"Yes, I do. I have to be there for you. That's more important than my need to keep everything calm."

When Callie's phone rang later that night, she jumped as though she'd been stung. She was wearing her earphones, so all she had to do was press a switch to hear Regan's voice.

"I don't think I'd be very good at police work."

Even though she was tense, Callie found herself smiling. "Where are you?"

"I'm at a coffee shop across the street from the restaurant. I actually went inside and asked for the group from Cambridge Software, and some guy tried to lead me there. I'm sure they thought I was crazy when I said I was just checking."

"What are you going to do? Just sit there?"

"Well, I could go wait in the lobby of the hotel. It's just down the street from the restaurant."

"Which hotel?"

"The York. That's where Cambridge puts everyone up."

"Not Marina. She only stays at the Sheffield. She says it's for the points, but it's probably so she can have a parade of women striding through the lobby and not have any co-workers know."

"Not what I wanted to hear tonight," Regan said softly.

"d.a.m.n! I'm sorry. I'm making things worse, aren't I?"

"You're not. It's really helping to have you to talk to. Can you look up the Sheffield? I don't know the address."

"Yeah, of course." As she searched she asked, "Aren't you afraid of being spotted in the hotel?"

Quietly, Regan said, "Marina doesn't know what I look like."

Letting out a breath, Callie said, "Right. Right. But you don't know what she looks like either."

"Yes, I do. I googled her. Plus, there's a picture of her on the company website. She's pretty."

"Okay-so you know what she looks like and when she goes into the hotel alone, I hope you can go home and try to make up with Angela."

"I hope so too. I really do. If Marina goes into that hotel alone I'm going to wipe this from my mind and throw myself into making a fresh start with Angela." She paused for a moment. "After I tell her I know she was lying about how many times they were together. A relationship has to be based on trust. I'll find out the truth or it's a waste of my time."

Callie had to wait almost two hours to hear from Regan again. She spent the time trying to do some work but hadn't been able to concentrate for ten minutes straight. Even though it was dark out, she was considering going for a run when the phone rang. She pressed the switch and knew, without a word being spoken, that something very bad had happened. "Regan? Are you there?"

"Yes." Harsh, ragged breaths filled the line. It sounded like she was on the verge of sobbing. "They went into the hotel together, and I decided to give them a few minutes just in case they were exchanging files or doc.u.ments or whatever the f.u.c.k they do."

With her heart thudding in her chest, Callie asked, "How long ago was that?"

"Thirty or forty minutes. I don't know what to do. Do I go up there? Do I accost her and make a scene in the lobby when she comes back down? Do I go home?"

She sounded so remarkably sad, so disconsolate, that Callie desperately wanted to be there for her. She wished she could magically appear in Boston and hug Regan so she knew she had a friend-someone she could trust who knew how it felt. "What do you think would make you feel better?"

"I'd like to go home...to my parents' home. I want to tell my mom what happened and have her make it all go away."

"How far is that?"

"I don't know," she said, sounding confused. "Maybe a half hour? But..." She took in a shaky breath. "My mom's in Florida now. I forgot."

"Do you know anyone who lives closer? Anyone you trust?"

"My sister is about ten minutes away."

"Do you think she's home?"

"Probably. Or she's just getting home. She usually leaves work by eleven."

"Think about it for a minute. Will she listen to you? Will she be on your side?"

Regan barked out a short laugh. "She acts like she likes Angela, but she doesn't. She'd like nothing more than for me to break up with her."

"She sounds like the right person to be with. Call her before you go, so you don't waste a trip, and don't leave before you're sure you can drive safely." A thought occurred to her and she added, "Take a cab. I'm worried enough about you as it is."

"Thanks," Regan said, sounding a little more in control. "I just don't want to see her."

"Then get out of there. Go to the hotel bar or to another place nearby. Don't put yourself in a position you don't want to be in." She could hear Regan moving around, then she heard some street noise.

"I'm going to go to my car, if I don't freeze to death first. Then I can call my sister and make some plans."

"Okay. It sounds like you have things under control. But promise to call me when you get where you're going. I'm worried about you."

Regan's footsteps echoed noisily and Callie could tell she was in a parking garage. She heard a car door open and when it closed the background noise was greatly reduced.

"Thanks. I'm not thinking clearly."

"That makes perfect sense. Don't forget to call me back."

