“Because,” said Rebecca. “Because it turns out that Gina’s husband Steve’s sister, Veronica, used to be married to Daniel! A long time ago. She cheated on him, and then she left him. She was not good to him. Veronica the Cheater.” She sat back, took a bite of her fish and looked at Sherri expectantly.

“It seems convoluted,” said Sherri. The sangrita had diluted some of her politeness. “Why does that mean you can’t tell anyone?”

“It’s not that convoluted. Gina is still close to Veronica the Cheater. I used to be really close with Gina. Then came the sleeping bag incident that I told you about at the beach.”

“Oh, right. I remember.”

“I’m still mad about it!”

“I don’t blame you.”

“Morgan is still figuring things out, you know, and I don’t want to pull the Mom Squad into everything.” Rebecca leaned forward again, her voice settling into something approaching a stage whisper. “And now I’m sleeping with basically a Mom Squad relative! Daniel could easily say something to Steve. He’s still close to Steve, even though Gina took Veronica the Cheater’s side.”

“And . . . ?”

“And,” said Rebecca. “And, Gina has the biggest mouth north of Boston. She would immediately tell, oh I don’t know, probably Georgia, who’d tell Esther, and then all of Plum Island would know, and then it would take about forty-five seconds before one of the kids overheard and it got back to Morgan!”

“And?”

“Well, and! And, then Morgan would know. That I’m seeing someone. And. It would crush her, after losing Peter. She’s not ready for that. Alexa, maybe, almost. But not Morgan! I mean, I know our situations are different, but you must see what I mean? Wouldn’t Katie have a hard time if you started dating right away?”

Sherri thought about that. There were so many times when she wasn’t sure what was going on behind Katie’s whitewashed, cheery exterior. She knew she’d been upset about the Boda Borg party. What if she was upset about other things?

“If I started dating right away, yes. But this isn’t really right away, is it?”

Around her she heard snippets of conversation: Patriots preseason and couldn’t get a plumber in and boarding school and up to Ogunquit.

Rebecca looked troubled. “I think I thought you were going to be on my side. Tell me I was right.”

“I am on your side,” said Sherri. “I am, I promise. But I think Daniel might be right about this one. I don’t think you need to hide him.”

She watched a wide range of emotions travel their way across Rebecca’s face: confusion, defensiveness, maybe even a little fear. A small helping of hope.