She’d done the right thing with Emma. She’d had it out with her and given her a job. From now on she’d be nice; she’d be professional; she’d keep a safe space between them.

 And maybe really get on with her life.

 At last.

 * * *

 So Riley had drawn her line in the sand, Emma thought. It was clear—there were still some hard feelings, some resentment. Emma sulked for a minute, fighting melancholy. There was something about women and friendship that could run so deep, so personal, it was almost harder to say goodbye to a relationship like that than it was to break up with a man. She missed that friendship with Riley, so intimate and trusted. She grieved that it was forever gone.

 But then she began to lighten up. She’d been beaned with a bedpan, for God’s sake. Let Riley be a little superior—she’d survived better than Emma had. They weren’t going to be friends. But Emma had a job. A decent job. And she had no doubt that tough little Riley wouldn’t let anything happen to her. That won’t happen in my company!

 Once she settled that in her mind, she found herself almost breathless with excitement about her new job. There was no question in her mind, it would be physically demanding and dirty and she was ecstatic. She was sure it wouldn’t be long—only days, perhaps—before this pink cloud would burst and the reality would settle in—she had signed on for hard work. But in the moment, it felt good on so many levels. She wanted hard work; it would help her scour from her past the stain of all that excess she had indulged in but never deserved. It would prove she could take on tough work and survive. In a way it felt like the hard labor she had earned. Her penance, though she was innocent. She was not innocent of loving wealth, however. And she had made trade-offs along the way. Not amoral or unethical trade-offs, but she had accepted her busy, sometimes indifferent husband, accepted loneliness, made excuses, ignored red flags, and all along she’d wondered, secretly and silently, what was wrong. And wondered, if he’d been penniless, would she have reconsidered? For that alone she should atone.

 It would be dirty work for a clean paycheck, beholden only to her effort. And it would be safe.

 To her astonishment, Riley made her feel safe. Riley’s self-righteous stubbornness alone smoothly and effortlessly guaranteed a secure and protected work environment and... Dear God. And...Emma trusted her. After sixteen years of lamenting she could never really trust again, who did she put her faith in but the very person she feared could betray her. The very person who didn’t want her for a friend.

 “She gave me a job,” she said into the phone to Adam. Her voice was quiet and breathy, astonished and secretive.

 “Of course she did,” he said.

 “You didn’t even tell her how often we’d been in touch,” she said.

 “I told you—I’m not interested in trying to reunite the two of you. How about a glass of wine to celebrate?”

 “Can we meet at that wine bar?” she asked.

 He chuckled. “I think instead I’ll bring a bottle and some fruit and cheese over to your place, if you’ll let me. I have to work in the morning. It can’t be a late night.”

 “I should get the wine and cheese,” she said. “After all you’ve done to help me...”

 “You can do it next time. I’ll stop on the way over. You’ll have to tell me where you are.”

 Emma had had many boyfriends and one husband, but she’d never had a man she could talk to like she could Adam. He had evolved in exactly the way she would have expected him to. Looks aside, though his hard good looks must melt female bones all over Sonoma County, he was also smart, mature and engaging. So well-spoken, as one would expect a teacher to be; when he began to talk, he had her complete attention. He was also funny, making her laugh. And earnest—that was paramount. If he talked about his family, about Maddie, Riley or his mother, both the seriousness and sincerity of what he was saying rang through. Mom hasn’t changed since you knew her. Family is still everything to her and it’s obvious she’s nervous about idleness, having always worked hard. Now that she’s finally been convinced not to work all the time, she volunteers. She does meals-on-wheels almost every day and sometimes she fosters rescue animals until they find a permanent home. And, Riley takes her achievements in stride but she takes her failures, however small, way too seriously. She’s the overachiever in the family. And, If there’s anyone in our family who understands pure joy, it’s Maddie. She loves everyone, all of us, including Jock, and without any effort, with such simple authenticity, makes sure each one of us knows it.

 I live in a family of women, which can take its toll but keeps me sharp. I can’t get away with anything. They lean on me, crowd me, are overprotective of me and demanding of me. They’re in my business all the time. And I find I like it that way.

 Emma wondered what it must be like to live with a man as strong and sensitive as Adam. She couldn’t stop looking at his hands, scarred with hard work, so beautiful and strong. She learned he had worked in the vineyards, scarring his knuckles on the rough, hard vines. Also construction, where he learned enough building and carpentry to do all the fixing up and renovation to both his own house and his mother’s—that work had also taken its toll on his hands. Those hands represented to Emma that he hadn’t ever taken the easy way, but only traveled the path that demanded stamina and hard work. Honest work, something that had come to mean everything to her.

 She was so grateful for him. Just knowing he was her friend, that he was in her camp, gave her a feeling of peace and comfort she hadn’t felt in so long. She adored him. But at the end of the evening, when he was leaving, when he leaned toward her, she jumped away from him. She just couldn’t let him muddy his relationships and his sturdiness by getting too close to someone like her. “No, no...” she said in a whisper.

 “Sorry, Emmie. That was insensitive of me,” he said. “You’re recently widowed...”