"I won't. Thanks for being there for me. I could tell how tense this whole thing made you."

"You'd do the same for me." That was undeniable. You could rely on people with morals.

Chapter Nine.

During Regan's move back to her parents' house and the difficult weeks that followed, she called Callie almost daily for support.

"My mom and dad are in town for my nephew's birthday, and they're making noises about having me committed," Regan said one afternoon.

"Committed? Are you joking?"

"Yeah. Kinda. But they're both hovering over me so bad that I'm about to lose my mind. Then they'll really have reason to have me locked up."

"Doesn't sound like fun in the Manning house. It must be hard on your parents too."

"Yeah, it probably is. But my mom knows I can't take much supervision. We have a long history," she added, chuckling.

"So you're still really sad?"

"Yeah. Moody, too. And the smallest thing makes me cry...at work! I've never done that. That's what makes them think I'm bonkers."

"Are they p.i.s.sed at Angela? My mom wants to have Marina neutered."

"Nah. I didn't tell them why we broke up. I don't want them to dislike her." She sighed. "It took me so-o-o long to get everyone to even act like they liked her. All for nothin'."

"You've mentioned something like that before. Why's she so hard to like?"

"She's not. She's actually really charming. But she's a lot older than I am."

"Really? Hey! I have no idea how old you are. Or how old Angela is, for that matter."

"I was twenty-seven when we got together and she'd just turned forty."

"Ooo, my mom would have been suspicious of that too. Was your age difference a problem?"

"Not for us."

"Really? I'd think it would be hard to combine friends."

"We didn't do much of that. We made new friends from our neighborhood. We live...lived on a really nice block in Cambridge. We had barbecues and Christmas parties and all sorts of things. I'm gonna miss those guys," she said, sniffling.

"You can still see them."

"Nah. Wouldn't work. It was a neighborhood thing. Usually pretty extemporaneous, you know? You'd see someone out and you'd ask them over for a beer. That kinda stuff. We babysat a lot and walked dogs when our neighbors were on vacation."

"Sounds nice," Callie said wistfully.

"It was. We had a great house."

"We had a great apartment. High floor, great views, nice pool. We were right in the middle of all of the action in Dallas. I could go running in a park that was really close."

"I could run along the Charles."

"You run?"

"Yeah. I have since high school."

"Me, too. I ran cross-country."

"I ran the four hundred and the eight hundred when the coach was desperate."

"Oh, I bet you were great."

"You'd lose that bet," Regan said. "I was only decent, but I loved being on a team."

"I always wanted to run cross-country in an area like you live in...you know, where they have hills and streams and forests. We usually ran on flat golf courses."

"Really? I don't know much about the West. I've never been further west than New York."

"You're not missing a thing in my humble opinion. Phoenix is a good place to generate solar energy. Other than that..."

"I like where I am. But I can't afford to stay in Cambridge by myself, so I've got to look for a place. I used to complain a little about driving to Scituate every morning, but I should have kept my big mouth shut."

"Is Cambridge nice?"

Regan sounded like she was going to cry again. "It was perfect. Something about it was perfect for me. It was so vibrant and alive. Having all of the students around probably helped. But it's got such great history too. You'd love it."

"I've never been east of New York, but I love history."

"What is it with New York? Why stop there?"

"The buildings are so tall you can't get over them. At least they looked tall to me when I was there. I was just a kid though, so everything might actually be five or six stories."

Chuckling, Regan said, "Why were you in New York?"

"My dad took me on a business trip with him when I was young. My sisters were so jealous. It was wonderful."

"You have sisters? So do I. I'm the middle of three."

"No kidding? So am I. That's pretty funny. Do you have brothers, too?"

"No, just girls. You?"

"Us too. That's quite a coincidence, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is."

Callie's laugh had an evil edge to it. "Don't you sometimes wish you were an only child?"

Regan laughed as well. "Not very often now, but all the time when I was little. Are you and your sisters close?"

"Yeah. They both live in Phoenix, so I don't see them very often. How about you?"

"I see mine more than I'd like to some days. We all work together."

"Oh, my G.o.d! We couldn't do that in a million years."

Regan laughed. "Sure you could. You just have to get into the habit early on. My parents have owned a restaurant since we were born, and we always were either hanging out or working. It seems completely natural now. I can't imagine working with strangers."

"That's really cool. What kind of restaurant is it?"