forty-eight

“Sunflower yellow? What a fantastic color! I approve,” Gale sang out as she dumped a box of steaming pizza on the kitchen table. She was referring to the paint that Cheryl and I were rolling on the walls of Cheryl’s new kitchen.

“You’re a goddess,” Cheryl cried. “We’re starving. We’ve been at it for hours. We were just trying to figure out where we could call to order in.”

“Well, now you can eat and keep working.” Gale wiped off the table and spread out napkins and paper plates. “Don’t worry about dieting today, girls.”

I kicked off my rubber thongs in case any paint had clung to the bottom and padded across to the table. Gale dished pizza slices onto the plates for us, careful not to dribble melted cheese.

“How much is left to do?” she asked.

I folded an oily piece of pizza in the middle and lunged at the end. “The pantry’s done and the ceiling and three walls. Now we just have that last wall.”

“Good. Cheryl needs to get out of that hole she’s been living in.” Gale reached over and squeezed Cheryl’s hand.

When Cheryl was waffling about buying the apartment, Gale bought it herself. She was so anxious for Cheryl to get it, and so terrified someone else would grab it first, she decided not to wait. She’d never said a word about it, but one night at the Eye as we were closing up shop, she handed the grant deed and a notarized quitclaim to Cheryl. Cheryl couldn’t grasp what it meant at first, and when she did, she burst into tears. And when the sale of her house in Berkeley finally went through, she repaid Gale for the down payment and took possession. I’d never seen her as happy as she was the day we started moving her in. There was still a lot to do—furniture to purchase and dishes to unpack—but slowly it was coming together.

“Julia, I was checking the MLS the other day. I noticed there’s a house for sale on Clay Street,” Gale continued.

“Yes, I heard. Geneva told me. Brooke couldn’t possibly go back to her house to live. Not after what happened.”

“What’s she going to do?”

“For starters, she’s on leave from the magazine and she’s taking a long sabbatical with Ashley. They’re going to France. Geneva and Mary will miss them a lot, but they’ll be able to fly over to visit. I’m sure Brooke will be back eventually. She needs time.”

Gale shook her head. “Can’t say I blame her.”

I fell silent, thinking of the Learys and how their lives had been torn up. They were blessed, though. Moira’s shade would be with them always, but the Learys still had each other.

“What about …?” Gale left the question hanging.

Cheryl and I exchanged a look. We shook our heads and left it unsaid. Rob’s body had never been found.