport. None of that belongs on the table tonight. Margaret sits back down and folds her hands. "It's fantastic. Washington is... a big step. Are you sure about the program? Scholarships, housing—have you read the student handbook?" "I did. Twice." Colette opens the suitcase again and drops a stack of neatly folded shirts inside. "They're handling the housing part. The scholarship covers half. I can pay the rest." "Will you be safe?" Margaret's voice slips into the low