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three streets intersecting at its core were lined with beech trees, wood benches, and storefronts that were as inviting in winter white as they were now in May. The smells were as rich as the populace—hot sticky buns from the bakery, a dark roast blend from the café, chocolate from fresh dipped fruit at the candystore. Give or take, there were a dozen small restaurants on side streets to serve an upscale population of fourteen thousand, but the food staple was on the main drag, a chic little eatery that served breakfast, lunch, and dinner at wrought-iron tables in a glassed-in patio in winter and an open one in summer. Several doors down, past an art gallery and an antiques store, a bookshop was stocked to the eaves, and what parent in his or her right mind would go elsewhere when this one employed a full-time storyteller for kids? There were boutique-type clothing stores scattered around, a drugstore whose owner cared enough about his clients to advise them when medications clashed, a hardware store, a camera shop, and— the latest—a tea café.
    Some of the stores took up the two floors that the town fathers had decreed would be the height limit, but those second-floor spaces also housed lawyers, doctors, interior designers, and the like. Graham’s office was over a housewares store that had sent more than one newcomer to Woodley his way.
    He didn’t stop at the office now. Nor did he stop at Woodley Misc, the general store, though an SUV pulled from a spot right in front. Not so long ago, he would have swung in and run inside to buy an Almond Joy for Amanda. Amanda loved Almond Joys.
    This day, though, he didn’t have the patience for chitchat, which was what one could count on getting at Woodley Misc. Besides, he was annoyed at Amanda for not calling, for not thinking about him for a change. He was annoyed at her for not being long since pregnant, period.
    That thought stopped him cold. He knew it was unfair, but his mind didn’t take it back, which left him feeling more than a little guilty.
    It was with a deliberate effort that he propped his left elbow onthe open window, draped his right wrist over the back of the passenger’s seat, and made like all was well and that he was cool.
    ***
    Amanda’s numbness wore off during the drive home from school, and the enormity of the situation sank in. There would be no baby. Again. No baby. She felt empty, barren—frustrated, bewildered, sad.
    She and Graham had been so cautious this time, not daring to get carried away. Still, they had talked of hanging a stocking on Christmas Eve for the baby about to be born, and of having something new to toast this New Year’s Eve. They had talked about how much easier the O’Leary holiday bedlam would be if they were about to have a child of their own.
    Pulling the tortoiseshell comb from her hair, she shook her head to spread out the curls and tried to relax with positive thoughts. She had plenty to be grateful for, plenty that others didn’t have. For starters, she had a beautiful house on a charming wooded cul-de-sac in an upscale neighborhood—a perfect place for kids.
    Only she didn’t have the kids yet.
    But she did have three neighbors, two of whom had become close friends. The third, Ben’s young widow, kept to herself, but the others more than compensated with front-yard visits in spring, backyard cookouts in summer, leaf-raking parties in fall, and Sunday-night pizzas in winter. More important, there were countless woman-to-woman talks on the phone, on porch steps, or by the Cotters’ pool.
    She could use one of those talks now. Either woman would tell her how envious they were. Neither of them had the kind of career she did. Karen worked hard without benefit of either a paycheck orrespect, and the trade-off for Georgia, who got a large paycheck indeed, was being out of town and away from her family several days a week.
    Amanda wasn’t paid a lot, but her career wasn’t about money. She simply loved the