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wanted to go home and had lied to his—I checked for a wedding band—his girlfriend?
    His look dared me to question him.
    Nope. No way.
    For some reason, I thought it best to keep my distance from Sean. I stood, grasped my file folders. ''Thanks for your help.''
    ''Don't thank me yet.''
    ''I'll just,'' I motioned toward the door, ''see myself out.''
    He nodded.
    I took the stairs slowly. My heart was still acting funny, feeling as though it had skipped beats, in addition to the palpitations I felt earlier.
    Outside, the reporter had finally gone. Darkness had fallen, and the street lamps flooded the area with light. I waited for Raphael, who was probably circling since all the spots along Beacon were taken.
    I pulled out my phone, saw that Dovie had left a message. I dialed into my voice mail.
    ''LucyD, have I got the man for you! Met him today at the Hingham market. He's a meat cutter there. A doll. A genuine doll. You have a date for tomorrow night. Oh, his name is Butch. Butch is a butcher. How's that for coincidence? He's perfect for you! Gotta run. Ciao!''
    ''No, no, no, no,'' I mumbled.
    Raphael honked.
    I opened the door, climbed in, and fairly collapsed against the seat.
    He took one look at me and said, ''Do you want me to drive you home?''
    ''Thanks, but no. The commuter boat is fine.'' I'd use the thirty-five-minute ride to clear my head.
    ''Bad day, Uva?'' he asked.
    Let's see. My parents skipped town, leaving me behind to run a company I had no business being in charge of; there was a little boy possibly lost in the woods I could do nothing to find; I saw a vision of a ring on a skeleton of someone who'd probably been murdered; I made a fool out of myself in front of Sean Donahue; and my grandmother had set me up with a meat cutter named Butch.
    Worst of all, I conjured that one clear image I'd seen while I shook Sean's hand. . . . It had been of the two of us.
    In bed. Naked.
    ''Maybe tomorrow will be better.''
    But I had the uneasy feeling it wouldn't be.

FOUR
    Raphael dropped me in front of the Long Wharf Marriott. From there it was a short walk to the commuter boat dock, located at Rowes Wharf, between the hotel and the New England Aquarium. The temperature had dropped with the setting sun.
    I promised to call him if I needed anything.
    ''Think about what I said, Uva.''
    ''About?''
    ''Finding someone for me. It's time.''
    The heartbreaking loneliness in his voice tore at me, weakening any resolve I had to stay out of his love life. Even if I didn't have any matchmaking abilities, perhaps a few blind dates to test the waters wouldn't be so bad.
    ''All right,'' I said, kissing his cheek.
    He smiled. ''Go, there's the boat now.''
    I hurried toward the dock, dodging vendors and lingering tourists, and boarded. Instead of heading inside the warm cabin, I walked along the deck, drawing my trench coat tighter.
    My many thoughts swam, nearly drowning each other out.
    Seagulls circled overhead as the boat turned toward the Hingham Shipyard, crowded with the early-evening rush. The bow cut through the harbor water, leaving behind a mesmerizing wake.
    My thoughts circled around Sean Donahue and what I'd seen when we touched.
    The two of us. In bed. Together. Naked.
    Had it been an actual vision? Or simply wishful thinking?
    True, he was an attractive man. And I'd definitely been attracted.
    But the vision had been so clear. So real.
    I grasped onto the railing, the cold biting into my fingers.
    If it had been a true vision I couldn't explain it, I didn't understand it, and I simply couldn't wrap my head around it. My grip tightened.
    My type of ESP related only to lost objects, and that certainly didn't pertain to what I'd seen in the images of me with Sean. Not even close.
    Frustrated, I fished my cell phone out of my bag and did the only thing I could think of.
    I called my mother.
    Overhead, a crescent moon peekabooed with fluffy dark clouds. Slivers of moonbeams danced along the water. Usually I found the image