“But no talent,” she whispered. She moved back to me.

“The passion matters,” I said.

Her look told me that I had missed something in their relationship. “Of course, it does,” she said. “That’s why I stay with him. My God, Bobo, I divorced a Wall Street lawyer to marry Sammy. He was the most handsome son of a bitch-you ever saw. He had a face that looked like it had been peeled off the cover of a fashion issue of Esquire. We drank champagne that would make that stuff the judge’s wife guzzles taste like swill. I had more money hidden in a Tampax box in my bathroom than Sammy and I have in the bank. But, do you know the truth, Bobo? I’d rather live a lifetime with Sammy, even when he’s being a shit, than twenty minutes with my ex-husband.”

“I’m sorry,” I told her. “I didn’t mean—”

Her raised hand interrupted me. “Do you know the Mountainside Playhouse?”

I shook my head.

“It’s a kind of honky-tonk just off the highway near Shandaken. Sammy likes going there. Different kinds of bands. Some country, some rock, some jazz. And they’ve all got one thing in common: none of them are good enough to make it. They play their ass off, Bobo. I mean, when they get onstage, they work harder than Michael Jackson, and when they finish, everybody sits around and tells them it’s a goddamn pity they’re not on tour in chartered jets. Sammy’s always in the middle of it, always leading the cheers. Do you know why?”

I did know. It was the story of Sammy’s life, his own dream being exercised by others. Still, I lied to Lila: “No.”

“Birds of a feather,” she said.

“Look, I don’t mean to—”

Again, Lila raised her hand to interrupt. “It’s all right. I know what you think. You think that if Sammy’s so passionate, what am I complaining about? You think I must be a nymphomaniac to be with a passionate man and still carry on about getting laid. There’s all kinds of passion, Bobo. Sammy’s like you. His passion is in his soul, and, honestly, sometimes I miss the kind that’s in the sheets, but I’d rather have the soul.” She smiled at me sadly. “I’ll bet Carolyn and I are a lot alike in many ways, putting up with the two of you.”

I had never thought of Carolyn and Lila being at all alike.

“I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe you’re right.”