Abigail had not stopped talking to George since the minute he picked her up from the airport in the old Mercedes. Abigail missed the smell of Ricky’s new Lexus, but she was glad to see her husband, if only to have a new set of ears. Sarah had proven to be a terrible travel companion, alternating between sleeping and ignoring her on the five-hour flight home. But George was eager to hear the many details about the Montecito trip, as if he had really missed his wife and found her to be the most interesting woman in the world, asking follow-up questions to all her commentary. The conversation started and ended with the shocking news about the wedding, of course.

“And we were right in the middle of celebrating when Penny called and dropped the bomb! Well, Alexa immediately went into the other room to speak privately, but you know, my good hearing. I heard Penny say that Alexa had been a terrible role model for her. Didn’t I, Sarah?” Abigail looked to her daughter for confirmation. She was in the back seat, earbuds in and texting furiously, presumably to Lloyd or about Lloyd. “Have you heard from Chase? I spoke to him a few days ago but he was in the middle of work and, well, you know how that goes with him.”

“I haven’t. I’m sure this is a simple misunderstanding, and they’ll get it sorted out,” George replied, not taking his eyes off the road. Driving through Stamford on I-95 at rush hour was his personal Le Mans. “It’s a shame. I secured a good deal on a tent rental with a company out of Ventura. Hate for that discount to go to waste.”

“You didn’t . . .”

“I did. You know Antonio who runs the pro shop at the club? His cousin lives out there. Works for a big events company, if you can believe that. He said he’d set me up a tent at half price. See? I told you it was no big deal.”

Abigail shot him a look. He did one thing and expected praise after all she’d done to hold their lives together? “Well, Alexa said we should keep moving forward with plans. No cancellations, so don’t give Antonio’s cousin the bad news yet.”

“Sounds like you and Alexa reached a détente.”

“Not a détente. That would imply there was hostility, and there wasn’t. We didn’t know each other, that was all. The assumption that two women should automatically become friends simply because they share gender is outdated, George. But now that I know her a bit better, I like her. A lot. There’s a lot to admire in her. We work well together.”

George sniffed a bit. “I apologize for bringing the assumptions of the patriarchy down on you.”