Nell shook her head. “That’s right, I lost three. I couldn’t carry to term. No relatives either. It’s just going to be Rollie when I’m gone, but he’ll manage to find someone else to marry.”

“No need to talk such nonsense.” Dillard bit into a cookie and shifted the topic. “I’m glad Jeff’s going to join our neighborhood watch.”

“Me, too,” Lisa said. “He wants to pitch in, do his part. As you said, it’s only a few hours now and then, even though he’s pretty busy at his job.”

Lisa helped herself to a cookie, then tried Nell’s lemonade as they talked about what she and Jeff did—statistician and advertising—life in Cleveland—won’t miss the snow—and whether the Browns would ever make it to the Super Bowl. They talked about life in Palm Mirage Creek. How Dillard’s consulting work meant a lot of travel. Sometimes Nell went with him. But lately they’d slowed things down a bit; they arranged a nurse for Nell whenever she was not feeling strong and Dillard had to leave on business. And how Dillard was confident Miami-Dade would arrest Lisa’s attacker; how he was pressing every source he had to help track down the suspect.

“I’m sure he’s done this before, and he’ll try to do it again,” Dillard said. “But we’re going to catch him.”

Lisa found comfort in Dillard’s assurance. Melting ice shifted in her now-empty glass, most of the cookies were gone and she glanced at her phone.

“Look at the time,” she said. “I’d better be going. Don’t want to overstay my welcome.”

“You’re not leaving,” Nell said and pulled herself to her feet, “until I give you that little tour.”

“I’d like that.”

Starting with the living room, Nell swept an arm to the white mantel fireplace with its soft gray and white tiles. They moved to the modern kitchen with wooden cabinets, granite counter and island. The home had polished marble floors, a mix of vaulted ceilings and exposed beams. As they continued, Nell, who clearly loved her home, explained what was original, restored or replaced.

The great room opened to a small pool and an Eden-like yard of palms and thriving flower gardens. The dining room had a carved mahogany table and six Queen Anne chairs. Throughout the house, Lisa saw stunning white porcelains, which Nell said she’d collected from Thailand and China. There were a number of white accent chairs with a red-coral needlepoint design evoking a tropical look. One small room was finished in a tranquil shade and had a beautiful old rocking chair next to a large window. “My great-grandfather made that chair for my great-grandmother,” Nell said.