"What will happen to you?" Carla asked.

"It will look like I'm unconscious, Mr. Nicholas said," Nora replied.

"And you believe him?" Carla wasn't certain about any of this.

"Yes, I do believe him," Nora said.

"They'll put you in the hospital at first," Carla told her.

"I know."

"How long are you going to stay unconscious?" Carla queried her friend.

"As long as it takes, but knowing that my dear husband has absolutely no patience, I expect a few weeks, a few months at the most," Nora told her companion. "Listen, sweetie, I'm going to be fine. You should see my apartment. It's right out of Architectural Digest. And I've told you about Kyle, and Rolf. Incredible! I have absolutely everything I want there. While I'm going to look like I'm at death's door, I'm going to be having a helluva good time, and the best nonstop sex I've ever known. It's going to be alright, and I already know how this is going to mess up Jeff's life and screw with his mind. I'll bet you the first thing he says is that I did it deliberately."

Carla laughed aloud. "You're right!" she said.

"You can't tell anyone, Carla. Not Rick because he wouldn't believe you, and he'd think you were losing it. Not Rina, Tiff, or Joanne. Give them hope as a nurse, and don't let them be too upset, but you can't tell them what I've done."

"How will you know what's happening in this reality?" Carla asked.

"I don't need to. I know Jeff. And I'll contact you in a few weeks to see how it's all going, okay?"

"How will you contact me?" Carla asked.

"I'm not certain yet, but I think if you want me in your fantasy, I can be there. I'll ask Kyle, and if he doesn't know, Mr. Nicholas's door is always open to me, I'm told. But honestly, I think you just have to put me in your fantasy. I can be a barmaid at one of your island inns, or maybe another female pirate captain you know. You work it out." She gave Carla a hug. "I'm freezing. I've got to go in now."

"Be careful," Carla said. "God, I wish you didn't have to do this!"

"So do I," Nora responded, "but if I don't, by this time tomorrow, I'll have signed my house away and be on my way to a final divorce. I don't give a crap about Jeff, but I'm not letting my house go. Wait a couple of weeks before you contact me unless Jeff cracks sooner, but I don't think he will."

"Okay," Carla said, and then she turned away before she started to cry. She heard the front door of the Buckley house close behind her, and the lock turn with a loud click. Nora's plan scared the hell out of her, but what else could Nora do? Jeff had driven her into a very tight corner. Nora was far braver than she herself was, and Carla would never even have considered that until recently. And what about Jill and J. J.? Nora wouldn't have told them. How could she? Jill, in particular, would have thought her mother crazy. We're all going to have to be there for them, Carla thought to herself.

Nora watched her best friend walking slowing across the street from the bay window of the living room, where the Christmas tree had recently stood. There were needles all over the floor. She got out the vacuum and cleaned them up. Then she took the ornament box back upstairs and stored it in the attic. If she was going away, her house was going to be in perfect condition when they found her unconscious body. She had always had a thing about being in an accident, and strangers coming into her house and finding an unmade bed, or dishes in the sink. It was similar to your mother's warning you to always wear clean underwear.

Back down in the kitchen, she put all the dishes from breakfast in the dishwasher and mopped the counters. There was just enough room for her supper plate. It was after four now, and the sunset was visible through the kitchen windows. Nora sat down, and called Margo to wish her a happy new year.

"What are you doing?" Margo asked her daughter.

"I've just got the tree out, and everything cleaned up," Nora answered.

"Where are the kids?"

"Jill went back a few days ago. She's met someone, and they wanted to spend New Year's Eve together. I got J. J. off on the noon bus."

"Tomorrow's the day, right?" Margo asked.

"Yep," Nora said shortly.

"Come down and stay with me," Margo said. "South Carolina coastal winters are really lovely. The winter jasmine is already starting to bloom. We could house hunt for you. It's really so much cheaper down here. You wouldn't have to give up any of your furniture. Taylor is building a lovely development just a few miles from here. You could customize it to suit you at this stage."

"Thanks, Ma, but I'm not ready to make that kind of a commitment yet," Nora said. Nor ever, she thought silently.

"Look, honey, you really have nothing to do now. Come down," Margo persisted.

"Ma, I've got another semester of classes to take, and then I've got to job hunt. The thousand dollars a month Jeff is going to be doling out to me isn't going to make it. I can't be a lady of leisure like you can," Nora told her mother.

