“She needs someone she trusts to turn to, a listening ear; Denny needs to be helpful, to fix things,” Hannah replied.

“Good marriages have been built on less than that,” Grace said, thinking that passion rarely lasted. A good solid friendship, like hers and Bob’s, was the best underpinning for longevity in a relationship or in a marriage.

“It’s way too soon for Sarina to be seriously involved with another man,” Hannah replied. This conversation was making her cranky. “Well, I have a meeting at Bella’s Park. We’ve got a restaurant opening in mid-July, and it’s coming up way too fast. The summer’s flying by.”

“I’m happy about the restaurant, and for Jose and Anna.” Grace’s words floated in the air, for Hannah had turned and was walking away.

Ben genuinely loved the area. He rented, on a month-to-month basis, a spacious, furnished studio apartment with a porch and view of the mountains, in Barnardsville. “The housing market in Virginia is hot,” he told Amelia. “The realtor says my house would sell if half its roof were missing, and it’s in very good shape. I ought to get a great price.”

“What about your work?” Amelia asked, still worried that all this might be too good to be true.

“Remember, I’m a consultant; it doesn’t matter where I live.”

Amelia breathed a sigh of relief.

42

Gossip Mongers

The last time Denny had been this angry was as a young teenager at the orphanage, when he witnessed a bully attacking a smaller boy. Driven by rage, he had clenched his teeth and fists and pummeled the attacker. In the end, he broke the bully’s nose and arm and had come out of it black-and-blue with a broken leg. Unhurt, the smaller boy had run off and brought help to stop the fighting, or Denny might have suffered additional damage.

Still, the outcome of that event had frustrated him, since both he and the bully had been reprimanded, as if he, Denny, had been the offender and not the defender. It had been a humbling experience, too humbling, for he felt heroic and had anticipated a pat on the back, a word of credit for his actions. The bully, Denny thought, should have been sent to reform school. The good that came of it, however, was that a lonely Denny and little Billy Hicks became fast friends and still corresponded.

Looking back, he felt that a divine plan had been at work, for William Hicks never forgot that injustice to his defender. He became a lawyer and he specialized in defending the underdog. If he ever married—Sarina flashed into Denny’s mind—he would ask Billy to be his best man.