That, in turn, made me think of my husband Bryan’s eulogy, and I wondered suddenly how I was going to get through the events of the next few days. I hadn’t been around death since Bryan died. I wasn’t sure I could do this without somehow falling apart. It was already hard, I realized, just standing here among these somber, dark-suited guests in the comfort of the Smythes’ home. How would I ever survive at a funeral home, much less a cemetery?

“Hello again.”

Startled, I turned to see Alan Bennet at my elbow, a friendly glint in his eye. He certainly knows how to work a room, I thought. I seemed to be the only person left he hadn’t yet had a conversation with.

“Callie, right?”

“Yes,” I said, shaking his hand. “Quite a day this turned out to be, huh?”

“You said it. I still can’t believe what has happened. What a shock to us all.”

He spoke softly, his tone and manner implying familiarity. Looking at his handsome face, I thought, Oh yes, I can definitely see how this man works his magic. He was stunningly handsome, though I sensed a certain emptiness behind the charming facade.

“So where are Marion’s children?” I asked, knowing that Derek must be back from the park by now.

“Haven’t seen Derek,” Alan said. “Judith’s still at the office. She asked me to come tonight and look after things since she couldn’t be here until later.”

“Her father just died today,” I said, remembering my conversation with her at the office. “How on earth can she still be working?”

“She’s the boss,” he said simply. “Lots of loose ends to tie up if she wants to be free for the next few days.”

I mulled that over, thinking I wouldn’t be surprised if Judith begrudged her father the time she would have to take off from work for his funeral. To me, she’d seemed just that callous.

“This morning we were talking about the traveling you do for work,” I said, changing the subject. “I would imagine a clothing manufacturer must have to go all over the world.”

“Oh, yes,” he replied. “Wendell and I have logged so many frequent flyer miles, I think we set some kind of record. Though once he went on dialysis, he had to cut down a bit, of course. It was a lot of trouble.”

“I would imagine it would be kind of difficult,” I said. “Going into foreign countries with all of his medical problems.”

“The hardest part—even a bigger pain than the dialysis—was that horrible nephrotic syndrome diet he was on,” Alan said. “He had to monitor every single bite and every ounce of fluid that went into his body. Just awful.”

“How about his diabetes?” I asked. “Was it under control?”

“Well, no, but that was all part of it, the reason for the kidney failure and everything.”

“He used insulin?”

“Oh, yeah. Hated testing his blood, hated giving himself the shots. You’d think you’d get used to something like that, but he never did.”