"They still have midwinter breaks, don't they?" Margo said dryly. "I'll send you a ticket. I'll send you two, and J. J. can come with you."

"He's already mentioned something about going skiing with Lily and her family," Nora said.

"Then I'll just send one ticket. Come on, darling, you need a break. The last six months have been horrendous for you. Besides, I miss you. And Taylor does too," Margo coaxed in her best tones.

"Still set on not remarrying?" Nora teased her mother.

"I'm rethinking my priorities," Margo admitted. "Taylor is a lot of fun, and right now he does seem to be pretty maintenance-free. We're going to be cruising in the Bahamas in March on his yacht. Now, say you'll come," Margo pleaded, not being pulled from her determination.

"Okay, I'll come," Nora said. Might as well tell her mother she'd come even if there was little chance she would. It made Margo happy, and Nora wanted to leave her happy. They spoke for another few minutes, and then Nora said, "I want to call Jill, Ma. I'll talk to you in a few days."

Jill sounded sleepy. She was up, but it had obviously been a very late night for her, and Nora heard the voice of a man in the background. She smiled. This was serious. Jill never let anyone stay over, and her roommates hadn't returned yet, so that male voice had to belong to her friend.

"Will you be alright tomorrow, Ma?" Jill sounded genuinely worried.

"Fine," Nora responded. "Your grandmother has me coming down in midwinter break to South Carolina. She wants me to look at places to live. Taylor is building a new development. I told her I'd come, but no new house."

"Ma, it wouldn't be a bad idea. The Carolinas are so much cheaper, even now. And I'm here."

"Your brother isn't, and J. J. needs his mother for a while longer," Nora said. "He has to go to State. I can't afford to send him anywhere else. Thank God he got the scholarship for soccer."

"Okay, but you should think about it," Jill pressed.

They spoke for a few more minutes, and then no sooner had she hung up than the phone rang. It was J. J. They were back. The dorm was warmer than the house. The trip was fine, and he'd call tomorrow after she got back from town.

"You don't have to, honey," she said. "I'm going to be fine. I'm resigned to this now. Not happy, but resigned."

"If you need me, Ma, at any time, I'll come home," he told her.

"You damned well better stay in school, J. J.," she scolded. "I love you, honey, but no way will I ever need to lean on you."

"Okay, Ma, I get it. I am woman, hear me roar," he kidded.

"You got it, boyo!"

"I gotta run," he said.

"Got a life now, do you?" she teased back. "Okay, honey, bye, now."

"Bye, Ma. I love you!" And then he was gone.

It was done. She had said her good-byes for now to everyone she loved. She fixed herself supper, consisting of cold ham and macaroni and cheese. Her mother always said eating pork on the new year brought luck. I'm going to need luck, Nora considered. She got up, put her dishes in the dishwasher, turned it on, and put food in the cats' bowls, filling their water dish and crunchies container. She had called Suburban Cable while J. J. had been in the shower this morning. Now it was her turn to shower. She went upstairs, bathed, and washed her hair, drying it with the dryer her son had left on her sink counter this morning. She got into the clean new flannel nightgown that Jill had given her for Christmas. It was soft pink, and had lace at the wrists and a small ruffle at the neck. She slipped her feet into the new pink suede slippers lined with lamb's wool that J. J. had given her. After brushing her hair, she drew it back and fastened it neatly with an elastic band. She headed downstairs and fixed herself a cup of tea, put the last of Carla's Christmas cookies on a china plate, and carried them into the den. She had lost a lot of weight during the last six months, but Carla's cookies had always been irresistible, and it was the end of the holidays, Nora reasoned. She turned on Jeopardy! and got a lot of the answers right. Next came Wheel of Fortune but she was never any good at solving the puzzles until it became so obvious the village idiot could figure it out. She tipped the teacup over into the saucer, and regretfully left the last cookie on the plate. It made a nice effect. The clock on the fireplace mantel struck eight o'clock.

For a moment Nora debated one last time if she was doing the right thing. What if Mr. Nicholas had lied, and she couldn't get back? Then she decided that if Jeff was going to get the house, the reality of The Channel was a far better world for her than the one she was now in. Reaching out, Nora pressed her palm against the television screen, feeling the now-familiar pop within her body. She was there, and she meant to stay until she could force Jeff to give up his selfish quest for the house.