The waitress came over and suggested some specials, took their wine orders, and Danielle decided on the ricotta porcini ravioli in a wild mushroom sauce, while Mark had the pork confit with creamy polenta.

"The years in between...How were they?" he asked.

She sighed and set her champagne down. "You know how life is. There have been some good years, some not so good, and, well, it's this up and down thing. Life."

"True." He laughed. "How long were you married for?"

"A little over twenty years. I was traded in for a younger model."

"That guy is a fool." He took her hand and squeezed it.

She smiled and felt heat rise to her cheeks, as she glanced down at her plate. "But I have my two gorgeous daughters who I love and I am now pursuing some of my own dreams."

"Like what?"

"I am currently making my own wines."

"Really?" His eyes opened wide. "Impressive. I am seriously impressed."

"Don't say that until you try them, but I have to tell you that I do think they're pretty good. I'm entering the fall festival in October. Fingers are crossed that I come away with some awards."

"Look at you. I'd like to try some of your wines some time."

"Why don't you come for dinner next week?" She crossed her legs.

"I'd love too. Wednesday is my early day at the office. How does that work?"

"That works great."

From there, the dinner went smoothly as they continued to talk about her wines and his practice. It was good to feel relaxed around a man, and strange at the same time. This was a real date. A real first date so to speak. The food was delicious and the company was ever so desirable. It couldn't get any better.

Over a shared peach cobbler, Danielle decided to ask about his past thirty years away from the wine country.

"I obviously went to medical school back east. I met my ex-wife there. She was a dermatologist, or studying to be one at the time. We moved to Connecticut and had our practices there. It was nice, really."

"What about children?"

He grew quiet and sat back in the booth. A sadness crept into his baby blues and Danielle sensed that she shouldn't have gone there. "We had one. A son. Riley. He died when he was six. He got MRSA. It's a streptococcus virus. Here we were, his two parents, doctors, and our son got and died from MRSA. He had a cut on his knee, a scrape really. You know boys playing out on the playground. I think it was kickball and he fell. I don't know." He cleared his throat. "He didn't go to the nurse, just got back up, wiped off his knee and kept playing. His mom had a late meeting that night and I had a delivery, so the babysitter had him for dinner and she didn't get him into a bath. By the next morning the wound was infected and he had a fever. Things happened rapidly after that. Within three weeks he was gone."

"Mark." She took his hand. "I am so sorry. So sorry."

"My wife Marci and I well, things changed. You know we loved each other but this sadness and pain took hold of our lives and stayed there. We would try and pretend it wasn't there and we even tried to have another child but with no luck, and Marci felt guilty for even trying to get pregnant, so I didn't suggest fertility drugs or any alternatives. I only wanted her to heal. I wanted to heal, but together we couldn't do that. And trust me, we tried for ten years. Finally she found someone that she thought she could love and who could help her heal. Someone who wasn't going to be sad along with her all the time. This guy made her happy and that was all I wanted. We parted as friends and still are, but we knew we could not stay married and be happy. Not with each other anyway."

Danielle was speechless. This man had been through so much more than she could ever handle. To lose a child would have to be by far the worst thing ever.

"I do think I can find happiness again. I do. Moving back here was a step in that direction. And it would appear the fates have stepped in and made sure that you and I connected again."

"I'm glad they did."

"Me too. Ironic in the way they did so." He laughed. "So how is your daughter?"

"She's good. Bigger every day. The pregnancy was a shock, to say the least."

"She's a brave young woman. There aren't a lot of women who would do what she is."

Danielle wasn't quite sure what he meant. There were a lot of young, single women who had babies every day around the world, but she nodded and finished off her wine.

"And how about you? How are you coping with all of this?"

"What can I do? She's my daughter and she's made this decision and I have to support her. I love her and she is an adult, so there isn't much I can say or do, but I sure would like to talk with her some more about it. She's rather closed off and seems to be out of the house as much as she can be."

"She'll talk. Give her time. I conferred with her new doctor and he agreed that the specialist I recommended is the right guy for this."

"Excuse me?" She set down her glass. "Why does Shannon's baby need a specialist?"

