Loading the dishwasher, Laura decided to ask some questions of her own. “And you’re a gardener? Or a landscaper? What’s the difference?”

Bob smiled. “Not a lot. I guess a landscaper works with more than plants, and a gardener focuses on what grows. Maybe?”

“Did you go to school for it?” That sounded vaguely insulting, but a quick glance at his face showed he hadn’t taken it that way. I am such a klutz.

“Yeah, I have a degree in horticulture.” Bob looked unconcerned about Laura’s opinion of his education, and something inside her relaxed a little. He reminded her of her brother’s friends. She was the youngest of four, and the only girl. Her brother’s friends had been everywhere throughout her teens, some of them quite consistently. But even if she’d liked any of them, and once or twice she did, she’d gotten the impression they considered her off-limits. Bob had that same reserved energy, the same quiet vibe.

“That’s how I met him, kind of,” said Polly, who’d helped clear the table but was now sitting at it eating a bowl of ice cream.

“Kind of?” Laura was interested.

They both laughed and Polly rubbed her eyebrow and said, “You explain it, I’ve got brain freeze.”

“No,” said Bob, looking under the sink for the dishwasher tablets, “it’s too confusing.”

Polly swallowed her ice cream and looked at Laura. “Follow this if you can: His teacher from college is dating Nina’s boyfriend’s brother’s sister-in-law. That same woman, Lili, has a kid in one of Nina’s book clubs at work, so they met that way, and then Nina met her boyfriend at Lili’s wedding.”

Laura was struggling and frowned. “Wait, the mother’s boyfriend?”

Polly shook her head. “No, her own boyfriend, Tom. Lili’s sister was marrying Tom’s brother. That’s how it all fits together.”

Laura was still confused. “And where do you come into it?” She looked at Bob. “Were you at the wedding, too?”

“Nope.” He’d started the dishwasher and was wiping down the counters. “But I’m close with my old teacher and Lili and her sister, met Nina a few times and then Polly, and Polly told me about the room . . .” He shrugged. “Friends of friends of friends. It’s confusing to me, and I’m part of it.”

“It’s just backstory,” said Polly. “All you need to remember is I am a good person to know when you need somewhere to live.”

“As you proved within twenty minutes of meeting me.” Laura sat down at the table again.

Bob hung the dish towel on the oven door handle and turned to leave the kitchen. “Uh . . . good night, ladies.”