Abigail lifted her glass. She was struck by the graciousness of both these women. Alexa had to be nice to her, but Ming was a revelation. She had to admit to herself that she thought polished manners ceased to exist west of the Mississippi. She expected this part of the world to be a lot more casual, bohemian, on the verge of uncouth. The kind of place where wine was served in jelly jars and everyone stood around in the kitchen eating food with their hands. But that was not the case at all. These women lived up to her exacting standards: a cocktail napkin for every glass.

“Now that I’m here, I’m looking forward to the weekend. Thank you for hosting Sarah and me. It’s very generous of you. When Penny invited us, I didn’t understand the burden in terms of hotels. And tomorrow night, another friend of yours has invited us to dinner? Very kind.”

Penny had sent a minute-by-minute schedule for Friday and Saturday, most of which was wedding related, but there were a few slots for meals. Friday night was dinner at Toots’s house, which sounded intriguing. “This is a treat for me. Don’t tell my husband that this is really a vacation!” Abigail confessed. The more she divulged, the more relaxed she felt.

“I’m off,” Sarah announced loudly. During the conversation she had slipped out of the pool and into the guest wing, and now wore the raspberry sheath dress from the engagement party. Her wet hair was wrapped up in a bun and she wore silver hoop earrings. A swipe of lip gloss and mascara highlighted her features. Her young skin was tan and dewy. She looked, Abigail thought, quite pretty.

“Where are you off to?” Ming asked with delight.

“My brother’s friend Lloyd is coming to pick me up and show me the town. Will he be able to get past the gate? I didn’t know about the gate when we set this up.”

“I’ll ring down. What’s his full name?” Ming asked.

“Lloyd Chandra.”

“And is this a date?” Ming asked playfully.

“No. He was my brother’s roommate at Fordham. I’ve only met him once, at Thanksgiving years ago. But he’s a scientist and works at UCSB now. Chase connected us. We’ve been texting back and forth for a few weeks. He’s the best man at the wedding.”

Again, Abigail was surprised that her children had any contact with each other outside of her sphere of influence. And that Sarah was ditching her without warning. But she was shocked that Lloyd was the best man. Chase hadn’t mentioned him in years. She blurted out, “He’s the best man? I had no idea.”

Sarah shook her head. “Gotta keep up, Mom.”