He closed his eyes, his face draining of all color and Danielle knew that whatever Mark was about to tell her, it wouldn't be anything good.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

Alyssa Alyssa lit the candles in her cottage, placed the shrimp salad in the center of the table, and took out the bottle of sauvignon blanc. She loved this cottage. It had three smallish bedrooms, one was a guest room, one an office and junk storage room, and one her bedroom. The place wasn't much over fifteen hundred square feet, and it was all decorated in shabby chic and painted in a light lemon.

Alyssa liked to keep fresh flowers in the house that she picked from her garden and there were candles that she used nightly-all to brighten the soul's mood.

As Alyssa finished arranging a bouquet of daisies and blue bonnets, her friends came in one by one. Kat gave Alyssa a hug and immediately took a glass off the counter. "Looks wonderful as always," she said.

"Thank you." Alyssa poured the wine and proceeded to do so for her other two friends. They sat down at Alyssa's table and looked at each other for a few seconds. "Long week?" Alyssa set her glass down.

Everyone sort of laughed and nodded. "Pretty much," Kat said. "But before we get into my stuff, we've been dying to hear how your lunch went with your son. Ian, right? Didn't you get any of my messages? I called you a few times this week."

"Me, too," Jamie said.

Danielle raised her hand. "What gives? You don't return our calls. And you cancelled art class."

"I'm sorry. Of course I do return calls, but well, something came up," Alyssa replied.

"What?" they all asked.

"I went to Los Angeles to meet Ian's family."

"What?" they all said a bit louder this time.

Alyssa nodded. "I didn't plan it. He came here and we had lunch and he's a great kid." They all smiled, seeing the glow that had taken over their friend. They'd never seen Alyssa look so exuberant. "We have a lot in common. He likes to draw and he's a writer and a musician. He's just finished his first year at UCLA and wants to major in film. Then he said that his dad wanted to meet me and wanted me to come down to Los Angeles with him."

"So you did?" Jamie said. "That was brave."

"Seriously brave," Kat said.

Danielle sat stunned.

She shrugged. "It wasn't easy, but I wanted to. I was curious about his family and where he lived and where he'd gone to school. I wanted to know all that I could."

"How was it?"

"Great. His dad is a nice, nice man. And his brothers and sisters, and aunts and uncles are all very sweet people. They truly welcomed me with open arms."

"How about his mom?" Jamie asked.

Alyssa told them about her and how she'd died. For a minute, no one said anything. Kat broke the silence and said what everyone else was thinking. "Alyssa, you're not getting in too deep too soon, are you?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Kat shrugged. "I don't know. It all seems pretty fast to me. I mean you couldn't even tell us about the fact that you'd had a child and we've been your good friends for the last three years. Then Ian comes into your life and suddenly you're meeting his family. With his mom gone, I think that there is a concern as to what Ian expects your role to be and maybe what you want to be to him."

Alyssa took a sip of the wine that tasted like pears and grapefruit. "I don't need to analyze this and I don't need my friends to analyze this. I need you all to be happy for me."

"We are, honey. I think what Kat is saying is that we don't want to see you get hurt." Danielle looked across the table for some support from Jamie, who nodded.

"I'm fine. I don't have any intention of replacing the family he has or the mother he had. Things are going fast. They have to. We don't have a choice. The thing is, Ian has leukemia and he needs a bone marrow donation. I'm going to be tested, and if I'm a match then I am going to donate to my son."

No one said anything for a moment. Kat broke the silence. "Leukemia? I'll be tested too. You never know." She wasn't sure what to say. No one else seemed to know either.

Jamie and Danielle nodded and said they would also get tested.

"Thank you. Thanks for understanding," Alyssa said, overcome by her friends' compassion. She turned to Danielle. "I don't know what you and Shannon have discussed about her child-if she plans to keep the baby or what. But I am telling you that after living all this time wondering what my child was doing, how he was doing, all I can say is that she should keep the baby."

Danielle didn't say anything. She was not ready for this. Not at all. She simply nodded.

"Danielle?" Jamie said.

"Uh-huh."

"What is it? You okay?"

"I'm fine. Tired is all." After just learning about Alyssa's son, the last thing she wanted to do was talk about the baby and what Mark had told her. She hadn't even had the opportunity to speak with Shannon about it. She'd gone to the city with her best friend from high school for the weekend, and Danielle expected her back the following day.

