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Jacuzzi and studied it. “Wow,” she said. “Look at it. Eeuuyew.” One of the Asian women turned to look at the other, and both started to giggle. Bina’s face turned a bright pink. “It’s kind of icky,” she admitted. “Like Bigfoot. God, Katie, you’re making me feel like a freak. But I never noticed it before.”
    “Well,” Kate continued, “after it’s waxed off, Jack won’t, either. You can let him kiss all your little piggies with pride. So, what color have you picked?”
    Bina turned her attention to the gift bottles from Kate and the others arranged beautifully along the wall shelf at her elbow. “They don’t have most of these colors in Brooklyn,” she admitted.
    “Just one more reason why I live in Manhattan,” Kate declared. “Step up to the plate. What’s it going to be?”
    Bina looked down at the Asian girl already working on her left hand. “Do you do French manicures?” she asked.

 
    Chapter Five
    K ate’s Manhattan apartment was undeniably small. Still, she had been lucky to find it. It was in a brownstone on West 19th Street, on a tree-lined block close to the seminary, a very desirable location. The apartment was on the first floor, above street level, and consisted of a large room that had once been a parlor, a small bathroom and smaller kitchen behind it, and then a cozy bedroom.
    The main room faced the back garden, which unfortunately belonged to the apartment below. But at least she had quiet, a green view in summer, and a chance to watch the snow in winter. She hadn’t had much money to spend on furniture, but Elliot, always alert for bargains, had helped her find and carry home the sofa—a small one with blue-and-white awning stripe. She had found an old wicker rocker in a thrift store, and after it was sprayed blue, it made a comfortable, if slightly rickety, seat.
    Max, who lived upstairs, had recently helped her put up bookshelves that now filled in the recesses on either side of the fireplace. Max was a friend of Bina’s brother and he worked on Wall Street with Jack, his cousin. He’d introduced Bina to Jack, so when Kate had heard that he was searching for an apartment, she’d let him know about the one about to become available in her building. Max, who would be forever grateful, had also been interested in her, but Kate couldn’t get up any enthusiasm. He was nice and good-looking, but they had nothing to talk about, although Max didn’t seem to mind that. And though her father had given her precious little advice about life, he had expressed his philosophy to “never crap where you eat.” She had managed to handle Max diplomatically, though, and they were friends as well as good neighbors. Though Max would never need to stop by to borrow a cup of sugar, he might well ask for a cup of coffee, a shot of vodka, or, less frequently, a fix-up with some girl Kate knew.
    Kate opened the curtains. It looked like rain. She threw her purse on the sofa and hurried across to her bedroom. The beauty treatment with Bina had taken more time than she’d expected, and she had only a half hour before Michael came over. Although she had been cavalier about it with Elliot earlier in the day, Kate was actually a little nervous about bringing Michael over. Introducing a boyfriend to Elliot was like taking him home to meet her family, and she wanted everything to go smoothly.
    Kate’s bedroom was really just a part of the larger room that had been partitioned off. Its biggest disadvantage was the smallness of its closet.
    But she lived with it, as most New Yorkers did. Kate decided she didn’t have the time to shower, so she selected the Madonna blue sleeveless dress she’d just bought and ran into the bathroom. She had enough time to wash her face, take her hair down, brush the cascades of wavy red that fell below her shoulders, and pull out her makeup bag for a quick fix.
    She never wore much makeup. Her skin was pale, and she’d finally outgrown the tiny freckles, no