Lara lifted her head from the bed and looked at her mother suspiciously. “Rebound? What would you know about rebounding?”

“Are you thinking an updo?” Her mother changed the subject, swirling her finger in the general direction of Lara’s tangled mess of hair.

An hour later, those same locks had been tamed by a curling iron into smooth, long waves. She let her mother zip her into the blue gown that made her waist look tiny. Perhaps she had lost more weight than she’d thought. One of the things that hadn’t made it into her new house was a scale. Once zipped, she tugged on the gown, which fit her like a glove.

“You’ve lost weight since your wedding gown,” confirmed her mother.

Lara studied her collarbones, which were far more pronounced than they’d been. A wave of nausea gripped her. Maybe it was too soon to be doing this. The gala… Ben. He had been her lifeline for information about Todd, but they’d become entwined over the last nine months. Complicating things with him risked losing her closest ally. Often, knowing Ben was home alone in his apartment, she’d strung together a bunch of songs for him—“Lovesong” by the Cure (only off the Mixed Up album), “Go Your Own Way” and “I’m So Afraid” by Fleetwood Mac, “When I Was Young” by Eric Burdon and the Animals, “Invisible Sun” by the Police, and “Rumble” by Link Wray. It was reassuring knowing that he was on the other side of the airwaves listening to her well into the night. As the months wore on, Lara couldn’t imagine not talking to him. She valued—and needed—his opinion on everything. The subtleness of this shift struck her. How had she allowed this to happen? She had sworn she wouldn’t care about someone again. And yet.

Lara felt flushed and sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Are you all right?” Audrey was pulling her own dress down over her head, a platinum strapless beaded number with a plunging back and a slight mermaid cut. She turned for Lara to zip her.

“I don’t think I can do this?” Lara fell back on the bed.

“Sit up. You’ll crinkle the dress,” said Audrey. “I need to be zipped.”

“I might be fainting, Mother.”

“Doubtful,” said Audrey. “Zip, zip.”

Lara sighed deeply and raised herself high enough to zip Audrey into her gown. Her mother looked stunning. “I know something that will change your mind about this whole evening.” Audrey dug into her purse and held out a box. Lara opened it, knowing what was inside: Cecile’s pearl choker. “Someone needs to see you in this.”

A pang of sadness overtook her as she touched it.

“That choker is yours,” said Audrey. “It has no connection to him.”