Ian Ducharme seemed like a man who knew a lot about pleasure, and his eyes searched mine for a moment before he stood and went to the beautiful blond girl. He took Ilena’s arm as they went to the study, and I followed frumpily behind.

Oswald jumped up and came to me, putting his arm around me. “How did it go?”

“We’re finished,” Ian said.

Oswald smiled and said, “Excellent.”

Edna had made dinner, extremely rare lamb, dripping in juices, new potatoes, and tomatoes roasted in balsamic vinegar. It was warm enough to eat outside on the slate patio, and Oswald turned on the tiny fairy lights that outlined the impressive old oak.

Sam opened bottles of a California pinot noir that was as soft and fragrant as the night air. Oswald sat across the table, beside Lily, facing me, and he seemed in an especially lively mood.

Ilena sat beside Gabriel and sipped a glass of water.

“You’re a lucky woman, Ilena, to have such an incredible figure,” Oswald said. “My clients work so hard to get what’s natural to you.”

Lily’s smile seemed stiff. “Is it accurate to say that they work hard, Oswald, when you’re the one performing the surgery?”

He grinned. “They work hard to pay for the surgery.”

“Don’t you like lamb?” Gabriel asked her.

She made a pfft sound and waved her hand. “It is easier not to eat than to be the bulimic with the bad teeth, or to be the sweaty sports girl in the tracksuit.”

“Yes, Ilena,” Ian said, “but dining like this is one of life’s delights.”

He could have said anything, like “What a lovely bowl of bananas,” and I would have found it wildly erotic. Every now and then I caught him watching me, and my body went right into its flight-or-flirt response.

“Ian’s right,” Sam said. “Grandmama and Gabriel, it’s all delicious. So, Ilena, what have you been doing since we last saw you?”

Ilena brought up trips she had taken and said, “I went with Ian to Lviv, to shop for a chalet. Oswald, you must come for the ski parties. So many potential clients are on holidays there, and I only want to see the pretty faces.”

I said, “Lviv is the new Warsaw.”

Ian tilted his head and stared at me. “What was that, Milagro?”

“What? I don’t know. I don’t even know where Lviv is.”

“It’s in the Carpathians,” Oswald said. “Thanks, Ilena. I don’t have much opportunity to get out of the country, though.”

AG filled Edna’s glass and said, “Would you like to go with me there sometime?”

“Do you travel now?” she asked. “You used to hate it.”

“Like Oswald, I was working and had a hard time getting away from my responsibilities.”