“Boy is Mommy glad to see her two favorite little people in the world!” she said squeezing one yummy cheek against each of her own.

“Mommy sandwich!” shrieked Sruli gleefully. Simi giggled.

It was exactly what she’d needed to get through the rest of the day and by the time she’d put them to bed and came down to eat dinner with Ephraim she was much calmer than she’d been earlier that morning when she run out of the clinic like a madwoman with no thought other than the instinct to flee.

Facing Ephraim was a whole other story. Yael didn’t know quite how to tell him what had happened today. After their wonderful weekend together she’d felt their relationship was finally getting back on track — and now this? How would he react if she walked into the kitchen and told him “Today my partners decided to push me out of the business by hiring someone to replace me.”

True they hadn’t actually said that but anyone with half a brain could see it was the bald truth. The fact that they obviously thought Yael wouldn’t catch on showed just how little they thought of her intelligence.

She sighed as she dished out minestrone soup to Ephraim. “How was your day?” she asked quickly as she sat down hoping to beat him to it.

“Gevaldig” he said beaming. “I felt so refreshed that the learning was extra geshmak.” He took a spoonful of soup. “But I want to hear about you! How’s the star OT doing?”

She’d confided in him on the flight home about her resolution to become the best therapist she could be and Ephraim naturally had applauded this wholeheartedly. Now it seemed like one big not very-funny joke.

Yael squirmed. “Fine.”

“Just fine? How’d all your sessions go? You told me you had great ideas for today.”

Yael kept her eyes trained on her bowl. Why did he always interrogate her about her work? Why couldn’t he ever ask about the kids how her outing to the park had gone what kind of drawings she’d made with them? It was always the clinic as if that was the only thing worthwhile in her life.