"Yeva have serious medical condition and have to come to hospital in New York for treatment," Yuri told Dorothy one summer day. "She and Danila and their children will come here for short visit on their way to New York. He want to meet Inna and Zoya. You too, of course."

"Wow! You mean...just like that? They're coming here?"

"In two weeks more."

"Well...they're certainly welcome to stay here, of course. It'll be a little bit crowded, but we'll work something out."

"No, no, Dorothy." Yuri laughed. "They will stay in motel and come here to visit in daytime."

"Do Inna and Zoya know yet?"

"Not yet. I tell them later."

Predictably, Zoya turned out to be excited at the prospect of meeting her much older half brother, and even Inna smiled and said she looked forward to meeting Danila and his family.

On the appointed day, the four of them rode to the airport to meet the Baskovs. Dorothy recognized Danila as soon as she saw him. For her, the past thirty years seemed to melt away and she was once again seeing Yuri for the first time, standing on her front porch.

Yeva was very pretty but looked pale and thin and very tired. Dorothy's heart went out to her. "How do you feel today, dear?" she asked the younger woman as she embraced her.

"I am well," Yeva replied bravely.

Kyrill was nine, Luka seven, and Maxim four. All three were energetic, rough-and-tumble boys who strongly resembled their father and grandfather. Dorothy fell in love with them right away.

From the airport, the families journeyed in two cars to the same motel where Yuri and his daughters had stayed the previous summer. The Rozanovs watched the children while Danila unpacked and Yeva rested, and later Yuri took everyone out to dinner. Dorothy sat with Yeva and helped her care for little Maxim and talked with her at length about her illness.

"Doctor back home send me to New York, say they have excellent doctors here who can cure me," Yeva told Dorothy.

"I certainly hope they can," the older woman replied.

"My children, they need their mother," Yeva continued. "I cannot bear to leave them."

"Of course not." Dorothy smiled and squeezed Yeva's hand. "Everything's going to be fine, hon. The doctors in New York will take good care of you. You're going to be all right."

Later, the Baskovs returned to the motel and the Rozanovs to their home. "I feel so sorry for Yeva," Dorothy told Yuri that night as they were getting ready for bed. "Her children are so precious, and she might not even live to see them grow up."

"It is sad," Yuri agreed. "I hope that doctors in New York can help her."

The following day, the Baskovs spent the entire day at the Rozanovs. After lunch, Yeva and her children all took naps while Yuri and Danila went for a walk together and Dorothy watched television with Inna and Zoya. Much later in the day, Dorothy was sweeping the porch when she saw Danila standing underneath a tree, crying.

Instantly she rushed to him and embraced him. "Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked.

"I am so afraid that Yeva will die," he sobbed. "I love her so much. I cannot bear to lose her."

"I know." As she continued to comfort Danila, Dorothy felt a sudden surge of desire sweep through her. Startled and alarmed, she backed away. Danila looked at her with hurt and confusion in his eyes.

"I...I'm sorry," she stammered. "I really should be going back inside now." Shaking, she made her way back into the house.

That night she lay wide awake in bed beside a gently snoring Yuri. What on earth is wrong with me? she asked herself. In all the happy years she'd shared with her first husband, she'd only found herself attracted to another man once, and that had been when she'd first seen Yuri. Even then, there had been nothing beyond noticing that he was both handsome and charming. What had there been between herself and Danila, then, that had caused the unexpected, and definitely unbidden, feelings to well up inside her?

The Baskovs left for New York a couple of days later. Danila looked anxiously at Dorothy as he said good-bye to her. "I hope that I did not make you feel uncomfortable," he told her.

"Oh, no, not at all," she said quickly. He smiled in relief.

She kissed Kyrill, Luka, and Maxim good-bye, handing them the bags containing the cookies she'd baked for them to snack on during their trip. Then she hugged Yeva tightly. "Please take care, dear, and let me know how you're doing from time to time," she said.

"Thank you," the younger woman replied. "I will."

Yuri and Dorothy returned home and went about their usual business. "You seem quiet this evening," Yuri remarked over dinner.

Dorothy sighed. "I already miss the boys," she said. "Having them here so reminded me of when Tyson and Tara still lived in Gloucester."

Yuri laughed gently and squeezed her hand underneath the table. "You will see them again soon," he told her.

Much later, Dorothy was about to sit in the recliner and read a novel when she glimpsed movement through the open curtains and realized that Yuri was standing on the porch looking up at the sky and wondered whether something was bothering him. Quietly she slipped out the door and approached him. He smiled and slipped his arm around her, and together they stood gazing up into the clear night sky.

"It's really beautiful out tonight, isn't it?" asked Dorothy.

"Yes, it is," Yuri murmured. "I have been standing here, thinking about it."

"About what?"

"About you, Elya. About us. You are amazing woman. You not only forgive and accept, but you love as well, even. I cannot believe you choose me."

Dorothy felt a warm rush of pleasure sweep over her. Content and secure in her husband's love, at that moment all that seemed to matter was that she was standing beside Yuri and his arm was around her. "Well, I think I'm pretty lucky, too," she said modestly.

"I am so happy you think so," Yuri replied. She rested her head on his shoulder, and together they stood gazing up at the stars.