IEANNIE ASKS, “ALICE’S cookies?” and picks up the white bag.

“Yes,” I answer.

She places her wineglass on the coffee table and pulls out a cookie. “These are fabulous. These pecan butter cookies are crispy and rich. She outdid herself.”

“They’re winners. I tasted one earlier.”

Jeannie then retrieves her cookie bags from the office. As she leaves the living room, I notice her jeans are loose and that, when she returns carrying her bags, her shirt that just last year showed off her cleavage now hangs. She nestles into the sofa and for a minute we’re alone in the room.

“Jeannie, you need to resolve this situation for your own sake. Something to make it better for you.” I emphasize the word you.

“It’s not about me. It’s about them.” When she shakes her head, the candle flame throws red sparkles in her hair.

“Rosie has a point.”

She narrows her eyes at me, inhales. And then looks down.

“You both do,” I say.

SO HERE’S THE story. Jeannie met Rosie at an open house that Rosie and her husband threw for their new office. Jeannie’s husband, Mark, is also a lawyer, so they were invited. Jeannie and Mark have one daughter, Sara, who is now seven. Jeannie has worked since high school in her father’s business, which was a Saturn car dealership. She was general sales manager before Sara was born. Even now she’s there a few days a week working in floor sales. She assumes she’ll take over the dealership when her father retires. At the party, Jeannie and Rosie immediately became friends. Sue and Rosie had been close since high school. BFF, as the kids today say. Sue and Rosie opened up their twosome and swallowed Jeannie. The three of them went shopping together and took jazzercise classes. Friday nights they met at the Earle for mussels and wine. Some of us joined when we could and knew they’d be sitting in the wine bar by five-thirty at the table you see first when you enter. They’d smile and wave all newcomers over. Together, they managed a fund-raiser for the local theater and formed a relief organization for Katrina. They even attended Sara’s field hockey games. The three of them. Three hockey moms for the price of one!

Rosie’s energy and organization complemented Jeannie’s creativity and sense of service. And Sue, the complete saleswoman, could sell any idea that the other two dreamed up and gather support from her network. Jeannie said, Let’s go scuba diving, the Cozumel reef is supposed to be beautiful, and Rosie researched dive shops and inclusive hotels, and Sue got the three of them a special deal. The rest of us watched as they charged through life, each enhancing the other.