“Yes. Steve. Steve is the brother of my ex-wife, Veronica. If you can believe it. So I guess technically Gina is my ex-sister-in-law? She and Veronica were good friends, and they still are.” He made a face. “I guess that makes her kids my ex-niece and ex-nephew? But you don’t lose a niece and a nephew in a divorce, do you? I hope not. I love those kids. I guess that’s why I keep the picture up there, even though Veronica the Cheater is right there.” He jabbed a finger at a lithe blond woman who was also in the photo. “I still see them. They live over on Jefferson.”

“Oh, I know where they live,” said Rebecca. “Believe me.” Jefferson was only a few streets away from her own house. Her heart sank. Here she thought she had found someone new, unsullied by history or connection, but she should have known better: there was no such thing in a town of this size. If Gina found out about this, she’d shout it from the rooftops, just as she had about the sleeping bag. Every time Rebecca thought about Gina she thought simultaneously about the sleeping bag and felt a rage so potent it threatened to seep out of her pores.

“We can’t tell anyone about—this,” said Rebecca. She made a motion that indicated his towel and her own fully clothed self. “Especially not Gina.” She winced.

“Why not?”

“It’ll get out, someone will tell the girls. I’m not ready for a bunch of questions. I’m just—” She let out a little puff of air. “I’m still just trying to figure things out. You know?”

He took her face between his hands and looked into her eyes. He smelled like Irish Spring and also like the ginger from the dessert. He kissed her lightly on the forehead and said, “We don’t tell anyone until you are one hundred percent ready. And that’s assuming that there’s something to tell—that you want to do this” (he imitated her hand gesture) “again.”

There were so many emotions swirling inside Rebecca that she couldn’t have given a name to each of them even if she’d wanted to. But a few were recognizable: relief, fear, sorrow, joy. Hope.

“I think I do,” she said. “Want to do this again. Yes, please, actually. I really think I do.”