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.”
    Barbara smiled thinly and waved her hand. “Yes, Bradford, go back to your papers. Oh, there is one other thing. Don’t forget the party at our new mystery neighbor’s house this Saturday night.”
    “How could I? You’ve been reminding me every day since we got the invitation.”
    “I just want to make sure you don’t make other plans. I’m really excited about it.”
    Bradford nodded. “You and everyone else around here.”
    Barbara closed the door softly behind her and paused. Somehow, much of the excitement she had felt just moments ago about closing on the house and meeting with Bernice had all but vanished. It was tough getting Bradford to pay attention to her, and when he did he was so patronizing.
    He had an uncanny knack for deflating any moment of joy or pride for her unless he had contributed to it, as when he lavished gifts on her. No doubt, if she closed the deal with Bernice, Bradford would be genuinely happy for her because he could claim she owed it to him in some small way. But the deal with Sharon had been all her own doing, and he had barely reacted to the news.
    That was why working with Noah was so refreshing. He never belittled her accomplishments. When she got the news that Sharon had been approved for the mortgage loan, Noah seemed more excited than she was. In contrast, her husband had forgotten all about the deal even though she had been talking about it for weeks. Barbara shook her head. Bradford was one in a million.
    She looked down at her chalk-stripe suit. She hated this thing. It looked like something Bradford would have picked out for her. Dark and dull. She needed something fresh and bold, splashy even.
    She skipped up the staircase and strolled briskly down the hallway toward her eldest daughter Robin’s bedroom. The house was so quiet these days, in contrast to when she had two teenage daughters living here, she thought as her Burberry tweed pumps glided along the oriental runner. Robin had moved into a condo a few weeks earlier, after finishing graduate school and landing a new job as a policy analyst, and her youngest daughter, Rebecca, had gotten married almost two years ago. This big house with no children around sometimes made Barbara feel lonely, and it was going to take some time getting used to it.
    At least Robin had left some of her things behind until she could find the time to get back with a moving van. Barbara searched through dresser drawers until she found a silk Hermès scarf filled with soft shades of pink, coral, and blue. She pulled the scarf out and looked in Robin’s full-length mirror as she draped it around her suit jacket.
    She smiled. It was just the accessory to liven up her look for her dinner meeting with Bernice and Noah.

PEARL GLANCED AROUND at all the solemn faces at the dinner table. These meals with Patrick and his daughters were always either quiet or boisterous, depending on whether the girls got into one of their frequent arguments. Juliette sat on her side of the table looking glum as she picked at her mashed potatoes and gravy. And Lee, seated on the other side, was shoving her pot roast down so fast that Pearl was afraid she would choke.
    “Not hungry, baby?” Pearl asked Juliette.
    Juliette twisted her lips. “The stuff you fix is always so fattening,” she said, her nose wrinkled with disgust as she picked at her food. “It’s full of carbohydrates. My mother said all they do is put pounds on your hips. I don’t want to get big as a pig and not even be able to get into my designer jeans.” She gave Pearl a sly, pointed look.
    Pearl glanced away and kept her mouth shut. If she said what she was thinking to the smart-mouthed little tart, Patrick would probably throw her out of his house. The child was getting more like her materialistic, trash-talking mama every day.
    Pearl glanced across the table at Patrick. He smiled reassuringly at her, then turned to Juliette. “I don’t think you have to worry about gaining too much