Taken by surprise, both by the statement and the lush and outrageous beauty of Anna Spinelli Quinn, Sybill nearly fumbled. “Thank you. I appreciate you tolerating a Sunday-evening intrusion.”

“It’s no intrusion. We’re delighted.”

And, Anna thought, incredibly curious. In the seven months she’d known Phillip, this was the first woman he’d brought home to Sunday dinner.

“Phillip, go watch baseball.” She waved him toward the doorway with the back of her hand. “Grace and Sybill and I can get acquainted.”

“She’s bossy, too,” Phillip warned Sybill. “Just yell if you need help, and I’ll come rescue you.” He gave her a hard, firm kiss on the mouth before she could think to evade it, then deserted her.

Anna gave a long, interested hum, then smiled brightly. “Let’s have some wine.”

Grace pulled out a chair. “Phillip said you were going to stay in St. Chris a while and write a book about it.”

“Something like that.” Sybill took a deep breath. They were just women, after all. A stunning dark-eyed brunette and a cool lovely blonde. There was no need to be nervous. “Actually, I plan to write about the culture and traditions and social landscapes of small towns and rural communities.”

“We have both on the Shore.”

“So I see. You and Ethan are recently married.”

Grace’s smile warmed, and her gaze shifted to the gold band on her finger. “Just last month.”

“And you grew up here, together.”

“I was born here. Ethan moved here when he was about twelve.”

“Are you from the area, too?” she asked Anna, more comfortable in the role of interviewer.

“No, I’m from Pittsburgh. I moved to D.C., wandered down to Princess Anne. I work for Social Services, as a caseworker. That’s one of the reasons I was so interested in your books.” She set a glass of deep-red wine in front of Sybill.

“Oh, yes, you’re Seth’s caseworker. Phillip told me a little about the situation.”

“Mmm,” was Anna’s only comment as she turned to take a bib apron from a hook. “Did you enjoy your sail?”

So, Sybill realized, discussing Seth with outsiders was off-limits. She ordered herself to accept that, for now. “Yes, very much. More than I’d expected to. I can’t believe I’ve gone so long without trying it.”

“I had my first sail a few months ago.” Anna set a huge pot of water on the stove to boil. “Grace has been sailing all her life.”

“Do you work here, in St. Christopher’s?”

“Yes, I clean houses.”

“Including this one, thank the Lord,” Anna put in. “I was telling Grace she ought to start a company. Maids Are Us or something.” When Grace laughed, Anna shook her head. “I’m serious. It would be a terrific service, to the working woman in particular. You could even do commercial buildings. If you trained two or three people, word of mouth alone would get it going.”

“You think bigger than I do. I don’t know how to run a business.”