It would be heartless to tell him about Vicki over the phone. Tempting but unkind. Sarah could feel the meds kicking in. She forced her brain to focus. She could do this. Granted she might be a little slurry, but hopefully he wouldn’t notice. Sarah reluctantly tugged her gaze from Nora’s book, exhaled. “Phillip,” she said. “We need to talk.”

“I would love that. I’ve just broken for lunch. You want to grab a bite? I’ll get us a table at Eleven Madison Park. Your mother adored that place.”

Sarah had been hoping a quick coffee would do it, but he sounded so hopeful, and he was going to be heartbroken when he heard about Vicki. “Sure,” she said gently. “That would be lovely.”

“Wonderful!” He sounded chipper now. Sarah could just see him rubbing his hands together as he did when he was excited. She was not looking forward to breaking the bad news. “I’ll pick you up at the Fifty-Seventh Street entrance of your hotel. I’ll be driving a Mercedes-Benz S-Class, cashmere white. If I’m not out front, that means the doormen shooed me away and I’m circling the block. Wait by the curb and I’ll be there shortly.”

“Sounds good—”

“Better yet, if I’m not there, walk up half a block to Park Ave. I’ll pull to the side and put my blinkers on. That way I won’t have to battle the traffic endlessly circling the block.”

“Okay. I’ll head down.”