“I appreciate that,” Gail whispered. “Can I have more of these?” She pointed to the empty plate.

“Coming up,” Colleen said.

Yep. Savannah’s mother needed a friend, and even though it went against God and nature, Colleen was going to be that friend.

* * *

BUSINESS AT O’ROURKE’S was freakishly slow that night, and thank God for it because it had been mobbed for the past two months. Everyone needed a break. Colleen sent Monica home, put Annie behind the bar to serve the four people there, and poked her head in the kitchen. Her brother was cleaning the grill.

“Close up, brother mine,” she said. “And then come join the girls and me so we don’t have to talk about you behind your back.”

Faith, her sister Pru and Emmaline Neal were sitting at the Girls Night Out table, and Levi and Jeremy Lyon were in a booth, nursing beers, though Levi kept shooting his wife those hot sleepy looks of his.

“Levi, enough!” Colleen called. “The testosterone is choking me, okay? No wonder Faithie’s knocked up. Jeremy, can’t you distract him?”

“I’ll do my best, Coll,” Jeremy said.

“You should try working with him,” Emmaline said. “He calls her constantly. ‘How you feeling, babe? You need anything, sweetheart?’ It sickens me.” She smiled at Faith, then looked over at Levi. “You’re a horrible boss,” she added.

“Then quit,” he answered easily. “Jeremy would hire you in a heartbeat.”

“That’s true, Emmaline,” Jer said. “I pay better, too.”

“But can I carry a gun in a doctor’s office?” she asked.

“It does tend to send the wrong message,” Jeremy said.

“And speaking of love,” Faith said.

“Oh, are we gonna talk about Carl and me?” Prudence asked. “I have to say, doing it in a car was a lot more awkward than I remembered. My back started to spasm when he—”

Faith put her hand over her sister’s mouth.

“When he what?” Colleen asked.

“Don’t answer,” Faith said. “I wanted to talk about Paulie. What happened with her and Bryce, Colleen?”

Colleen sighed. “One of my rare failures.”

“Bryce Campbell?” Jessica asked.

“Yeah.”

“He’s kind of a slut, isn’t he?” Emmaline said.

“Yep.”

“Poor Paulie,” Faith said. “She’s so nice.” She sighed. “Well, how are things with you and Lucas, Coll?”

“Let’s talk about Connor instead, how’s that? Does anyone know who he’s seeing? Other than his blow-up doll?”

“I’m right here,” Connor said.

“Really. What a shock.” At that moment, her phone rang. She looked at it. “It’s Lucas. I’m going to make him wait because I’m just not the type to throw over my friends for a guy— Con, where are you going?”

“I’m leaving. I have to call my mystery woman.”

“I’m tapping your phone.

“I have to go, too,” Emmaline said. “Ink Wars is on. See you around.”

“Me, too,” Prudence said. “It’s RPG night at the Vanderbeek household. Abby’s sleeping over at Helena’s house, thank God.”

“What’s RPG?” Faith asked.

“Role playing game,” Pru said blithely. “Professor Snape and McGonagall.” She gave a lurid wink.

“Harry Potter? You’re ruining Harry Potter?” Faith yelped. “Is nothing sacred anymore?”

“Not ruining anything,” Pru said. “Enhancing.”

“I just threw up in my mouth,” Faith said.

“Have fun, Pru,” Colleen said as Pru, married for twenty-some-odd years, sauntered off. “You have to admire the creativity,” she added.

“I admire nothing,” Faith said. “So. You and Lucas. Spill. Why didn’t you take his call?”

“I’m mad at him.”

“Why?”

Colleen didn’t answer right away. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I just...I wonder if we’re only sleeping together because we’re in the same town. Because it’s convenient. His ex-wife’s in town, and I understand that she was part of his family for years, and he was part of hers, but I’m still seething with jealousy. Oh, and she’s engaged and pregnant, but she and Lucas are still best friends forever, apparently. She’s staying at his apartment.”

