She’d looked less surprised when she’d been dealing with that stallion.

“What?” he asked.

“Are you drunk? Should you be driving?”

“No. Last drink I had was … last night? Or before that. I’ve lost track. Why?”

“You’re talkin’ a spell.”

“Do you want me to stop?”

“No, not at all. It’s just … a nice change.”

Edward came up to an intersection. And had to reach deep to remember which way to go. “I think it’s down here on the left.”

They went by a strip mall with a jeweler’s, a hair salon, a Pilates studio and a lamp store in it. And then there was a stretch of apartment buildings that were three stories high and made of brick, with fleets of cars parked in slots by the doorways.

So much life, he thought. Teeming on the planet.

Funny, when his sole way of relating to the world had been from his lofty Bradford status, he had ignored all these people who were busy living their lives. It wasn’t that he had outwardly disdained or disrespected them, but he had certainly felt so much more important because of the number of zeros to the left of his decimal points.

Pain and his various physical issues had sure cured him of that arrogance.

“Here it is,” he said with triumph. “I knew it was here.”

Parallel parking across from the low-slung, homey little restaurant, he tried to get around to get Shelby’s door, but with his ankle and his bad leg, there was no moving fast enough—and she didn’t wait for him, disembarking on her own. Together, they paused for a break in traffic and then they were crossing over and he was holding the way inside open for her.

As he took a deep breath of the spices and the hot chicken, his stomach let out a roar.

“I learned about this place,” he said as he surveyed the crowded interior, “from Moe. He started talking it up a couple of years ago and finally he brought takeout home with him. It was before I … it was before South America.”

They were shown over to a table in the back, which suited him fine. He looked a lot different and he wasn’t from this neighborhood, but he didn’t want any attention. Tonight? He just wanted to be as everyone else in the place was: part of humanity, no better, no worse, no richer, no poorer.

Popping open the menu, he was so ready for half the things on it.

“How long have you and Moe known each other?” Shelby asked over the din of other customers.

“Years. He started working at the Red & Black when he was fourteen or fifteen, hauling hay and cleaning stalls. He’s a smart guy.”

“He speaks about you with a lotta respect.”

Edward folded his menu back up. “The feeling is entirely mutual. Moe’s like a brother in a lot of ways. And Joey, his son? Known the kid his whole life.”

In fact, Joey was the reason they were here.

Edward had been thinking about that expression the guy had had as he’d watched Shelby handle Neb’s little freak out.

Ordinarily, Edward wouldn’t be meddling in other people’s business like this. But he found himself wanting to do right by Shelby.

Before things changed.

Their waitress came by, and after they ordered, he sipped his water. “So about Joey.”

“Yes?” Shelby’s eyes were open and guileless. “What?”

Edward played with his fork. “What do you think about him?”

“I think he’s real good with the horses. He never loses his temper. He gets it.”

“Do you think he’s …”

“You’re not gonna fire him for what happened last night, are ya? It wasn’t his fault. That weren’t nobody’s fault and—”

“What? God, no.” Edward shook his head. “Joey’s a good boy. I was just wondering what you thought of him, you know.”

Shelby shrugged. “He’s a good man. But if you’re asking me whether I’m fixin’ to get with him, the answer would be no.”

When she fell silent, Edward thought … of course, you’re not interested in him. He’s not a hot mess of self-destruction.

“Shelby, I need to ’fess up to something.”

“What’s that?”

He took a deep breath. “You’re right. I am in love with someone.”

FORTY-ONE

The Charlemont Presbyterian Theological Seminary took up about forty manicured acres right next to one of Olmstead’s gorgeous city parks. With distinguished brick buildings and lamp posts that glowed orange in the gathering darkness, Gin imagined the picturesque campus as a place where no one drank, safe sex was not an issue because everyone was still a virgin, and the closest thing there was to a fraternity party was the raucous chess club, which was known to serve the occasional Red Bull.

It was therefore rather ironic to her that she was pulling into its entrance … considering who she had come to meet.

The students had all been flushed out for the summer, no doubt finding worthwhile internships for the warm months doing Good Work. Likewise, there were no administrators and no academicians strolling around, either. The lovely, winding lanes, which reminded her of the kind one saw in a cemetery, were, like the dorms and the classrooms, empty.

Pulling the Drophead into a parking space, she got out and smelled freshly cut grass. With a shove, she closed the heavy door and checked what she looked like in the window’s reflection. Then she locked the car and watched the Spirit of Ecstasy sink into its little safe haven inside the front grille.

The seminary’s reflecting garden was a well-photographed and quite famous Charlemont institution, and although it wasn’t exactly open to the public, it was not exactly private, either. With one gate on each of its four sides, it was the centerpiece of the school, the place where commencements and convocations were staged and alumni were sometimes married and people went to … well, reflect.

Her palms were sweating as she proceeded over to one of its round-topped, Hobbit-ish entries, and when she toggled the old-fashioned latch and pushed her way inside, she felt light-headed.

For a moment, the beauty and the tranquillity were so resplendent, she actually took a deep breath. Even though it was only May, there were blooming flowers everywhere, and verdant leaves, and brick walkways that all led to the square of lawn in the middle. Fountains along the ivy-covered brick walls offered a symphony of calming sounds, and as the last of the light drained from the sky, peach-colored sodium lanterns on tall wrought-iron stands made everything seem like Victorian London.