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“I almost threw up after,” I admit.

Veronica laughs. “That sounds more like you.”

“Thank you. I don’t want to seem too well-adjusted.”

From the floor, Rose makes an approving noise without looking up from the sweater she has been folding and unfolding for the better part of five minutes.

The three piles around her have changed sizes and content multiple times, although I have yet to determine what differentiates them.

I watch her as she moves the sweater again, then puts it back where it was at first.

“What are the piles?”

Rose looks around as if she has also only just noticed them.

“Taking, leaving, and undecided.”

“That sweater has been in all three.”

“I’m still deciding.”

“You’re leaving tomorrow.”

She gives me the patient look of someone who thinks I’m being unreasonable. “Which is why I’m packing tonight.”

Veronica reaches for the bottle and tops off her glass. “I think you’re going to have to accept that this is Rose’s process.”

“I have accepted many things about Rose’s process. That’s why I bought a house with a finished basement so she could live here when she’s not in a process.”

Rose smiles and goes back to her sweater.

The packing itself doesn’t bother me. Rose has moved in and out of my house several times. She’s never been someone who stays anywhere simply because it’s where she already is.

This particular departure, however, is a little more abrupt and dramatic than I would like.

“I just want to clarify something,” I say as I straighten in my seat. I pull my legs up on the cushion and cross them. “When you say you’re working on a boat, you mean an actual boat.”

Rose looks up again. “We’ve been over this.”

“I know, but every time we go over it, I expect additional information to emerge that makes it sound less like you’re joining the cast of that show about fishing.”

Dani laughs, but Rose is unfazed.

“It’s a small coastal crew. They do research, seasonal fishing, crabbing. I’ll help with meals, deck work, whatever needs doing. It’s only for a few months, and I’ll be back before you have time to miss me.”

“I will miss you immediately. That is unrelated to my belief that this is a deeply questionable employment decision.”

That makes her smile.

She puts the sweater into the taking pile this time and leaves it there.

“I want to do it, Merry.”

The words are so simple coming out of her mouth. I have so many questions and still part of me wants her to list every single reason for why she’s doing this.

For years, Rose’s ability to identify her needs so easily has baffled me. She wants to do something, so she does it. Sometimes it works, sometimes she comes home six weeks later with no money and a story involving a man named Cricket. But she never seems to need the decision to prove itself sensible before she’s allowed to make it.

I used to think that meant Rose had some certainty I didn’t. I’m starting to suspect she just has a higher tolerance for finding out.