“I am taking Roy and Janet to Pagano’s for dinner. You and Matthew will come.” Pagano’s was a sandwich shop in the food court of a mall. My legs were sticky with dried pee, and the pigeon that nearly landed on my shoulder sounded more appetizing than another sandwich. I turned to Matthew and relayed the order. He shook his head emphatically and mouthed, “No! No! No!” I smiled, taking a deep breath.

“Judge, you know what? I think we’re going to pass. Why don’t you, Roy, and Janet go have a nice dinner?” It was the right thing to do. After all, in a few short weeks, Matthew and I would be out of the judge’s bun for good. But Roy and Janet were there for the long haul. It was about time the three of them broke bread together. Maybe something good could actually come from Bob’s death.

“Er, um, OK, Sheila. ROY! ROY! JANET!” Click. OK, that didn’t necessarily sound good, but it was a step in the right direction I supposed.

I sighed with relief: “Skipping a meal never sounded so good.”

Matthew took my face in his hands and just smiled. I got a weird stomach feeling, but not the kind I normally had in Philly. Namely fear, loathing, indigestion. This was different. Something resembling happiness. Could it be?

“Sheila Raj, you are definitely not skipping a meal, at least not tonight. I am taking you anywhere you want to go! Hey—how about that new Stephen Starr place?” He smiled, before bending down and kissing me on the forehead.

“Matthew, let’s save Stephen Starr—you know he just took over New York. How about Ralph’s?”

Acknowledgments

I’d like to thank my agent, Kirsten Neuhaus, for her unwavering dedication and belief in this project from the very beginning. Most of all, thank you, Kirsten, for never screening me out in the face of what can only be described as high-level paranoia. Deep appreciation goes also to Peter McGuigan for providing critical guidance at every step.

My editor, Lauren Wein, is an expert word surgeon; she shaped the amorphous into a working novel. Thank you, Lauren, for your fresh, observant insights and for making me feel funnier than I am.

Thanks to the following people for listening (or pretending to listen) to me drone on about “the book”—patience is particularly virtuous when interminable soliloquies are involved: David Bardeen, Sarah Birdsong, Wendy Browning, Heather Cotter, John Court, Puja Dhawan, Sarah Ellison, Kane Geyer, Sahil Godiwala, Michael Greenle, Patrick Grizzard, Katharine Marshall, Mike McHenry, Jill Meilus, Ana Patel, Kevin Patterson, Suzanne Paul, Lexi Reese, Jill Royster, Erin Russell, Mike Silver, Neil Talegaonkar, Will Tims, Lisa Turvey, Karin and Dan Visnick, Anna Weber, Goldie Weixel, and Christin Wingo.