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the guests. Add a few costume changes, some creative angles, only slices of faces, and it’ll be fine. As long as I’m careful with the editing.”
    “What a great idea,” Phoebe said. “This is all working out splendidly.”
    ****
    A s she and Eric walked around the neighborhood after leaving the Rose Chalet, K.D. thought about all the hard work going into making this effort possible . . . and how much more would be needed for it to turn out
splendidly
.
    Especially Eric’s hard work.
    They’d already been to the post office, dry cleaners, book shop, a tiny antiques store, and now they walked down the earthy smelling aisles of a greenhouse where the woman behind the counter greeted Eric by name. So the geraniums on his deck were his doing, rather than Myrna’s.
    “What do you think about sending each of the folks we’re working with a plant as a small thank you from us?”
    Her mouth opened to form a pointed
Us
? She caught herself in time. “That’s a nice thought.” Except did people who thought they might be heading for a divorce praise each other for nice thoughts? “Because I’m sure they never get plants, especially Phoebe. Not exactly original.”
    He winked at her, which very nearly shattered her disapproving façade.
    “Considerate’s more important than original,” he said, turning away.
    For a heartbeat, she wanted to wrap her hands around his arm and tug him back to face her. Wanting the Eric who winked to replace the Eric who turned away.
    She was losing it. Absolutely losing it.
    He was doing exactly what needed to be done. She did the same as she lounged with clear boredom by the cash register while he and the clerk roamed the greenhouse, selecting a plant and arranging its delivery for each of the people who’d been so helpful to them.
    After he paid, they started down the hill toward the main commercial area in the neighborhood.
    “I’ll never be able to show my face around here again,” she said.
    “Nope,” he said cheerfully. “You should be proud of what a good job you did. Shar is one of the biggest gossips in the area. Our marital problems will be all over in short order. You’ll be mostly to blame, of course.”
    “Gee, thanks.”
    “No problem. Just so you know, you’re the superficial, only interested in clothes and status type. I’ve been shattered to discover that about you when I thought you were my true soul mate.”
    She fought a grin, since people having marital problems didn’t stroll along grinning at each other. “I don’t think I have the wardrobe for that role.”
    They walked another block, with Eric being friendly to everyone they passed and K.D. honing her haughty demeanor before they had another pocket of solitude that allowed for private conversation.
    “Why are you doing this?” K.D. asked him abruptly. As with Rose, she surprised herself by asking. Especially now. She would have gotten around to it, because his motives mattered. But she’d jumped the gun. Given in to her curiosity. She shouldn’t have—
    “Lawyers have enough of an image problem, without something like this.”
    She looked up at him. The crinkle at the corners of his eyes invited her to smile. She didn’t. There was more to it than that.
    “People who are trying to work out their differences and stay married shouldn’t become crime victims.”
    He clearly meant it. So that was another element to file away for later examination. Only because his motives could affect her investigation.
    “Or, more simply, people I like asked for my help.”
    That was part of it, too. Though of his three responses, the middle one rang the most true to her. And she’d bet there was more.
    Although, he
did
like people, and they liked him.
    She was less sure about her own feelings.
    About people. Not about Eric Larkin. She had no feelings — no real feelings — about him. This was an assignment. Unorthodox, true, but an assignment.
    “I’ve been thinking about what you said earlier.”