"I don't mean to tell you or Shannon what to do, but meeting Ian has changed things, changed me. I think for the better. I know him being sick is heavy, but I can't believe that I'm going to lose him now. There's a reason for all of this. There has to be," Alyssa said.

"I believe that, too," Danielle replied. "He sounds like a great kid, and you know we'll do anything we can to help."

"Thank you. Salad?" Alyssa pointed to the shrimp salad and stood up to grab the garlic bread out of the oven.

They all piled the salad onto their plates and thought about what to say next. They ate quietly for a moment.

It was of course Kat who broke the silence. Her timing was impeccable as usual. "I'm having a pool party for The Fourth. I've been wanting to have a party and now with my mom here and Amber with us, I think we should have a party. Everyone bring their families. We can do it potluck style," she said.

"Works for me," Jamie said. They all nodded in agreement. "How is it with Venus and Amber both with you?"

"Crazy. Venus is crazy. You'll see. I don't need to say a word. I'll let you all decide for yourselves."

"Speaking of nutjobs, I had lunch with my brother-in-law," Jamie said.

"Uh oh, just by the tone of your voice that doesn't sound too good." Kat piled some more salad onto her plate and refilled her wine glass.

"No, it wasn't. I tried to talk to him about Dorothy and the way she is deteriorating and said that I could use some help with her."

"Has she gotten really bad?" Danielle asked.

"She actually got lost the other day."

"Lost?" they said.

"Yes. Nora was watching one of her soap operas and Dorothy got outside and took a two-mile walk down to the Starbucks, dressed to the nines. Can you believe she walked that far? Two miles! The police were at my place when I got home. It was like a scene out of Cops. Then this older black man brings her home in his car and he's laughing when he gets out. Comes and tells us that she's sure he's Sammy Davis Junior."

"She knew her way home, though? I mean enough to give him directions?" Kat asked.

"I know. I don't get it. I'm happy she made it home but now I've had to pay Nora more money until I figure something out. I hate to leave her at all."

"Why don't you hire someone new?" Danielle asked.

Jamie sighed. "I'm a little tight on money right now. She's about all I can afford."

"Did you tell your brother-in-law about what happened?" Danielle asked.

"No. This was after I met with him. Same day though. And since he'd already told me that he thought we should place her in a home--which I promised Nate that I wouldn't do, and I know it would kill her-I thought it best not to tell him about the incident. She may be losing it, but Maddie and I are the only family she has. David and Susan never visit and he doesn't seem to care."

"What jerks," Alyssa said.

"Oh, honey, I am sorry." Danielle hugged her. "I didn't know things were tight for you. I wish you'd talked to us. Maybe we can help."

Jamie bit her lower lip and shook her head. "Please. You don't need to be sorry. You have a full plate yourself. I can take care of this. It will get better."

"I say we all have some heavy stuff these days. We're a sorry lot, aren't we?" Kat asked, rather tipsily. She held up her glass, "Here's to life, love and all the other shit in between."

The women toasted one another, grateful that one thing that stayed consistent in their ever-changing lives was their friendship.

Wine Lover's Magazine Constants By Jamie Evans In the last column I wrote about life being like a rollercoaster and all the ups and downs we go through. This month over wine and an amazing shrimp salad that Alyssa made at her lovely home, my friends and I continued to deal with life's numerous curveballs.

The uncertainty of life got me thinking about the importance of constants in our lives. Constants can be anything from the bills in the mailbox, to needing gas for the car, to loving family members and caring for good friends. The not-so-fun things like the bills and the gas-the givens-can be annoyances at best and utterly depressing at worst. However, they are there. There's no surprises when it comes to these things. We know that we need money in the bank to acquire even basic needs and when money isn't easy to come by, then we have to figure out if we need to change our lifestyle to keep up with the basic constants in life.

Loved ones and friends are what I consider the joyful constants in life. There are times when even the most wonderful of constants can cause pain and heartache, but that overall feeling of love and warmth given and gotten from these constants makes the bad times tolerable. Loved ones, including pets, cause us to have the best types of emotion. Without these constants, we would never understand love and humor, or pain and sorrow.