And then the kind-voiced lawyer says the same thing the not-so-kind-voiced lawyers have said before Jeanette hangs up: "Bill you for the hours later, or do you want to place a credit card on file?"

It's a disappointment, maybe it's selfish, but Jeanette holds on to the word dear like a blip of accidental humanity caught in a stranger's throat, a version of the dust that drifts in a sunbeam that lands across her bed.