“Mike!” Toby shouted from the house. “Mike, where are you?”

Mike stared at her, his eyes suddenly old and tired. Then he walked away. “I’m here,” he said as he stepped out of the trees.

“What are you doing over there?” Toby asked.

Mike’s shoes crunched in the gravel on the driveway. “Nothing important.”

Bree rested her cheek against the rough bark of the tree, shut her eyes, and willed herself not to cry.

AT DR. KRISTI’S INSISTENCE, TEMPLE restricted her workouts to ninety minutes a day. This left her with free time she’d otherwise have spent brooding over Max’s continued refusal to talk to her, so for the past few days, she and Dr. Kristi had started hanging out at the farm stand for an hour or so each afternoon. When Lucy finished her writing for the day, she joined them.

While Bree hand-painted a beach scene on one of her Christmas globes, the rest of them sprawled in her Easter egg chairs and combined group therapy with girl talk. They comforted Temple over Max’s rejection and told Lucy she should give up her lobbying work. They didn’t understand the obligation she felt to help children who hadn’t been as lucky as she’d been. Bree never mentioned Mike, although she talked freely about her marriage.

“It feels good to have girlfriends,” she said one afternoon. “I didn’t have any when I was married. I knew all they wanted was for me to explain why I kept turning a blind eye to Scott’s cheating.”

“Bastard could never pull that shit on you now,” Temple said, crossing an ankle over her knee.

“No.” Bree looked suddenly sad, then seemed to shake herself out of it as she gazed at Kristi. “I haven’t had much business this afternoon. Are you sure you wouldn’t consider—”

“No!” Kristi declared.

Temple and Lucy exchanged looks, entertained by Bree’s attempts to convince Dr. Kristi to wear her red bikini as a way to draw in more business.

“You wear it,” Kristi said hotly. “See how you like it.”

“If I looked like you, I would.” Bree got back at Kristi by putting her on the confessional chopping block. “I don’t understand how you of all people can ever feel inadequate about men. You could have any one of them you want.”

Lucy immediately thought of Panda.

Kristi shoved her sunglasses on top of her head. Even her ears were perfectly shaped. “That’s what you think. The kind of men I’m attracted to aren’t attracted to me.”

“Corpses?” Lucy said, taking the empty periwinkle chair.