He did tell her, when he presented her with the unusual garnet-encrusted gold brooch, that it was Victorian hair jewelry.

She thought he meant that it was antique, and that women used to wear it in their hair.

It never occurred to her that the woven brown patch encased beneath an oval of gla.s.s was actually made of hair. Human hair. As her husband explained, it was a nineteenth-century custom to memorialize the dead by making their hair into jewelry.

Doesnt it give you chills, realizing that it was once on the head of someone whos been dead for over a century? Garth asked with a delicious shiver.

It gave Brynn chills, all right.

But she didnt want to hurt his feelings, so she went on wearing it. For awhile, anyway.

She stopped after Caleb was born. Then she tucked it away in her jewelry box, alongside her similarly abandoned sorority bracelet of intertwined silver rosebuds with her old initialsB.C.dangling in two small silver letter charms.

Garth never asked why she wasnt wearing the brooch. By that time, she had stopped wearing any jewelry other than her wedding ring, along with makeup, and stockings, and heels Ive really turned into a housewife drudge,she tells herself as she stands at the sink in droopy, ancient flannel pajamas, pouring soggy cereal into the garbage disposal.

On the heels of that thought, for some reason, she thinks of Tildy.

Well, actually, shes been thinking of her quite often in the month since they last saw each other.

When she first walked up to the table that day at the inn, she didnt miss Tildy looking her over from head to toe.

An hour earlier, Brynn had been so happy to get out of the house looking human for a change. But under her old friends scrutiny, she might as well have been wearing her dingy white T-shirt with the orange SpaghettiOs stain over the right breast.

That day, Brynn was painfully aware that she alone, of the four of them, lacked the right clothes, a manicure, a real hairstylealife .

Then she came home to s...o...b..ry kisses from little boys, and a husband who told her she looked beautiful, and a message from Maggie, a fellow stay-at-home mom who understands what Fee and the others dont.

And Brynn managed to convince herself that she alone, of her four sorority sisters,has a life. The whole package: a stable marriage, healthy children, a real home.

Which she wouldnt trade for anything.

But sometimes, it just might be nice to feel a little less domestic,she cant help but think wistfully as she leaves the boys eating cereal and dashes off to splash hot water on her face and throw on her clothes.

Less domestic, more attractive.

Like Tildy. And Fiona. And Ca.s.sie.

Oh, well. She has a feeling its going to be a long, long time before shes faced with their triple threat againif ever.

Of the trio, shes spoken only to Fiona since that dayand even more sporadically than usual, as Fee has been wrapped up with some important new client. She still hasnt even bothered to return Brynns phone call from last week when she left a message to see if Fee wanted to meet for coffee someday.

Well, at least the unnerving incident that sparked the sorority reunion has all but faded away. n.o.body has surfaced with accusations or blackmail.

Brynn has come to realize that sh.e.l.l probably never know who sent that card.

Yet she cant entirely shake the suspicion that Rachel is alive. That she got up that night and walked away from everything. From her life.

And she just wanted us to know that shes out there somewhere.

Either that, or somebody was watching.

Somebody who wants us to know we werent alone out there that night.

But is that all they want?

The possibilities give her chills.

Thank G.o.d nothing out of the ordinary has turned up in the Saddlers mailbox since September 7.

Nothing more to do with Rachel Not, for that matter, even a wedding invitation from Ca.s.sie.

Do you think well be invited? Brynn asked Fiona as they drove home along the Ma.s.s Pike after lunch that day.

Predictably, G.o.d, I hope notIve got enough on my calendar as it is, was Fionas response.

Unpredictably, Garth said almost the same thing when she posed the question to him back at home.

Why do you hope not? I think it would be fun to go to a wedding for a change, Brynn told him. Considering that all we get invited to these days are kids birthday parties. I swear, if I have to tote one more screaming, sticky, sugar-wired kid out of Chuck E. Cheese Id rather do that than drive for hours to a wedding where we wont know anyone.

Manhattan isnt hours away, and well know plenty of people.

The bride.

And Fee and Tildy.

Thats three people. You can see Fee any time you want, Brynn. And Tildy Well, do you reallywant to see her? You just told me that she gave you dirty looks at lunch.

Not dirty looks. Just she looked me over. You know, my clothes, my hair Im insecure whenever people do that. But I still love Tildy anyway and of course I want to see her. Shes my sorority sister, Brynn tacked on automatically.

Now, however, she realizes its just as well that she probably isnt going to be invited to the wedding and wont be seeing Tildy again anytime soon.

Some people change for the better over the years, and some for the worse.

But some never change at all.

Tildy hasnt.

