Its dark, Jeremy informs her in a small voice.

I know, its okay. See? Here we are. Opening the door fronted by Fionas name, she steps into one-half of the former double parlor. Its easy to picture the tall, double-hung windows, hardwood floors, and marble fireplace looking exactly the same in the late-1800s. The reception area, like Fees adjacent office, is tastefully decorated with nineteenth-century reproduction wallpaper and fabrics, and antique furnishings.

A skinny blonde looks up from the tall potted fern shes watering beside one of the two windows.

Hi, Im Brynn, a friend of Fionas.

Oh hi. The girl looks so uncertain that Brynn knows immediately that her days here are numbered.

Fee has absolutely no patience for indecision.

Thats why Sharon, who, during their college years had been the private secretary for the dean at Stonebridge, was the perfect office manager for her. The older woman doesnt have a wishy-washy bone in her body. If she likes you, you know it on sight. Same thing if she doesnt like you. Brynn, she always liked, and the feeling is mutual.

Toying with the watering can, the new girl asks, You dont have an appointment do you?

Brynn shakes her head, feeling almost sorry for the girl. Shes painfully skinny and inappropriately dressed in a gauze skirt and thick, flat sandals. Her long forehead and plain, egg-shaped face are unnecessarily accentuated by straight, wispy, straw-colored hair parted in the middle.

I need a cup, Jeremy announces, eyeing the Poland Spring cooler.

Is it all right if I get him a drink of water? Brynn asks.

Again, the girl is riddled with incert.i.tude.

Brynn shifts Jeremy to her other hip and fills a paper cup anyway.

He takes a big gulp, squirms, and demands, I want to get down.

No, Mommys going to hold you, she tells him firmly, acutely aware of the stained gla.s.s lamp and porcelain bowl of potpourri on a nearby table.

I shouldnt have brought him,she realizes, and on the heels of that thought,but I had no choice.

What she wouldnt give to have a doting grandma nearby, as most of her friends do. But her father and stepmother are a world away in every sense, and Garths parents are retired in Florida. For Brynn, getting out of the house without one or both the kids is an impossible weekday challenge.

She hands her son the empty paper cup to play with and decides shed better get down to business before Jeremys limited patience runs its course.

You must be Fionas new a.s.sistant, she tells the girl.

Thats right.

What was your name again? Brynn prods, fully aware that she never said.

She isnt rude just young. And clueless.

You poor thing,she thinks sadly.Fionas going to eat you alive.

Oh, Im Emily. Of that, at least, she seems certain.

Nice to meet you. So is Fiona here?

Im not supposed to disturb her unless its an emergency.

Is she alone in there?

Emily nods. But Brynn starts for Fees closed door.

No, wait Its okay, Brynn tells her, as she reaches for the k.n.o.b with the hand that isnt wrapped around Jeremy. Youre not disturbing her. I am.

Settling into a booth in the Cedar Crest Coffee Shop on the northern end of Main Street, Isaac Halpern accepts the laminated menu from a pretty student waitress. She blatantly checks him out.

With his traditional good looksclean-cut dark hair and blue eyes, a strong, but not too strong, nose, and a tall frame thats both lean and muscularhe does get his share of attention from women.

Especially back home in Manhattan, where straight, single, successful men are as valuable a commodity as rent-controlled real estate.

Know what you want? the waitress asks with a toss of her long black hair.

I havent even looked at the menu yet.

She shrugs. Most people already know.

Just give me a minute, okay? he asks, and she drifts away.

The menu is stained with brownish splashes and there is a grain of dried rice plastered to the laminate. Terrific.

Holding it gingerly, Isaac scans the lengthy list of offerings beneath the heading: Breakfast Served 24 Hours Eggs, omelets, French Toast, pancakes, bagels, cereal, fruit, sides of anything you can imagine Pretty much the same menu as in any diner back in New York, but at less than half the price for everything. Pretty much the same setup, toolong counter along one wall, a row of booths along the other. Most of those are empty, and only a few of the stools at the counter are occupied.

But this is a college town; this place is ten times busier at two in the morning after the bars close than it is now.

Just a stones throw from here is the Zeta Delta Kappa house, its gray shingles freshly painted this semester with red trim. Those are the official sorority colors, the red representing the sorority mascot, which is the cardinal.

Why a cardinal?Isaac asked Rachel once, when she was poring over her secret sorority notebook, cramming for the pledge quiz.Why not something more exotic, like a pink flamingo, or a peac.o.c.k?

Because cardinals stand out more than anything else, and theyre cheerful, and theyre everywhere,she replied with her usual Rachel decisiveness.When was the last time you looked out the window and saw a pink flamingo? Theres nothing better than spotting a beautiful, cheerful splotch of red in the trees on a gray winter morning.

