“I’m not joking. The woman could’ve been her double, except for the hair and the clothes. Helen wouldn’t have been caught dead in that frightful sweater.” She craned her neck to try to keep the market in sight. “Pull over, Donald. I’ve just got to go back and get a closer look.”

“As soon as I find a parking place.”

“It looked just like her,” Pamela repeated. “So odd, and it gave me such a jolt. Poor Helen. I was one of the last people who spoke to her before that terrible accident.”

“And so you said, a hundred times for six months after she drove off the cliff.”

“Something like that stays with you.” Bristling, Pamela straightened in her seat, sent her nose in the air. “I was very fond of her. She and Evan were a beautiful couple. She was so young and pretty, with everything to live for. When something tragic like that happens, it reminds you that lives can change with the snap of a finger.”

By the time Pamela managed to drag her husband back to the market, Nell was unpacking her single bag of groceries and trying to decide between couscous and a spicy new sauce she wanted to try out on red potato wedges.

She decided to decide later, and flipping on the portable stereo Zack had left at her cottage, she settled down with Alanis Morissette and her issue of Saveur.

While she crunched on an apple from the basket on her table, she pulled over her notepad and began to scribble ideas sparked from an article on artichokes.

She moved from there to a feature on Australian wines and noted the writer’s opinion of the best values.

The sound of footsteps didn’t jolt her now, but gave her a warm feeling as she glanced over to watch Zack come in.

“A little early for the upholder of law and order to call it a day, isn’t it?”

“I swapped some time with Ripley.”

“What’s in the box?”

“A present.”

“For me?” Shoving her notebook aside, she got up, stepped hurriedly to the counter. Her mouth fell open. Love and lust tangled and burned inside her.

“A food processor. Commercial grade, top of the line.” With reverent hands, she stroked the box the way some women might stroke mink. “Oh, my God.”

“According to my mother, if a man gives a woman anything that plugs into an electric socket for a gift, he’d better be fully paid up on his life insurance. But I didn’t think that rule applied here.”

“It’s the best on the market. I’ve wanted it forever.”

“I’ve seen you ogling it in the catalog a few times.” He caught her when she launched herself into his arms to cover his face with kisses. “I guess I’m not going to need that life insurance.”