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grass tickling between her toes. The gentle and relaxing sound of
the lake lapped behind her as she stared up at the house from the bottom of the
garden. Fireflies zipped through the air, drawn to the tiny white bud lights
that adorned the huge maple and beech trees. Torches surrounded the now-empty
dance floor, casting delicious flickers of light and shade, and just beyond, on
the terrace, she could make out the silhouette of Aphrodite—the slowly dripping
ice sculpture that had graced the buffet table. The scene looked like a magical
kingdom and the hours and hours of meticulous planning she’d put into it had all
paid off. It was exactly how she’d imagined it. Picture-perfect.
    A woman marched onto the terrace and into the picture. Bridey
instantly recognized the walk—stiff, tightly wound and perfectly controlled. Mom . Then silver flashed in the night light and
her father appeared, followed quickly by a woman younger than her mother who
immediately slipped her arm through his as if staking her claim and declaring to
all, “he’s mine.” Stepmom .
    It didn’t take long before big brother joined the group,
standing next to their mother and flanking her like a protective guard as he
always did on the very few occasions the Callahan clan actually came together.
The last time had been two years ago when she’d finished her master’s and had
been accepted into the PhD program to study twentieth-century American
literature. She held her breath, willing the picture to hold.
    This night had been close to perfect but that had been when one
hundred and fifty people had separated her family. Surely they could hold it
together for just a tiny bit longer. She glimpsed a man stepping through the
French doors, his height equal to that of her father and brother. The lights
caught his hair, giving it a golden glow like the sun god, Apollo, and her heart
fluttered in her chest. Hank . His usual stance—that
of a man at ease in the world—held a tremor of uncertainty as he deliberated
exactly where to stand. Wisely, he chose Switzerland and took his place between
her parents.
    She smiled, loving Hank with every fiber of her being. He was
her soul mate. She’d been so busy planning their engagement party that she
hadn’t seen much of him in the last few weeks so she couldn’t wait to wake up
next to him tomorrow morning and start their vacation together. But right now it
was time to rescue him. No one deserved to deal with her family en masse and
unprotected. As Bridey picked up her shoes and commenced walking toward the
group, her mother’s tense voice drifted across the garden. “Where’s Bridget? I
need to say good-night before I leave.”
    “You don’t have to stay in Whitetail, Kathleen.” Her
stepmother, Dana, seemed to draw even closer to Sean. “You’re welcome to use the
guest cottage.”
    Oh , no , here we go . The scene—picture-perfect when empty—was
suddenly shredding at the edges. Bridey knew that a smile-cum-grimace would be
pulling the skin taut across her mother’s cheeks.
    “That’s very gracious of you, Dana.” The tone said it was
anything but.
    “Kathleen.” Sean’s voice rolled out on a growl.
    Daddy , no . Bridey knew the exact effect her father’s warning tone would
have on her mother. Please don’t bring up the divorce settlement and remind Mom how she lost the cottage . She started to run.
    “Sean, I didn’t design the cottage for the convenience of your
other wives.”
    “The invitation was well meant.” Dana’s tone conveyed
resignation.
    Sean patted his current wife’s hand.
    Finn’s hand rested on the small of his mother’s back as if to
spin her away. “I’ll drive you to Whitetail now ,
Mom. I have to go to the police department anyway.”
    With his usual lightning-fast decisions, big brother had come
to the rescue of his mother yet again, protecting her against their father even
though she didn’t need it. Kathleen Callahan had been self-sufficient for years
and