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  “You think? Where’s a mirror?” She left the office, probably heading for the bathroom, and Gabe thought, Don’t go.

  He put his fork down and shook his head, trying to get the image of her—those long, long legs and that bright, bright hair—out of his mind, but he still wanted her back.

  It was the secretary thing, he decided. Decades of McKennas chasing secretaries and catching them. It was in their DNA by now. But he was an adult, a mature, careful, intelligent adult. All he had to do was concentrate, and habit wouldn’t get him this time.

  “You’re right,” she said, coming back and smiling at him, a great smile, a great mouth with a full lower lip that—

  “I’m always right,” Gabe said, getting up. “You want any more of this stuff?”

  “All of it if you don’t,” Nell said. “I can’t get enough lately.”

  She put the coat back on the rack and then crouched down to gather up the cartons on the floor, and her purple sweater rode up a little so he could see a thin strip of her pale back above the skirt now pulled tight across her rear.

  Stupid tradition to have, he thought. Why couldn’t the McKennas have been born with a genius for making money instead of secretaries?

  “What?” Nell said, looking up at him.

  “Nothing,” he said. “Just thinking.” And then the phone rang and he went back to work.

  * * *

  Across the park, Suze was having problems of her own.

  “What the hell is this?” Jack said, and she looked up from her book to see him coming out of the dining room, holding one of her running cups.

  “British novelty china,” she said. “I’m collecting it.”

  “You’ve got these things crammed in with our good china.”

  “Your mother’s good china,” Suze said and went back to her book.

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea to put this cheap stuff in there, too,” Jack said, and she looked up to see him turn the cup over to look at the bottom and lose his hold on it. It hit the hardwood floor, and the bowl broke in half, separating from the legs at the same time.

  “Jack!” Suze threw her book to one side as she went down on her knees to gather up the pieces.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, not sounding sorry at all. “It’s that cheap stuff—”

  “This is a Caribbean Running Cup,” she said, trying to fit the pieces back together. “It’s from the 1970s and it was worth seventy-five dollars.”

  “That thing?” Jack sounded incredulous.

  Suze ignored him to carry the cup pieces through the dining room and into the kitchen, looking for glue.

  He followed her. “Is this something else Nell’s talked you into? You don’t need her china, you have the Dysart Spode.”

  Suze put the pieces on the counter and looked at them, sick to her stomach. Even if she glued it back together, it would be broken. She touched the big yellow shoes and noticed a chip in one. “Damn it,” she said and went back to the living room to search for the missing piece of yellow glaze.

  Jack followed her again. “I can’t believe you’re spending my money on these stupid cups.”

  “I’m spending my money.” She got down on her knees and searched the floor, tilting her head to see if the shiny chip would catch the lamplight.

  “You don’t have any money,” Jack said.

  She squinted at the floor and said, “Yes, I do. I’m working.”

  “You’re what?”

  There it was. She moistened the tip of her finger and picked up the chip. Then she stood up and said, “I’ve been working part-time for the McKennas for a while now.”

  “Working?” Jack said, making it sound like cheating.

  “Yes,” Suze said, and went back to the kitchen. She put the chip on the counter and unscrewed the orange plastic top on the glue bottle.

  “Suze,” Jack said following her, “you can’t be—”

  “I’m a decoy,” Suze said, trying to figure out the best order for gluing. She squirted glue on the Formica counter and dipped the white side of the chip in it. “People hire the McKennas to find out if their partners are cheating on them, and I’m the one who gives the guys the opportunity to cheat.”

  “You’re doing what?”

  She put the chip back onto the yellow shoe carefully, moving it into place with her fingernail. Maybe she should glue the shoe and the cup separately and then glue the shoes to the cup later when the first mends were dry.

  “Suze,” Jack said, and she turned to see him flushed with anger. “I told you I didn’t want you seeing Nell so much, and now you’re working with her? Picking up guys in bars?”

  “Nothing happens, Jack, I just talk.” She turned back to the counter and picked up the two halves of the cup, dipping their edges in the white glue. “Riley’s there the whole time, and he’d kill me if I ever went too far.”

  “Riley McKenna?”

  “In fact,” she added, ignoring his roar while she held the two pieces of the cup together, “that’s why I’m doing it. Nell screwed up, and they won’t let her do it anymore so—”

  “Well, you’re not doing it, either,” Jack snapped. “Jesus Christ, Suze, have you lost your mind? You are not—”

  “Yes, I am.” Suze leaned against the cupboard, holding the cup pieces together. “I like working for the McKennas, and there’s no reason for you not to trust me, so I’m not quitting.” She took a deep breath and said, “It’s not fair of you to ask me to.”

  “Not fair?” Jack looked apoplectic. “You’re sleeping with Riley McKenna, that’s why won’t you quit, and I won’t—”

  Suze sighed. “I am not sleeping with Riley.” When he didn’t look convinced, she added, “Nell’s sleeping with him. And I won’t quit because I like having a job, and it doesn’t get in the way of anything I have to do for you or with you, and if you don’t trust me enough to let me work then I think we’d better see a marriage counselor because we’re in big trouble.” She ran out of breath at the end and stopped to recoup.

  “Nell’s sleeping with him?” Jack sounded taken aback and then scowled down at her again. “I don’t believe it. She’s at least ten years older than he is. Nobody in his right mind would sleep with her when he could have you.”

  “Hey!” Suze met his eyes. “That’s my best friend you’re talking about, and you are a big hypocrite. You’re twenty-two years older than I am and that’s never bothered you.”

  “It’s different for women,” Jack said. “Trust me.”

  “Trust you?” Suze said. “Why should I? You don’t trust me, and I’m starting to think maybe you’re projecting.”

  “Psych 101?” Jack said, and Suze kept talking right over him.

  “You’re thinking about cheating on me and so you’re extra suspicious, which is really rotten of you. And there are a lot of reasons somebody would rather have Nell than me because she’s smart and funny and independent and allowed to go out at night without some jackass accusing her of adultery and breaking her china. What are you going to do when I get to be Nell’s age and you meet somebody who’s younger than I am? Dump me because nobody would choose a forty-year-old over a thirtysomething? Because if that’s true, you can just leave now and spare me the suspense.”

  “Calm down,” Jack said, clearly taken aback. “Just calm down. Of course, I’m not cheating. I’m just surprised about Nell, that’s all. Tim said she was lousy in bed.”

  Suze felt herself grow hot. “I’d be lousy in bed, too, if that son of a bitch was there. Riley seems to be pretty happy with her, and I gotta tell you, Nell sounded surprised when she talked about the way he makes love, so I’m betting Tim is just a crummy lover. And she was stuck with him for twenty-two years so she deserves some good stuff with a younger guy who knows what he’s doing.”

  “How do you know he knows what he’s doing?” Jack said, his face darkening with suspicion again.

  “You know, if you get any dumber…” Suze put the glued cup carefully on the counter a