from somewhere upstairs, followed by the slamming of a door. Samara is on the move.
“I’m a real estate agent for a firm in the Marina district. I handle business space, mostly. I enjoy it, though sometimes the hours are long, which means I don’t have much time for charity work. Joanna volunteered at a healthcare foundation and served on the board for so many charities. I would be doing that too, if my career weren’t so demanding. She used to say it was the most rewarding job in the world. Do you volunteer anywhere?”
“Not yet.” I shake my head. “But maybe someday.”
“Everyone I know pushes it off to ‘someday.’ Everyone except Joanna.” Rachael takes another long sip, then turns her attention to a twenty-something dog walker struggling with four boxers across the street. “Anyway, Point Reina is our little gem, hidden away from the rest of the world. The pace is slower here because no one really knows about it. It’s the perfect place to raise a family, or at least that’s what I hear. Travis mentioned you needed rest and relaxation for the pregnancy, so I can understand why Michael suggested it, but honestly—and I hope you don’t mind my saying so, Colleen—I’m surprised you agreed to it.”
“Why do you say that?”
She leans forward as if she’s divulging a juicy secret. “Aren’t you afraid, even just a little, that everyone’s going to compare you to her? If you’re living in a different space, it’s not a big deal, but Ravenwood was their home. You know Joanna’s still here, even if her things aren’t.”
To keep Rachael from seeing my hands tremble, I empty the box at my feet. “I think it’s going to be a transition for all of us. It’ll take time to feel natural.” I reach for another box, laying everything out on the coffee table so it can be sorted later. “But Michael and I are a team. If he thinks this is best, I’m all in, no matter what that means.”
“Michael is the most thoughtful partner, isn’t he?”
It’s not until Rachael’s blabbering on about her husband’s position and late nights in the city that the realization sets in. She’s never known Michael and me as a couple, never once seen us together. She couldn’t possibly know how he treats me, whether he’s thoughtful or rude.
But that’s just it.
He was a thoughtful partner. Not with me, but with her.
The mistress of this immaculate home.
“He’s amazing.” I go still, my fingers clutching a framed picture of a selfie Michael took of us on our first date at the Rose Garden in Oakland. Shifting my weight carefully, I slide to the edge of the chair and lean on the armrests to help myself up. The bookshelf nearest the hallway has an empty space, and I suddenly feel the need to place the photo there. I can feel Rachael’s eyes on my back as I arrange the picture of Michael and me. “I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
“Oh, I bet you could think of something.”
At that, I turn around, but I can’t read her expression. It’s flat, almost blank, but there’s a steeliness in her eyes that surely wasn’t there before. Her gaze flickers to my stomach.
“I hope you don’t mind my asking, but…” She pauses, a tight smile drawing the corners of her mouth up. “How’d you do it?”
I’m confused. “How’d I do what, exactly?”
There she goes again, twirling that giant rock around her finger with her thumb. “Get Michael to snap out of his funk? He was torn up after Joanna for weeks, threw himself into his work—it wasn’t healthy, let me tell you, and we were all terribly worried that he was depressed—but then suddenly there you were, like a light in the dark, saving him. How’d you do it?”
Like a light in the dark.
I like that, though I never knew about his depression.
“I don’t know,” I answer honestly, flashing back to the time spent in his