Page 34 of The Last Session

“The Center for Relational Healing?” Amani looked over my shoulder. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“Me either.” The About Us tab showed a full-length picture of the podcast couple. The guy was in his forties, windblown and confident, with a sleeve tattoo that gave him an aging rocker vibe. The woman gazed out from underneath his arm with an impish smile, her nose ring glinting. She looked to be in her thirties or forties, with large eyes and a lot of dark hair tumbling over her shoulders. They were both tan.

Moon and Sol met in Los Angeles ten years ago and knew their partnership would have a lasting effect on the world…

“Isn’t ‘Sol’ the Spanish word for ‘sun’?” Amani asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “So they’re calling themselves Sun and Moon.”

“Now that’s cheesy.”

I clicked on the Photos tab, stopping on a picture of a swimming pool surrounded by swaying palms and colorful lounge chairs.

“Look.” Amani showed me a picture of a group in front of a huge firepit. One woman was crying, while Moon crushed her in a hug, also crying.

“That’s intense.” I clicked on the Retreat tab.

The Center is typically closed to everyone but full-time students. However, once a month we offer a weekend three-day intensive for those who would like to get a taste of our philosophy. People often come out of this weekend with their entire lives changed. In fact, we offer a money-back guarantee to those who don’t believe the CRH Method caused their relationships to blossom.

There was a sign-up tab below with monthly dates—the next was this coming weekend.

I scrolled down to the Details section, which included pricing. I blew out a breath. Damn. Four thousand dollars for two nights? Plus airfare to… I scrolled to the bottom of the page for the address. New Mexico?

“It looks kind of cult-y, right?” Amani said, just as I noticed the symbol at the bottom of the page. Holding my breath, I zoomed in, blowing it up until it covered the screen.

A dotted spiral trapped in a triangle.

“This is the symbol!” I cried. “Catherine’s tattoo! It’s also the birthmark fromStargirl.” I slumped back in my chair as wonder and relief filtered through me. This was the message I’d been searching for.

Amani looked confused. “Why would the retreat center use a symbol from an old movie?”

“No idea. But Catherine is clearly connected to this place. She might be there now.”

“But what if it’s a coincidence?” Amani asked. “Or what if Catherine did go there, and liked that they used the same symbol and decided to get a tattoo? Or—who knows, maybe she just likes the podcast.”

“The bio says that Moon and Sol met in LA,” I said. “Where Catherine lived. Shemust’vemet them there.”

“Maybe.” Amani looked unconvinced, but it didn’t matter. I was certain this was what Catherine had wanted me to find.

The rest of the day flew by, but I pulled out my phone and started googling on the subway home. There were several articles about the Center for Relational Healing on second- or third-tier women’s sites, all with titles that were variations on “THIS RETREAT PROMISES YOU A PARTNER.” I was surprised to read that the group basically guaranteed that you’d find “your person or persons” within three months.

One article, titled “Healership Stories: A Conversation with Moon and Sol,” called them a “spiritual power couple.” The short and clearly paid-for interview showed pictures of Moon and Sol in meditation poses and laughing in each other’s arms. My eyes lingered on one paragraph.

Moon: We think it’s possible to meet a highly compatible partner or partners. But you have to be willing to do the work first. If you don’t, your own ghost lover will get in the way. That’s the image you have of the perfect partner, which is made of parts of yourself that you’ve disowned. For example, if a woman has cut herself off from her power—something requested of women all the time—then she might long for a powerful partner. But if she’s able to reconnect with her power, then she can find someone who does or doesn’t have that trait; it’s no longer a need stemming from lack.

That was actually interesting. I remembered “imago theory” from one of my clinical classes; it seemed like the same thing. Could I apply that to Ryan? Had he had traits that I longed for? With his confidence and ease, maybe so. I felt a sudden stab of loss and pushed him out of my mind.

I clicked on aMediumarticle from a woman who’d gone to the retreat. She coyly stated that she couldn’t say too much about the methods—apparently people were sworn to secrecy—but that she’d been deeply affected and had in fact met her “life partner” just three weeks later. I tracked her down on Instagram—and indeed, there was her dude, smiling across various restaurant tables at her.

I also found an article about the Center on an art site, with pictures of the mosaicked building and pool. It named the artist as Steven Leister and said the building was a “communal living space in the desert.”

Nothing overtly negative or cult-y yet. But it felt strange that thearticles only referred to Moon and Sol by their first names. And there was very little about their backgrounds—just one piece that referred to Moon as a “yoga and wellness instructor from Mexico” and Sol as a “former musician and entertainer.”

A hit came up on Reddit in a thread for empowerment workshops. A Redditor had responded to someone who’d recommended the Center for Relational Healing:

STAY FAR, FAR AWAY FROM THIS PLACE

Well, that was ominous. Several Redditors wrote back, asking for more info, but the person never responded.

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