“He needs someone to tell him to get off the couch and walk the girl down to her car. Metaphorically speaking. He needs a nudge. One that may change the course of his life. You know as well as I do, work is not a substitute for a relationship. It’s why you have Penny. And I married Hazel twenty years after I let Vanessa leave.”

That and the land. “I can’t tell Chase what to do.”

“No, you can’t. But the mayor can,” Simon retorted. “And you can work on Penny. Something has rattled her. You should fly to New York and find out what it is. Perhaps she’s not pining. Maybe she’s thriving. She’s a grown woman. She’s allowed to change her mind. Remember when you were thirty? You were managing million-dollar budgets on sets all over the world. She’s as capable as you. She may know exactly what she’s doing. Maybe she really doesn’t want to live in Queens. Or be a political wife. It’s not for the faint of heart. Even my wife, who barely registers my time in London, isn’t keen on attending any formal events. And, you weren’t exactly on board with this whole thing, as I recall, so Penny’s throwing you under the bus a bit.”

“That’s exactly what I feel like. Like I’ve been hit by a bus.” Alexa felt a heaviness in her whole body. “I feel like my own choices are coming home to roost. What if I somehow ruined her for marriage?”

“You brought Penny into this world with love and intention. That’s the most any parent can do,” Simon said, visibly yawning.

Alexa felt tears prick in her eyes. She sometimes did wish Simon were Penny’s secret father. “Thank you, Simon. Lots of love.”

“To you too.” And the screen blinked off.

Alexa had been trying for weeks not to let Penny’s grievances bury her. Maybe Simon was right. This was her chance. She could get Chase off the couch. And she had the Merry Widows, with a corporate jet in the wings, waiting for their assignment. Abigail, too, who’d been adding thoughts and observations to her Google Doc like it was high-level oppo research: Chase looks thin. Chase came out to the house for Labor Day weekend for no good reason. Chase told Lloyd he regrets not sending flowers the day after the fight.

It was time to act.

She opened the drawer in her kitchen where she kept all the cards of service people who had fixed her appliances or installed a new garage door opener or washed her windows. The men who had come into her life to perform the tasks she didn’t want or know how to do and then disappeared. Next to those cards was the one she had tucked away after the engagement party in Connecticut.