“Men.” Ashley stared morosely into her margarita. “What a bunch of bums. At least after I caught my husband cheating on me with our 17-year-old neighbor, he had the good grace to die and leave me a boatload of money.”

She raised her glass in a toast.

“Here’s to my husband Roger. If there are yeast infections in hell, I hope he gets one.”

“Here, here!” said Pam, and we all raised our glasses.

Marybeth tsk-tsked in disapproval.

“You guys are terrible. Such Negative Nellies. For your information, there are plenty of good men out there. In fact, it just so happens I’ve found not one, but two of them.”

“I suppose you’re going to tell us all about them,” Pam sighed wearily.

Marybeth reached for the bowl of macadamias, which I’d pretty much demolished. “Pass the nuts will you, June?”

“I’m afraid I ate most of them,” I said, passing her the bowl.

“That’s all right,” Rochelle said, jumping up. “I’ve got more in the kitchen.”

“Don’t bother, honey,” Marybeth said. “There’re still a few left.” Emphasis on a few.

By now, I was firmly entrenched in the anti-Marybeth camp.

Marybeth rifled through the nuts carefully. “There aren’t any peanuts in here, are there, Rochelle?”

“Heavens, no, Marybeth. No peanuts. Just macadamias. You know I’d never serve you peanuts.”

I shot Pam a puzzled look.

“Marybeth’s allergic to peanuts,” she explained.

Satisfied that there were no offending peanuts in the bowl, Marybeth popped a macadamia in her mouth and made us wait while she chewed and swallowed before telling us about her two good men.

The first was a decorator she’d met on a recent trip to New York.

“Rene is an absolute genius,” she gushed. “And you’ll never guess what he’s going to do!”

“You’re right, Marybeth,” Pam said. “We’ll never guess. So why don’t you tell us?”

“He’s going to move to L.A. and be my partner! Isn’t that the most marvelous news?”

Everyone agreed, with a distinct lack of enthusiasm, that it was marvelous news. Everyone except Colin, who didn’t even bother to paste a phony smile on his face. On the contrary, his jaw was clenched tight with anger.

“And now for the best news of all!” Marybeth beamed. What a build-up. I was surprised she hadn’t arranged for a fanfare of trumpets.

“I’ve met a man!”

“That’s wonderful,” Rochelle said, a genuine smile on her face, the only genuine smile in the room. “When did this happen?”

“Oh, I’ve been seeing him for a few months now.”

“And you haven’t said anything to us?”

“I didn’t want to jinx it. I wanted to make sure it was the real thing.” Marybeth beamed. “And it is. We’re going to be married!”