The news was music to Sarah’s ears. At least she wouldn’t be there driving her batty the week leading up to the event.

“Aren’t his parents coming to the reunion?” Jessica asked.

“Yeah, but he wanted some extra time with them, since he was flying all this way. He’s so busy, he rarely gets time off for vacations.”

“Well, except to climb mountains with you,” Sarah mumbled.

“Right, of course,” Lia said quickly.

A little too quickly.

Sarah had picked up an odd vibe several times that week whenever Malcolm came up. Something was definitely off. It almost seemed like Lia was singing her husband’s praises to convince or remind herself of them.

“Have you seen your parents yet?” Jessica asked.

“Not yet,” Lia said dismissively.

Obviously the subject of her family was still a touchy one. So why was she holding this reunion in the first place? If she disliked her family, why bring them all together like this?

“Enough about me. I want to hear about you two. Sarah and I have already caught up on her life…” Lia’s look suggested there wasn’t much news there, and she was hopeful Jessica’s and Whitney’s lives were more exciting.

Jessica looked at Whitney to go first, but her cell phone rang and she stood. “Sorry. Work. I have to get this.” She turned to Lia, shaking the cell phone. “This is my life in a nutshell. Excuse me.”

She stepped down off the deck to answer the call, and Lia looked at Jessica expectantly.

“Well…nothing too interesting to tell,” Jessica said. “Life around here is pretty quiet.”

“Oh, come on! There has to be some juicy gossip somewhere in this sleepy little place.” Lia looked unconvinced that things could be simple and uneventful. “Are you seeing anyone?”

Jessica shook her head, her dark curls falling across her tanned shoulders. “No one special. I think I’ve exhausted all dating potentials here.”

Lia shrugged. “That’s one of the reasons I love the city. Lots of new faces. It’s where I met Malcolm. Our law firms were actually on opposite sides of a case. The battles in the courtroom led to another kind of fire.”

Sarah had heard this story twice now.

“Funny how we both grew up in California but had to cross the country to find each other,” Lia said, a dreamy look appearing in her dark-brown eyes. “It was fate.”

Sarah rolled her eyes. Though a month ago, that concept of the universe intercepting a person’s plans would have been met with an eye roll and a scoff…

“That does sound exciting.” Of course Jessica would think so.