There hasnt been a gray winter morning since she said it that Isaac hasnt searchedto no availfor a cardinal.

Did you decide?

He looks up. The waitress is back already, pad poised, hair still hanging around her face. Shouldnt she be wearing a hairnet, or a ponytail, or something? That she isnt doesnt bode well for the cuisine.

Yeah, he should tell her he changed his mind and get out of here.

Instead, he hears himself say, Ill just have a Western Omelet and whole-grain toast. And coffee.

He isnt the least bit hungry, but hes here; he should eat.

And whyareyou here?

Not here in the coffee shop; here in Cedar Crest.

Im here because Because G.o.d, I shouldnt be here. What the h.e.l.l is wrong with me? Why do I keep coming back here every September?

This was a bad, impulsive idea.

Not the first in his life, though, and it surely wont be his last.

All because of her.

Rachel.

The waitress departs. As if on cue, his cell phone begins to vibrate in the back pocket of his jeans; he hurriedly grabs it and flips it open. The number displayed in the caller ID box is a familiar one.

Hey, a female voice says. Its me.

Hey. Hows San Francisco?

Foggy. Hows New York?

He hesitates.

Sunny, he says, because it was supposed to be; he caught the local weather forecast on Z100 before leaving for Ma.s.sachusetts.

Did you remember to feed Smoochy this morning?

The cat. d.a.m.n.

Yes, he lies.

That tabby is so fat he can probably survive off his own body fat for weeks. Still, Isaac should have remembered to feed him. If anything happens to the cat, Kylah will be heartbroken. And furious with him. Particularly when she finds out her pets well-being was sacrificed for this little annual expedition to New England.

No, notwhen .

Not evenif .

She wont find out. Shes safely on the West Coast, h.e.l.l be home in New York before she is, and the worlds fattest feline will be fine.

I miss you, she says with a sigh.

I miss you, too. Hows the conference going?

You know. Same as they always go. Its all a big blur of name tags and handouts and bad food and watered-down drinks. I cant wait to get home tomorrow. Dont forgetmy flight gets in at six and Im coming straight home, so Ill be there.

And he will. Because he cant stay here in Cedar Crest indefinitely.

But h.e.l.l be back again.

And again, and again For as long as it takes.

About to protest the abrupt intrusion, Fiona looks up from her desk to see not the hapless Emily, but Brynn, framed in the open doorway.

Her heart sinks.

She isnt in the mood. True, she was just sitting here, craving a cigarette and brooding about the very thing Brynn is undoubtedly here to discuss, but But I dont want to talk about it. Not yet. Not until Ive decided how Im going to approach this whole mess.

Looks like she doesnt have a choice, though.

Hey. Fiona stands and feigns an affectionate smile at Jeremy, whose lower face appears to be covered in some kind of sticky sludge. Lovely. What are you guys doing here?

Brynn just sends her a level look and closes the door behind herself just as Emily pops up, hovering nervously and looking apologetic.

Ive got to get rid of her,Fiona thinks wearily.Ill fire her first chance I get And replace her with whom?

Listen, we need to talk about this thing, Brynn is saying in a low voice.

Did you get ahold of them? Fiona asks.

Of course Brynn knows who shes talking about. Ca.s.sie and Tildy.

No, I couldnt. She sinks onto the visitors chair beside the desk with Jeremy on her lap.

Did you try?

Brynn shakes her head.

Brynn, you said youd call them last night.

I know I did, but by the time I got the kids ready for bed, Garth was home, and You didnt tellhim, did you?

Are youkidding me?

Shh. Fiona frowns and nods at the closed door, beyond which Emily could presumably be eavesdropping, though she sincerely doubts it.

That would take initiative and, as far as she can tell, her a.s.sistant doesnt possess a blessed ounce of it.

Nor, apparently, does Brynn. She said she would call the others.

Figures. Well, you learned long ago that if you want something done right You do it yourself.

Im just making sure you werent tempted to tell Garth, Fiona says in a low voice. I mean, he had Rachel in cla.s.s, and he was in that faculty search party, so I thought maybe you figured Well, I didnt say anything.You didnt tell anyone, did you? Brynn whispers.

No. Fiona ignores the slightest twinge in the vicinity of her conscience. Who am I going to tell?

Jeremy, no! Brynn unpries her sons fingers from the fringed lampshade beside the chair.

He protests loudly as she removes several strands of maroon thread that are plastered to his sticky hands.

Sorry, Fee.

She nods, not about to say that its okay. Because it isnt.