“I’ll say. Maybe I did the wrong thing. Maybe I shouldn’t have taken her.” I looked at Oliver. “Was I prioritizing Bill’s needs over Iris’s?” It hit me then how deeply involved in our lives Oliver had become. He was a friend. And he knew the little unit of the three of us better than almost anyone. As I studied his face, I had a terrifying thought: Maybe Oliver was the one who set Bill up.

“Iris needed to see her father’s face and hear his voice when he said he was innocent. That was important. You did the right thing.”

Maybe it was that smooth British accent that did it for me, but suddenly I felt guilty for having even considered Oliver. He was on our team. He always had been.

“What do I do, Oliver? How can I help?”

“Look, Charlotte, the reality is that there’s not much you can do. The other reality is that the SEC starts these investigations ages before we even know about them, so I don’t have any idea what they have. Once the prosecution provides me with their discovery, I’ll be able to put the missing pieces together, solve this. I know I will.”

I sighed. I certainly hoped he was right. “I want to play offense, Oliver.”

He nodded. “Me too. But, unfortunately, that’s not the game we’re in right now.”

I let that sink in. He was right, of course. I felt like I was playing defense in every single area of my life. “Let me know if you think of anything,” I said.

“Will do.” He paused. “I’ll grab you tomorrow to get your car.”

Small mercies.

Grace, Alice, and Julie were waiting for me when I walked in the back door. Silently, Grace grabbed a bottle of wine and four glasses, and we all followed her out the door, down the steps, and onto the beach.

A gentle breeze was blowing, and something about the way the birds were chirping back and forth made me feel like they understood what was going on in my life. But if they didn’t, the three women around me certainly did. I had, suddenly and fiercely, lost my footing in the world, just like they had.

“Well, welcome to the lost ladies club,” Julie said, putting her arm around me as we walked out to the shoreline.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “And what a prestigious club it is.”

“Waiting list a mile long,” Grace said in a wistful tone totally opposite from what it should have been.

I nodded as Grace handed us each a glass and Julie poured.

We sat down on the sand, which was cool and a little damp. It was soothing to feel a part of this beach.

“So, how did it go?” Grace asked.