Gail took a seat at the café table. “Yes, good. Haven’t seen Ray in action for way too many days.” I caught Culpepper giving Russ a little look.

I introduced Gail to Nancy, explaining that she was my ex-wife. Gail’s eyes widened. “Gee,” she said. “So we’ve both put in a lot of hours in the bedroom with Ray, huh?”

All of us but Gail decided it would be a good time to do whatever throat clearing we might have been putting off until now.

I said to Culpepper, “By the way, regarding the Claremont, the same invite goes to you, Lieutenant.”

Culpepper looked a little embarrassed. “Well, actually, Nancy and I have a date tomorrow.”

I was quite surprised—no, stunned—by this. “Oh, sure, by all means,” I said idiotically.

The two men excused themselves, with Russ assuring me he’d bring Gail and Martha to the Claremont at eight-thirty tomorrow.

I turned to Nancy as they departed, showing my surprise. “You’ve been seeing Culpepper?”

She looked at the table for a second. “Just friendly. The first time I met him was when I was covering up your bruises. We’re both around the fair, obviously, and he dropped in to say hello to me at Sally’s a couple of days later. We had dinner on Tuesday.”

The waiter decided to give us a second chance and took our lunch order. Gail, Nancy, and I chatted, and Gail was every bit the vibrant girl I’d been captivated by since she’d introduced herself to me only a few tables from where we now sat. The two women gleefully shared observations about my flaws, my nervous tics, expressions I used that they wished I’d retire, how I always say this when I mean that, my odd way of pronouncing certain words, and how I am unable to successfully mix brown and gray in my wardrobe. These kinds of conversations are what I believe most men must endure when two women whom the man has hitherto known individually finally meet and confer. The women are invariably relieved, even elated, to know that they haven’t been alone in suffering that which they’ve so heroically tolerated. You could call it ganging up, but it is still mysteriously pleasurable for any man to hear two smart, attractive women speak only about himself, even if in a relentlessly patronizing way.

Eventually the two moved on to topics other than my failings. Gail was particularly interested in Nancy’s show-business past, a topic my ex-wife didn’t always warm to, but Gail was able to draw her out. Now that I was off the roasting spit, I chimed in with my own recollections and provided the setups for some anecdotes that I knew Nancy told well. Gail’s face was alive with curiosity, her laughter generous, and she quickly nodded agreement whenever Nancy ventured an opinion.