“Oh, Brynne,” Sara said, her tone tender now. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have opened my big mouth.”

Brynne recovered quickly, mainly because she didn’t want anybody else to see her shedding ridiculous tears, like a schoolgirl ditched on prom night.

She knew a thing or two about that.

“I’m all right,” she insisted, not quite meeting Sara’s eyes, though she could feel her friend’s gaze probing, however kindly, into things she didn’t want to reveal. “It’s just, well, all the stress of getting the restaurant ready for last night—”

“Right,” Sara agreed, though she was only being polite, and Brynne knew it. “Relax, Brynne. Have another glass of wine, and then we’ll get dinner on the table. And I’ll be a model of tact from now on.” She paused to cross her heart. “I promise.”

Brynne laughed, in spite of herself.

“What?”

“You, a model of tact,” Brynne replied. “I can’t picture it.”

Sara laughed, too. Then she leaned forward and hugged Brynne.

Before either of them could say anything, a ruckus erupted in the general vicinity of the front door.

Both women left the kitchen, Sara untying her apron as she went.

Melba Summers had just arrived, wearing a soft, formfitting red dress and strappy high heels. Since she was rarely seen in anything but a uniform, she made quite an impression.

She was carrying a covered bowl in the curve of one arm, and she beamed at her daughters as they rushed her, shrieking in delight.

“What are you two doing here?” Melba asked, in genuine surprise. “You were supposed to be spending the night with your grandmother!”

“Dad made arrangements with Grandma and had one of his men pick us up at her place,” Jill said, bouncing happily on the balls of her feet. Like her sister, Carrie, Jill would grow up to be a stunner; they both resembled Melba. “We got to ride in a Hummer!”

Just then, Dan filled the doorway to the den, taking in his ex-wife’s wildly curly ebony hair and knockout figure and looking as though he’d just been poleaxed. Eli stepped around him, a slight grin curling one side of his mouth.

“Hello, Deputy,” he said. “Lookin’ good.”

She made a face at him, but her eyes were bright with mischief.

Melba searched the room for a safe place to land her gaze and found Sara. “I brought Waldorf salad,” she said, almost shyly, holding out the bowl she carried.

Sara hurried to take the bowl and make her guest comfortable. “I’m assuming my brother told you Dan would be here,” she said in a loud whisper, slanting a challenging glance at Eli.

Eli raised both hands, as if in surrender. “I told her,” he swore.