I have,Brynn thinks as she stares into the mirror above the bathroom sink.What do I possibly have in common with Matilda Harrington these days?

More than you think, Tildy says with a sigh.

Oh, come on how much? Carrot-headed Katie Donovan, one of her coworkers, protests. Shes still clinging to Tildys wrist, examining the new silver-and-Swarovski crystal beaded bracelet that caught her eye just now as Tildy handed her a memo.

Guess.

I dont know a hundred?

Tildy shakes her head.

You mean it wasmore than a hundred? Forget it. Katie drops her wrist glumly. Im broke this week and I cant charge another thing on my Neiman Marcus card. Too bad, because that would have looked great with the black c.o.c.ktail dress Im wearing to your party tomorrow night.

Tildy opts not to tell her that the bracelet cost four hundred. On sale.

She does opt, generously and on a whim, to unfasten the silver toggle and hand it over to Katie. Here.

What are you doing?

Take it.

Youre letting me borrow it?

You can have it.

What?

Its yours.

Katie squeals and throws her freckled arms around Tildys neck. Are you serious?

Totally. Take it.

But Its so expensive. I cant do that.

Sure you can. I dont really like it that much anyway.

Katies sparkly green eyes dim at that, but only slightly.

She fastens the bracelet around her wrist and admires it. Well, thank you, Tildy. This is so sweet of you.

No problem. See you tomorrow night.

Tildy stops in the break room for a coffee refill and heads back to her desk, pleased to have done a good deed for the day. She really didnt like the bracelet muchit was an impulse buy, made when she was browsing the jewelry counter at Neiman Marcus the other day. She figured shed wear it once and toss it into her jewelry box with her old rosebud sorority bracelet.

But this is much better. Katie loves it. Tildy feels good about that And maybe a little better about herself.

Too bad you dont acc.u.mulate points for good deeds that you can trade in to appease the bad that youve done.

Stop thinking about that.

But she cant.

Tildy went all these years, ten years, a whole decade, without so much as a twinge from her conscience.

Why did it have to surface now?

Why, indeed.

The birthday card.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME.

XOXOXOXO, R.

And seeing them all again last month, Fiona, Brynn, and So I hear tomorrow is a special day for you.

Tildy gasps at the sudden voice behind her, nearly spilling the hot coffee that sits precariously close to the edge of her desk.

Oh, sorry Did I scare you? Ray Wilmington looms above her, wearing a short-sleeved dress shirt with a tieone of her ultimate pet peevesand an apologetic expression.

Scare me? No, not at all, she says sarcastically, scowling as she moves the mug, which is imprinted with the name of a catering company, to a cheap coaster etched with the name of the nonprofit. I never get scared when somebody creeps up behind me.

I wasnt exactlycreeping .

Not only were you creeping,she wants to tell him,but you area creep .

She doesnt say it, though, unnerved by the way his black eyes are fixated so intently on her as he thoughtfully strokes his beard. Whenever he looks at her that way, she feels like hes trying to see something that isnt there. Or, perhaps, that hes seeing something she doesnt want him to see.

He perches on the edge of her desk in an unwelcome intimate posture. I didnt know your birthday was tomorrow.

Oh, yes, you did.

He knew, because she overheard him talking about it the other day On her way to the break room, she had just seen him stroll in ahead of her, and was thinking twice about continuing on in herself. She wanted to grab her yogurt from the fridge, not find herself cornered by Mr. Cheesy Small Talk.

About to turn on her heel and head back to her desk until the coast was clear, she heard her name mentioned and stopped short. Ray had apparently come upon Katie discussing the birthday party tomorrow night with another of their coworkers, Allison.

Eavesdropping just outside the doorway, Tildy could hear Ray grilling them about the party, trying to sound casual, obviously hurt that he wasnt invited.

Hes kept some distance from her ever since: a welcome reprieve from his typically undaunted presence in her daily life.

But hes continued to watch her from afar, same as always. She often feels his gaze on her even before she looks up to find him gawking. But at least he hasnt been popping up constantly to flirt awkwardly with her and ask incessant, annoying questions.

Until now.

So, what are you doing to celebrate? he asks.

Nothing much.

Really? But You should really celebrate. Go all out. I mean, after all, its a milestone birthday.

How do you know that?

A little bird told me.

A little bird told him? Oh, for G.o.ds sake. Must he always spew antiquated cliches? Hes worse than her Great Aunt Katherine, who, at least, being a relic herself, has an excuse.

Tildy flashes Ray a tight-lipped nonsmile. I really should get back to work.

She gestures at the pile of paperwork on her desk, which she hasnt touched in a couple of days. It can wait, but he doesnt have to know that.