“Terry, if I fooled around while you were still here, the girls would have told you.”

“Yeah, right! Narc on the boss.”

He paused. “You know, if I had hooked up with anyone else, my ladies would have torn her to shreds. But they know you’re different. You’re older—”

“Thanks a lot.”

“To me you’re the most beautiful woman in the world, but your age is a fact.”

“Keep digging that grave.”

He ignored me. “You’re older, you’re a doctor, you were my wife, we have a son and over twenty-five years of history together. They know they can’t compete against that. So they’ve taken you as one of their own. They look after each other, Terry. That means they look after you. In their eyes, it would have been disrespectful. They would have been mad at me. You would have been mad at me. I’m an amoral guy, but sometimes things, even sex, aren’t worth the hassle.”

WEDNESDAY MORNING, DECKER showered, shaved, and dressed. He was ready to greet the day and walked into the kitchen just as the coffee machine beeped. As thank-you gifts for their hospitality, the kids had picked up a variety of fresh jams from a farmers’ market on the way to the house. Decker opened one of the jars and slathered rich marmalade onto his toast. Rina was on the phone with a real estate broker from New York, trying to negotiate a rock-bottom price for a bigger apartment for Hannah and Rafi. She was determined to get a good deal for the kids.

When she hung up, Decker said, “How’s it going?”

“It’s a buyer’s market in New York.” She poured herself a mug of java. “I’ve just got to convince the sellers of the situation.”

“Some people are very stubborn.”

“Indeed.” For her jam choice, Rina decided on raspberry. After saying the ritual blessing, she took a bite of toast and sat down. “Last weekend was nice.”

“It was fun seeing all the grandchildren.” Decker exhaled. “I can’t believe how big the twins got.”

“Length, yes; girth, they’ve got a way to go.”

“Yeah, they are skinny,” Decker said. “Aaron wants to weight lift.”

“He’s a little young.”

“He is. But he’s very intense.”

“He is,” Rina said. “I know that he’s seriously looking at college ball.”

“Yeah, Cindy mentioned that. Akiva is equally bright, but way more mellow. But their differences make it fun.” Decker paused. “Why do they talk at the same time?”

“No idea.” Rina smiled. “It was a loud weekend. Lily has quite a set of lungs on her.” Decker laughed and Rina laughed with him. She said, “What’s on your schedule today? More cats in jeopardy?”

“Depends on whether or not we’ve got DNA results from the clothing we found. It’s taking a while. I think they’ve cut down on their staff.”