“I’m okay … I guess I know how to take care of myself … I wonder what Aimee will be like. Not that I’m trying to box her in with expectations. I mean obviously I’d like her to be beautiful and brilliant—healthy, that’s the most important thing. Healthy. So you’re saying I need to get to know her before I work out my plan.”

“You may not need a plan,” I said.

“No?”

“A lot of people have good instincts.”

“But some don’t.”

“How about your mother?”

“She had excellent instincts,” she said. “The best.” Wide smile. “Now I feel better. Saying something nice to make up for the other thing.”

She crossed her legs. “That was your plan, right? To guide me to say something nice.”

“Like I said, Holly, sometimes a plan isn’t necessary.”

“You knew me well enough to just let me go on.”

“You know yourself.”

“I guess I do, Dr. Delaware.” She placed a hand on her belly. “This is mine, I own it. I’m not saying Aimee’s not a separate person, I get that. I’m talking about the process. Carrying her, nurturing her with my body. A woman needs to feel she owns that … I feel much better now. If I need you can I call?”

“Of course.”

“I don’t care anymore about the house or the remodeling or any material crap,” she said. “That kind of ownership doesn’t matter.”

CHAPTER
30

I made a couple of tuna sandwiches, brought them to Robin’s studio.

She said, “The perfect man,” washed sawdust from her hands, gave me a kiss. We ate near the pond, talked about everything but work, returned to work. Blanche chose to stay with Robin but she licked my hand first.

I said, “Master diplomat.”

Robin held out the half sandwich she’d wrapped in a napkin. “More like I’ve got the goodies.”

“Definition of diplomacy.”

I sat wondering what Adriana Betts had done for money and lodging during the months between leaving La Jolla and showing up dead in the park.

Maybe she’d saved up enough to coast. Or perhaps she’d resorted to what she knew best: taking care of other people’s offspring. I printed a list of every employment agency in L.A. County that advertised nannies, au pairs, governesses, any sort of in-house staff.

For the next hour, my lie was glib and consistent: I was Adriana’s potential employer and she’d listed the agency as having handled her in the past. I must have been pretty convincing because I encountered a lot of outrage at the falsehood. Several people said I was lucky to learn about Adriana’s poor character early on. Most made sure to let me know they had far superior candidates.