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and bags. Rex appeared. He scampered across the room and bounded up onto the counter. He rushed to the plate of zucchini bread and fell to it with evident enthusiasm.
    “Amazing,” Charlotte said. “You’d think after the loaf he shared with Willis this morning he would have had his fill of zucchini bread.”
    “Not yet,” Slade said.
    Rex polished off the slice of zucchini bread and bounded back down to the floor. He disappeared amid the array of antiques.
    Charlotte ladled coffee into the filter. “Keep an eye on him, please.”
    “That’s hard to do in this place.”
    “I’m warning you—”
    “I know. Your you-break-it-you-buy-it policy.”
    “Right.” Charlotte poured water into the coffeemaker and started the machine.
    There was a short silence behind her. She watched coffee drip into the glass pot.
    “You never went for a full Covenant Marriage,” Slade said after a while.
    Startled, she swung around. “No.” She took a deep breath. “No, I haven’t. Not yet.” She turned back to the coffee machine. “I take it you never went for a CM, either.”
    “No. Tried a Marriage of Convenience somewhere along the line but it didn’t work out.”
    The legally recognized Marriage of Convenience had been designed by the First Generation settlers as a short-term arrangement that allowed couples to experiment with commitment before moving into a full-blown Covenant Marriage. Young people were encouraged to try an MC before taking the plunge into a Covenant Marriage. An MC could be dissolved by either party for any reason, no harm, no foul. Unless there was a baby. A baby changed everything. In legal terms it transformed an MC into a full Covenant Marriage.
    The legal and social bonds of a Covenant Marriage were as solid as alien quartz. There was a move afoot to make divorce easier but for now it was extremely rare largely because it was a legal and financial nightmare, not to mention social and political suicide.
    Only the very wealthy and well-connected could afford a divorce, but they usually avoided it because the repercussions were major. Politicians could expect to be kicked out of office if they dared to break free of a CM. CEOs got fired by their boards of directors. Exclusive clubs canceled memberships. Invitations to important social functions dried up.
    Most sensible people who found themselves in an untenable marriage simply agreed to live separate lives. But their social and legal responsibilities toward each other and their offspring were not affected. Family came first. Always.
    The downside of making a poor choice when it came to a spouse ensured the stability of one profession in particular, that of matchmaking. Families did their utmost to make certain that couples were well matched by certified marriage consultants.
    “You know,” Slade said, “I always figured you’d be matched by now. Maybe even have a few kids.”
    “Did you?” She smiled over her shoulder. “I’m amazed you even remembered me, let alone thought about me during the past fifteen years.”
    He reached into the pocket of his trousers and took out the black crystal pocketknife she had given him the morning he had sailed off to his new career in the FBPI.
    “I thought about you every time I used this,” he said.
    Delight sparkled through her. “You kept it all these years.”
    “It’s a good knife.” He dropped it back into his pocket. “You were right about the blade. Still sharp and still strong. It saved my ass more than once.”
    “Really?”
    “Really.”
    She smiled, ridiculously pleased. “Nothing like a Takashima knife. How long did it take you to figure out how to open it?”
    “I had it down by the time the ferry reached Frequency City. Takes a little talent to rez it.”
    “Yes,” she said. “It does.”
    “Since we seem to find ourselves stuck together on this rock for a while, would you be interested in having dinner with me tonight?” Slade asked quietly.
    Although she had been