Nearly two years had passed since then, and Annabelle still hadn’t overcome her sense of betrayal. At the same time, she couldn’t pretend not to care. “How’s the job?” Rosemary was the longtime marketing director at Molly’s publishing company, Birdcage Press. She and Molly had worked closely together to grow the market for Molly’s award-winning Daphne the Bunny children’s books.

“People are finally getting used to me.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t easy.” For a while Annabelle had wanted it to be hard, wanted her old lover to suffer, but she didn’t feel that way now. Now she simply wanted to forget.

The woman who’d once been her fiancé gazed at her across the table. “I just wish that…”

“Don’t say it.”

“You were my best friend, Annabelle. I want that back.”

The old bitterness resurfaced. “I know you do, but you can’t have it.”

“Would it help if I told you I’m not sexually attracted to you anymore? Apparently the hormones have done a job on me. For the first time in my life, I’ve started to look at men. Very strange.”

“Tell me about it.”

Rosemary laughed, and Annabelle managed a smile in return, but as much as she wished Rosemary well, she couldn’t be her confidante. Their relationship had robbed her of too much. Not only had she lost trust in her ability to judge people, but she’d also lost her sexual confidence. What kind of loser could be in an intimate relationship for so long without suspecting that something was seriously askew?

Her pancakes arrived. Rosemary rose and regarded her sadly. “I’ll let you eat in peace. It’s been good seeing you.”

The most Annabelle could manage in return was a quiet “Good luck.”

Do you get invited to many of Phoebe and Dan’s parties?” Heath asked a few hours later as he steered his BMW into the long, wooded drive that led to the Calebow home. A hawk circled in the afternoon sun above the old orchard to their right, where the apples were just beginning to turn red.

“A few,” she replied. “But, then, Phoebe likes me.”

“Go ahead and laugh, but it’s not funny to me. I’ve lost some great clients because of this.”

“I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you it’s nice having you at my mercy for a change.”

“Don’t enjoy it too much. I’m trusting you not to screw this up.”

She was afraid she already had. She should have been up front with him about today’s affair, but she always got pigheaded when workaholics started ordering her around, another legacy from her childhood.

The tires clattered on a narrow wooden bridge. They rounded a bend, and an old stone farmhouse came into sight. Build in the 1880s, the Calebow property was a rustic gem in an area of affluent suburban sprawl. Dan had bought the house in his bachelor days, and as their family had grown, he and Phoebe had added wings, raised the roof, and expanded the grounds. The end result was a charming ramble of a house perfect for a family with four growing children.