He chewed thoughtfully. “The risk that they’ll be accused of stealing them is too high and there’s no way to get to the bottom of it. The safe course is just forbid it.”

 She put down her fork. “Did Riley come to all these conclusions by trial and error or did she take some class or read some book about how to set up a business like this?”

 “She read everything, took a few business courses and learned a lot through experience. It’s really an amazing little company. The employees who work hard and honestly have excellent perks and benefits. Discounts at child care agencies was very hard to negotiate and worth a lot to a working mother. Not many companies help working mothers.”

 “Takes a working mother to know about that,” she said.

 She asked about Adam’s day. He had a lab—that was always fun, especially if no one blew anything up. Test review for a couple of classes. He flipped a homeroom and study hall for a friend who wanted to go to the OB with his pregnant wife to see the sonogram of the baby. That had him finished at 2:30 so he went to his mother’s and put up one row of Christmas lights across the front of the house for her. Then he cleaned up and stopped at the store on his way over to her house.

 “Sounds like such a perfect, almost leisurely life,” she said.

 “I’ll get out of your hair as soon as I help you clean up the dishes. I know you’re tired,” he said.

 “If I’m not that tired?” she asked.

 He left at 5:00 a.m.

    Chapter Ten

 Riley was very observant during Emma’s first week on the job. The feedback was excellent. She was surprised, but shouldn’t have been; Emma had always been a hard worker. Riley just couldn’t get beyond the image of Emma riding through Central Park in a carriage on her wedding day, decked out in Vera Wang, no less. When Riley thought of Emma on her hands and knees scrubbing around the base of a toilet, she wondered what her budget for housekeeping had been in her Manhattan apartment.

 She shouldn’t have been surprised because when Emma wanted something, she had never been afraid to go after it. She was diligent. Determined. She wondered what Emma had done to land herself a millionaire. But in order to find out, she’d have to be on friendly terms with her and that just wasn’t happening. Employer and employee—that was who they were.

 Emma had always had to be enterprising. Her childhood had been tough. Her father’s sudden death left her essentially alone, alone but for Riley and the Kerrigans. Somehow, Emma got through the worst of it with grace. She always managed to work hard, get by, put a good face on it. Like she was doing now, acting like it was her lucky goddamn day she got a job cleaning.

 Really, she’d survived so much. Riley felt sorry for her. But she was also feeling something else. Trouble. Unease. Distrust. Maybe envy? Why would you envy someone who’d had so many bad knocks?

 Because she was the beautiful, strong and tragic princess. No one would ever see Riley that way. Riley was the tough poor girl who made good. For that she’d get applause. But Emma? In her mind she saw that news clip of her on the courthouse steps, broken and crying, then rising stoically, lifting her regal chin and slowly descending as if she were on the red carpet, damaged shoe notwithstanding. Even in her most devastating moments, always chic. Always poised. In fact, Emma could wear devastation like a crown.

 * * *

 Friday night after work Riley dropped in on her mother. June was puttering around in her old kitchen. June was always cooking. She would never stop working even though Riley and Adam had convinced her to retire. So now she volunteered. At the church, in the neighborhood, at the animal shelter.

 A mangy-looking dog wandered into the kitchen, walking slowly as if her feet hurt.

 “And who is this?” Riley asked.

 “This is Beatrice. Isn’t she lovely?”

 Riley gave a short laugh. “Actually...she’s pretty ugly.”

 “Shhh. Be nice now—Beatrice has had a rough time of it. She’s going to need a little time to regain her former beauty. But she’s a lovely lady and needs a place to relax until she has her forever home.”

 “If the whole world were as kind as you...”

 “Where’s Maddie tonight?”

 “Hanging out at Kylie’s house. Studying, she said.”

 “Ha,” June laughed. “On Friday night? What do you suppose they’re really doing?” Beatrice wandered over to the doggie bed in the corner of the kitchen and June told her she was a good girl.

 “Eating junk, calling boys, practicing dance steps, plotting things... But Kylie’s mother is home tonight so they can’t get into too much trouble.” She smiled as she looked at June, her elderly mother. June was sixty-three, kept her short hair a dark auburn color, still wore a size ten and her eyes sparkled with mischief. She’d worked hard all her life and it had kept her in excellent shape, except her feet gave her fits; she’d used them well, cleaning and waitressing, and sometimes they screamed in protest, but she was in excellent health and fitness otherwise. She looked her years, but beautifully so. She would be termed a handsome woman. “What are you building over there?” Riley asked from her place at the breakfast bar.

 “I’m making a meat loaf,” June said. “I’m so bloody sick of turkey. Aren’t you?”

 “God, yes. But you got a lot of mileage out of it,” Riley said. “Why don’t we have a glass of wine?”

 “Perfect idea,” June said.

 “So... Adam’s coming to dinner?”

 “Not tonight. He stopped by after school yesterday to put the trash on the curb because apparently I’m too feeble to get it there.” She laughed, washed her hands and wiped them on the towel.