He nodded. “Well, you’re strong. You’ve always been strong.”

“I am strong. I’m glad I’m strong. But my strength doesn’t mean you or anyone has the right to treat me with such terrible, heartless malice. Let’s call it done.”

“Well, I had hoped we’d at least be friends...”

She laughed. “Do you even know what a friend is? A friend is someone you can depend on, someone who has your back, someone you share your confidences with, your fears and dreams. A friend is there for you and doesn’t betray you. A friend stays in balance with the give-and-take of life, doesn’t just take and then take more and then more.”

“You have absolutely no love for me, is that it? After all those years and two beautiful kids.”

“It’s not the kind of love that would allow me to be a fool, Scott.”

He was quiet for a long moment. “What are your plans for Christmas?” he asked.

“A quiet Christmas for us. Jake and Addie will be cooking for Christmas Eve. Christmas will be a quiet day with the girls. And you?”

“I suppose I’ll check in with the folks...”

“You should do that,” she said. “And thank you for bringing the girls gifts.”

“There’s one for you, too,” he said.

“I wish you hadn’t. I’ll give it back to you unopened. I hope you and the girls can work out a relationship, but you and I?” She shook her head. “We are now something that might have been and didn’t make it.”

* * *

Christmas morning began what Justine had come to think of as a new normal. She put on a comfortable, fleecy sweat suit and got about the business of making brunch. Addie had stayed the night at Jake’s, something that Justine imagined would become routine, but they were planning to come over for brunch and gifts. The bacon had been cooked, the sausage was frying on the stove, potatoes were ready to go, a large fruit salad was prepared and in the refrigerator. The coffee was brewed, and while Justine had a cup, she tried not to think of all the lovely Christmases they’d had as a family, nostalgic holidays that seemed more perfect in retrospect than they probably were.

Amber was the first to wander into the living room where the fire blazed in the old fireplace. Next came Livvie, who walked into her mother’s arms.

And then there was a knock at the front door. “Why would Addie knock at her own front door?” Justine mused, heading that way.

“It might be Daddy,” Livvie said. “I invited him.”

“Oh Livvie, you should have checked with me!”

“It’ll be all right, Mom. He brought our presents yesterday. We have presents for him. I told him not to stay too long, and I told him no girlfriends were invited. I think there are things we should be openminded about. If he acts like a fool, he won’t be invited back.”

“Still...”

“You don’t want us to go to his house, do you? Let’s take one for the team. He’s pathetic right now.”

“Did he call you and ask?”

“No. I did it. I checked with Amber and she’s okay. We were pretty mean to him all last summer. I just want him to know we can still be a family, if a weird and broken family, but everyone has to play by the rules. Rule number one—respect the boundaries of the others. That means no mistress at our Christmas brunch. He said that wouldn’t be an issue.”

He knocked again. Justine looked skeptical. “As I’ve been told, she is no longer in the picture. But I told him no stopping by on a whim. This isn’t his house and we’re not a couple.”

“Fair enough,” Livvie said.

Justine thought, I can do this. And she smiled at her daughters, thinking, We somehow raised two very bright, intuitive girls.

EPILOGUE

One Year Later

Adele and Justine went for a long walk on the beach at dawn on Christmas morning before the events of the day would begin. These early-morning walks had become a cherished part of their daily routine over the past year.

Addie was deep into her master’s program and still working, but she was learning about transition following a divorce and making adjustments, entering a new relationship in her own family. She had moved in with Jake this past spring, and she was loving it 90 percent of the time. There was that 10 percent when one of them was grumpy or needed space or when they disagreed on things, both major and minor. But they both agreed they were in for the long haul, and they were planning a June wedding.

Justine completed the remodel of the old house, and it came as no surprise that it was stunning. For a while Addie was filled with envy; it had seemed like an old hovel while she lived there. But Jake’s house was beautiful, as well, so it didn’t trouble her for long. Amber was attending Berkeley, so Addie saw her fairly often, and Livvie had switched over to the high school in Half Moon Bay for her senior year. That’s where her friends were now.

Justine was happier than Addie had ever seen her. She realized with some surprise that Justine wasn’t naturally tense, wired for sound. It might have been the corporate career; it might have been the marriage; it might have been both. But now she was relaxed, self-confident and content. Her humor was sharp and her laugh was frequent. She was still seeing Logan, and they seemed to have a solid, romantic relationship, yet Justine held fiercely to her independence.

Scott had some trouble letting go of the girlfriend for the first few months of the new year but finally appeared to have broken free for good. He was stuck with a money-losing kayak shack but was in the process of turning it into a bar with a modest food service. He’d spent the fall enlarging the shack, laid a patio, got his food service licenses and would be ready to go by spring. It would serve as a good place to relax and watch a Pacific sunset, watch the whales when they were migrating, and he could provide picnic box lunches for people on their way to the beach. He kept a few kayaks, but he added rollerblades, bicycles, windsurfers and a few other beach accoutrements.

Of course, he had a girlfriend, but this one seemed sane and did not have a record. Neither did any mysterious bruises pop up unexpectedly. He did not drop in on Justine and the girls without permission.

So on this Christmas morning, one year and nine months since Addie saw Scott kissing Cat, they were coexisting without much trouble. Scott was invited to the Christmas morning unwrapping and brunch, but Logan was coming over Christmas evening. Amber’s and Olivia’s boyfriends were also dropping by. Addie and Jake were in and out through the holidays; there were too many desserts and board games ready to be played.

Addie was truly in love. There was no longer any question of whether it was the right kind of love. She’d taken a healthy look around and realized Jake was the man for her. Always had been. Had she not been a brokenhearted grieving mother or an overworked caregiver, their romance might have happened earlier. But the fact that they’d always maintained their closeness through all of those trials only made their love stronger and more steadfast. Practically every woman in town wanted to trade places with Addie.

As they watched the sun rise through the fog, they discussed how different but so much better their lives were. The new normal was working out, it seemed, for everyone involved.

“I agree,” Justine told Addie. “I never would have believed we would all be doing so well after everything that happened. But it would be better if Scott suffered a little more,” she said with a grin.

“True,” Addie said, “but maybe we should actually thank him. His bad choices forced us to make good ones.”

“I’ll never thank him for being such an idiot,” Justine said. “But I am happier than I’ve been for a long time, and they do say living well is the best revenge.”

“Here’s to living well!” Addie said as they both laughed.