“Oh, dear,” Faith said.

“Exactly. That’s bad, right?”

“No, I was just murmuring over the seething part.” She paused. “Why is she staying with him?”

“Because the Black Swan double-booked.”

“Oh, yeah. They did that in January, when Liza and Mike came out for the wedding, remember? Anyway.” She took a sip of water. “Is he staying here after Joe...passes away?”

“No.” The thought of him leaving made her throat clamp shut.

“Would you move to—”

“No.” She took a shaky breath. “Not that he’s asked. I mean, we haven’t talked about it, because...well, shit, Faith, I don’t know. I’m afraid. The truth is, I’m ridiculously inexperienced with serious relationships. Tell me what to do.”

“Me? I’ve had two relationships, and they’re sitting in that booth over there.”

“Well, what do I know?” Colleen whispered. “I’m the queen of flirting but I haven’t had a boyfriend in years. I’ve fixed up dozens of people, and I give out advice like Dr. Phil, and what has that ever gotten me? I’m thirty-one years old, I’ve been in love once, and I’m utterly terrified that Lucas is going to break my heart, same as last time.”

And much to her surprise, Colleen burst into tears.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

“UNCLE JOE, YOU handsome devil.” Stephanie bent down and gave Joe a big hug, then kissed his cheek and wiped off the red lip imprint. “Girls, remember Uncle Joe?”

The older girls gave out hugs with good-natured duty. Chloe, on the other hand, stared him down. “I’m sorry you’re dying,” she said solemnly.

Didi looked as though she’d just stepped in a Rufus-sized pile of dog shit. Joe, on the other hand, laughed. “Thanks, honey. For a minute, I thought I’d already died, because you girls are as pretty as angels. You, too, Stephie!”

Lucas’s sister and kids—and Frank and Grace Forbes—had flown in that morning and taken a limo from the airport straight here, to the park by the lake, where you could reserve picnic areas and grills.

“Frank, Grace, I would’ve been happy to have had this at our house,” Didi simpered, shooting Lucas a death glare. “If only I’d known you were coming. Of course, our place is nothing like yours, but we think it’s sweet, and I would’ve loved to have had you.” That hadn’t been the case when Didi thought it was just going to be the Campbells, of course, and Lucas had taken a small modicum of pleasure in denying his aunt the opportunity to kiss up to his former in-laws.

“This is perfect,” Grace said. “Ellen, honey, sit down and drink something.”

The girls ran and splashed; Lucas had bought some little balsa-wood boats at the hardware store, and in the face of good old-fashioned fun, the electronic devices were cheerfully forgotten. Didi cooed over Ellen and tried to act rich, mentioning her Coach bag and how you had to pay for nice things, of course Grace knew all about that, no, it wasn’t as if Didi and Joe were anywhere nearly as comfortable as Grace and Frank, of course not, but they did all right, not that she was bragging, but New York wasn’t a cheap place to live, and she was smart with her finances, not Forbes-smart, of course not, no, but she admired quality. Ellen caught his eye and gave the slightest grin; both she and her mother were too polite to do anything more than that.

Frank and Joe talked and laughed, Joe doing his best to act robust. He’d sleep like the dead after this.

An unfortunate choice of words.

“Get out of the way, little brother,” Stephanie said with an ungentle shove. “I always made these better than you.” She took the spatula from him and checked the foil-wrapped sandwiches he was grilling—chicken and ham and pickles, replicas of the cubanos Joe always used to get from Diego’s in the old neighborhood when he’d visit.

“Aren’t these bad for him?” Steph asked quietly.

“Yep.”

She nodded, and a tear fell onto the grill with a small hiss. “So how much time has he got?”

“The dialysis can keep him indefinitely,” Lucas answered. “But the cancer’s spreading, and he wants get while the getting’s good. Or at least, before it gets horrific.”

“Can’t blame him, I guess.” Steph swallowed thickly, then added more mustard to the rolls. “How’s Bryce holding up?” she asked, nodding over at their cousin, who was hurling the girls into the water, much to their shrieking delight.

