He looked askance at Theresa, who nodded. “Now would be a good time,” he said.

“Then let’s go.” She drove them to a spot overlooking the city, with views for a hundred miles. The house was beautifully designed, finely crafted, and handsomely, completely furnished, including linens and kitchen and dining things. The study was lined with bookcases, and there was a second, smaller one. The guesthouse was cozy, and the landscaping was wonderful. There was a pool, a hot tub, and a three-car garage. Diana gave them the price.

“Any wiggle room there?” Laurence asked.

“No, because you’re the first to see it. If you want to avoid a bidding war, you should consider committing now.”

He took Theresa aside. “What do you think?”

“I don’t think ‘ideal’ is too strong a word.”

He went back to Diana and took out his checkbook. “To whom would you like the check made?”

“To Woods Design and Construction.”

He wrote out the check and handed it to her, but he kept hold of a corner. “The owner will be Theresa Crane, and everything about the sale will be held in the strictest confidence, especially my name.”

“Of course, Mr. Beresford.”

“Oh, and we’d like to move in today.”

“Let me make a call,” she said. She walked out onto a terrace and spent a minute on the phone, then returned. “Done, if your check is good.”

“Have your bank call my bank now. My name isn’t Beresford. The real one is on the check.”

“Let’s go back to my office and sign a contract,” Diana said.

—

LESS THAN AN HOUR LATER, they had a completed sales contract, with closing to come a few days later. Diana handed Theresa the keys. “Congratulations on your new home,” she said. She took a map from a drawer and made some marks on it with a highlighter. “This is how to get back to it. I’ll have the utilities and phone put in your name immediately. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“We have only to do some grocery shopping and pick up our luggage at a friend’s,” Laurence said. “Oh, and I suppose we’ll need a car. What kind would you like, Theresa?”

“Is there a Mercedes dealer here?”

“Yes,” Diana said. She made more marks on the map. “A ten-minute drive, and if you’ll give me a grocery list, I’ll take care of that.”

—

THEY ARRIVED BACK at the house later in a new Mercedes station wagon, to find the refrigerator stocked and a bottle of Dom Pérignon on ice, with a note from Sharon Woods, welcoming them and saying that she would visit them to see if they wanted any alterations to the house.

They took the champagne and glasses onto the terrace and sipped as they watched the day laten and the sunset wax and wane.