All work, all the time, every part of her life. Me time? Please. Juliet brought work with her on every weekend away, every vacation. She took a bubble bath for effect, only when Oliver had come home from a trip, and she’d run the bath and sprinkle flower petals in and light candles the way no one ever did in real life, and it was all for seduction, to say, “Sure, we’ve been married for fifteen years, but I’m still a voracious sex beast, you betcha!” Long walks on the weekends or after school were to incorporate health and outdoor time into the girls’ lives, even if Juliet’s brain was fogged with all the work she had to do to earn that fat salary, how late she’d have to work to make up the time spent walking, how to help Sloane catch up on reading and make gluten-free, peanut-free, dairy-free cupcakes for Sloane’s class and later have sex with Oliver so he wouldn’t forget he loved her, or take Mom out to dinner because she deserved it, or plant flowers in the front yard because Oliver’s British mother loved gardens and had once said a house without a garden is a house without a soul, and then what about the mentorship thing she’d promised to do for Yale, and the workshop (not keynote) she was giving at the annual American Institute of Architects conference on risk management (not the sexy one Arwen was doing on “breaking boundaries”) and right, their cleaning lady had moved and Juliet hadn’t found another one yet so she had to clean the house because she liked things tidy and couldn’t relax if things were messy.

“Shit,” she said aloud. “Next time, faint, you idiot.”

She left her closet, intending to take a shower, but there was her phone, buzzing on the desk of her study.

Mom. She always took calls from Mom.

“Sweetheart,” her mother began, “I’m real sorry to have to tell you this, but your dad’s been in an accident, and he’s hurt. Real bad. I’m on my way to Lawrence and Memorial.”

Her heart thudded hard, rolling in a sickening wave—once, twice, three times.

“I’m on my way,” Juliet said, her voice firm. “Hang in there, Mom, I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

Smoke jumper. She would make a great smoke jumper.

CHAPTER FOUR

Sadie