“He’s Bryce. He won’t talk about Joe actually dying, and he won’t let Joe talk about it, either.”

Steph’s mouth wobbled. “I wasn’t as close to Uncle Joe as you were, obviously, but he was—is—so sweet. I wasn’t ready for how old he looked.” She wiped her eyes subtly, then waved to Mercedes, who had eyes like a hawk. “When are we having the talk?”

“A little later.”

For now, Joe could eat a few bites of regular food, take a few sips of beer, and be with his family. There was salad and coleslaw and ribs and watermelon, and chocolate chip cookies from the smiling woman at the bakery, as well as a cooler full of iced teas, soda and beers, and a bottle of wine for Grace; a Blue Heron dry Riesling, sold to him by Colleen’s mother this very morning.

A couple hours later, when they had all eaten and Joe had taken a nap on the lounge chair in the shade, Lucas asked Bryce to take the girls out on one of the tour boats that ran every two hours.

“Don’t you want to come, Uncle Lucas?” Chloe asked.

“I’ll stay here and talk to the grown-ups,” he said.

“Then I want to stay, too.”

“We’re talking about banking. It’s very boring.”

“I love banking.”

“Good,” he said. “It’s high time you had a job. But for now, off you go.”

“Chloe, don’t be a twit,” Mercedes said, taking her little sister by the hand. “We’re being ostracized.”

“Nice word,” Lucas said.

“Thanks. I’m in AP English.”

“Yes. You’ve told me seven or eight times now.” He winked at her, and she smiled as she walked away.

“Come on, girls,” Bryce said, scooping up a twin under each arm. “I hope you don’t fall overboard. You know there’s a monster in this lake, and it loves little girls.” They shrieked obligingly, and if Bryce wondered why he was the only adult going out on the lake, he didn’t ask about it.

When they were off, Lucas got Ellen another bottle of water. Didi was asking about Ellen and Steve’s wedding and trying to finagle an invitation in her unsubtle way. “Will you have many guests? Oh, I just love Chicago in September! I haven’t been since that wonderful party your parents had in—”

“Why don’t we get down to business?” he interrupted, sitting between his sister and Ellen. Joe gave him a nod and folded his hands. “Didi, I’ll get right to it. Joe would like a divorce.”

Her sycophantic smile froze, and her head jerked back a fraction. “That’s...that’s...” She shot a nervous glance at Frank and Grace, who stared back impassively. “Very funny, Lucas.”

“It’s not a joke.”

“Of course it is! I wouldn’t divorce my sick husband!”

“I want to divorce you, however,” Joe said.

Didi’s face was white, and for a second, Lucas almost felt bad for her...right up until he remembered that she’d stuck Joe in that dark, windowless room where he used to sleep.

“Didi,” Ellen said, her hand on her stomach, “New York State law says that a couple has to be separated for six months before they get a divorce.”

“He’ll be dead in six months,” Didi said. “Probably long before.”

Grace Forbes closed her eyes briefly, the only indication of her disapproval.

“We know a judge who’ll push it through, so long as you don’t contest it,” Ellen continued.

The Forbes name was far-reaching, after all.

“I will contest it!” Didi snapped. “What would people think if I divorced Joe a month before he died? Is this some ploy to cut me out of your will, Joe? Not that I need your pathetic life insurance—”

“My money’s in a trust for Bryce until he gets married,” Joe said calmly. “Lucas is in charge of it until then.”

“I doubt very much he’ll ever get married. He’s not the type. And a trust fund? For twenty thousand dollars? Why bother?”

And so Joe told her how Apple had bought his new app for $1.5 million.

Didi’s face bloomed with red. “I’ll fight this,” she hissed.

“The will is iron-clad,” Ellen said calmly, pushing her blond hair behind her ears. “And remember that prenup? You don’t get any proceeds from Joe’s intellectual property. No judge in the world would have a problem with that.”