A grin tugged at Dani’s lips. “He came close a couple of times but never sealed the deal with a ring. He admits he works too much to be a husband to anyone.”

“I feel that pain,” Ivy said. “I don’t think I’ve made it past the third date in five years.”

“You two are a lot alike.” She dropped her cell phone in her purse. “Work, work, work.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

Dani snatched up her keys. “You tell me, Ruth.”

“That so?”

“Take it as a compliment. If I had her drive, I’d have moved to New York and started a new life.”

They stepped outside, and as Dani locked her front door, Ivy moved to her van. She turned on the engine, knowing the older car took longer to heat up.

Dani opened the front passenger door and glanced at the duct tape holding the tan leather of her seat together. “We can take my car?”

“Nah, I’m starting to bond with Mabel.”

“Mabel?”

“My van. She has so much character; I think that she deserves a name.”

Dani fingered the radio’s broken volume button before she hooked her seat belt. “It would be comforting to know that we’ll make it.”

“We’ll make it.” Ivy wiggled the radio button and found the one channel it broadcast.

“No Bluetooth?”

“Built before it was invented.”

Dani sighed. “Why did I bother to ask?”

Ivy wove along the highway through Southern Shores and took a right toward the Wright Memorial Bridge. “This is an eye appointment?”

Dani pulled large dark Jackie O–style glasses from her purse and slid them on. “That’s right.”

“You have to drive to Norfolk to see an eye doctor?”

“He’s a specialist.” She plucked an imaginary hair strand from her jeans and looked out the windshield toward the water.

“I’ve known you a long time, Dani. I’d say it’s none of my business, but you know me. I’ve never shied away from the tough questions.”

“No tough questions necessary. I just have an eye thing, and after the doc puts the drops in my eyes, I’ll have to wait too long before I can drive home. I’m always at the house when Bella gets home from school.”

Ivy had become the master of the dodge, and she could smell one a mile off. She also knew Dani well enough to know her old friend would dig her fancy heels in if Ivy pressed. She would find out what was going on, but all things came to those who were moderately patient.

Sunlight glistened on the water, and a crosswind from the north blew against the van as they neared the center of the bridge, forcing her to keep both hands on the wheel.