Anita could not remember the last time she’d hung with her friends for an evening. In fact, it had been so long that until all four of them had arrived at The North Fork, she wasn’t even sure they were still friends. Acquaintances, yes—they kept up on Facebook, sent each other birthday emails—but these days, aside from Jen, she saw no other women on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis.

That’s what marriage, motherhood and middle-age could do to you.

Such a sense of social isolation was probably what had led to the situation with Steven. That, in turn, had prompted her to get the old gang together again. She did feel a little guilty about leaving Kyle and Nick home alone tonight, especially after recent events, but the two of them had been through it together—she’d been little more than a bystander—and it was probably good for them to have some time to themselves. She was well aware that this was nothing more than an after-the-fact rationalization, but the truth was that Kyle had always been more self-sufficient than she was. He was perfectly happy to be left alone, but she needed more, and while they had both grown up in Montgomery, she had always been a part of things and he had just been…apart. That difference had been an ingredient in their appeal to each other, an element of their mutual attraction, and in a very real way, it was what had made their marriage work.

Until it didn’t.

The fact was, while their family had cut her off from her social life, it had given Kyle one. Left to his own devices, he would have been content reading a book or binge-watching television. It was she, and to a greater extent Nick, who were responsible for whatever engagement he had with people outside the store.

Now, drinking and hanging out with Ellen, Sharon, Patty and Gabrielle, she realized how much she missed being with her friends. Patty had gotten a new job since the last time they’d spoken. She’d quit working for that handsy Wade Portis at the Ford dealership and had been hired to work in the office at the junior college. Sharon was planning to break up with Chuck but didn’t know how to do it without causing him to freak out. So much had happened. Everyone’s life was so dynamic. In comparison with hers, which was completely static.

Another reason she’d almost gotten into that mess with—

Steven.