Poppy’s chin jerked into her neck. “Really? In my heart of hearts I think, if he’s cheating on you, he’s an imbecile.” She paused. “But if you’re OK with it . . . I guess it could be a lot worse then.”

“I wouldn’t leave him now, I don’t think. Probably not until the girls are out of school. I don’t want to shake up their lives. He’s a great dad, much as it pains me to give him even that. But credit where it’s due. I mean, he’s got way more patience with Kimmy than I do. He can listen to her stories the whole way through and pretend he’s interested in every word. He’s almost always the one that helps her with homework. He makes up dumb little jokes that just thrill her . . . Anyway, like I said, I don’t want to take away from who he is as a parent. I’ll give him that. And for the most part, he and I stay out of each other’s business these days.” A stray red hair had caught on Lisa’s sticky lipstick, and she drew it away with a pinkie. “Besides,” she said, “dating seems awful, doesn’t it? Especially at this age. I wouldn’t want to be alone, but I’m also not too eager to try and meet somebody at this stage of life. Did I tell you about my friend Karen?”

“I don’t think so.”

“We’re in book club together,” Lisa said. “She caught her husband cheating about five years ago and divorced him straightaway. She thought she’d have some fun with some young guys, get her groove back, then settle down with someone else. But it’s been nothing but trouble for her since leaving her husband.”

“In what way?” Poppy asked.

“These men she dates.”

“Does she have bad taste?”

“Sure, that’s part of it,” Lisa said. “But also, things aren’t like they used to be in the dating scene. It’s a different world out there these days, Pop. You can’t know what you’re getting into with a guy who’s single at a certain age.”

“That’s awfully old-fashioned of you.”

“First guy Karen went out with was a meth addict who stole all the cash from her purse when she got up to use the restroom.”

Poppy scoffed. “Well, where’d she meet this guy? In a cardboard box on the street?”

“In the library,” Lisa said.

“Go on.”

“Another guy she met at a bar. Musician, I believe, taught guitar. She said he was really good-lookin’. Long blond ponytail. They went on a few dates, eventually he invited her back to his place. Turned out he lived in his parents’ basement. Walls of his bedroom were covered in Santana posters. Fritos crumbs in the bed. Hamster in a cage. Guy was forty years old.”

“Come on.”

Lisa added, “By this point Karen was so hard-up she did sleep with the guy, but just the once. And she said the hamster watched the whole time.”

Poppy howled.