"I find it relaxing," she answered. "Enjoyable."

"You're a poor liar."

"The thing is, Nick," she said, working to keep her tone light, "I'd like to buy that piece of stained glass back from you. You see, I…I feel a little silly about this, but at that price I never thought it would sell. It holds a special place in my heart and-"

"I'm sorry, Kate, but that won't be possible."

Her stomach sank. "May I ask why not?"

"It's no longer in my possession. I had it crated and shipped to my home in Ohio."

"I see." She tried another tact. "But surely, since you travel so much and won't be home to enjoy it, you-"

"I'm sorry, Kate." He smiled, the curving of his lips conveying anything but regret. "You're too late."

"Hello there, Kate," Old Joe called, stopping at her gate. "Beautiful evening, isn't it?"

"Just gorgeous." Kate turned off the hose and ambled over to talk to her neighbor. "It's been dry, though."

"Good thing you're getting some water on those pansies. I've been worried you were going to lose them. Almost stopped by to tell you so yesterday." He squinted. "Figured you might not have noticed."

Kate fought a smile. "Thanks for your concern, Joe. These days it's hard to find time for everything that needs to be done. I've been meaning to ask you if you're still having problems with your phone line? Mine's still crackly."

He frowned. "Phone troubles? Mine's been clear as a bell."

It was her turn to frown. "I've been having problems for several weeks. A guy from Bellsouth stopped by one morning, took a look at my equipment. Said the entire area was having problems. Something about damage incurred when Lakeshore Drive was widened two years ago."

"There you have it," he said. "The problem must be limited to the customers on Lakeshore Drive."

"I'm sure you're right," she said. "I'll just give them a call in…the morn…"

She let the thought trail off and brought a hand to her mouth. Steve Byrd. That's where she knew him from. The phone repairman, the one who checked her equipment.

She recalled that morning, the man standing at her door, and frowned. No, that wasn't right. The two men looked nothing alike. Now, why had she thought that?

"Kate? Are you all right?"

She blinked, and felt herself flush. "Sorry, Joe, the sun must be getting to me."

He nodded and squinted up at the sky. "Weather's sure been strange. Can't remember another October this dry." He shifted his attention to Emma, sitting in her bouncer seat in the shade. "She's getting big. Pretty little thing, too."

"Thank you." Kate looked at her daughter, smiling. The infant swung her arms and burbled as if in response. "She's a joy, that's for sure."

"By the way, Kate, your little mystery's solved. Turns out she is a friend of yours."

"Excuse me?"

"The girl you were asking about, the one from the swing. I saw her earlier today, with Richard. Beauregard and I were taking our noon walk. I called out and Richard waved."

Kate frowned, confused. "Are you sure it was the same woman?"

"Sure, I'm sure." Beauregard tugged on his leash, then looked back at his master and barked. Joe sighed. "No rest for the wicked, I guess. Nice talking to you, Kate."

Kate watched her neighbor walk off, a fluttery sensation in the pit of her stomach. Joe had seen Richard with the young woman from the swing? Who could she-

Cause for Alarm Julianna. Of course.

Kate hadn't thought of it before, but Julianna was youngish, like a college coed. She had hair the cut and color of Kate's.

But if her neighbor was correct and the woman he had seen on the swing was the same one he had seen today, what had Julianna been doing at their house weeks before Richard had hired her?

And what had Richard been doing home, with his assistant during the middle of the day?

The tap of a horn startled her out of her thoughts. It was Richard, turning into the drive. Kate forced a smile and waved, not liking the direction of her thoughts. Richard, she was certain, would have a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of her questions.

He climbed out of his car, slamming the door behind him. "Hi, gorgeous," he called, starting across the lawn toward her. "What are you up to?"

"Saving the pansies." She thought again of Joe and her smile faded. "How was your day?"

"Busy." He picked up Emma, seat and all, while Kate rewound the hose.

"Joe said he saw you home around noon." She hung the coiled hose on the rack mounted to the side of the house and together they walked around front.

"I forgot my notes on the Miller case."

"He said Julianna was with you."

"She was. We were on our way to a luncheon with Mothers Against Drunk Drivers. Since we were passing, I stopped in to get my notes."

So, it had been Julianna. What did that mean?

Kate held the door open for Richard. He carried Emma to the kitchen, then set the bouncer seat on the floor. He ignored the child's attempts to get his attention and crossed to the counter and opened a bottle of wine. "Want a glass?" he asked.

"No, thanks." Kate went to Emma, bent, unbuckled her and scooped her up. "Could you fix me an iced tea instead?"

"Sure." As he poured the wine, he made a sound of amusement. "Nosy Old Joe. You'd think he could find something better to do than spy on his neighbors."

"He wasn't spying, Richard. He was walking Beauregard and happened to see you."

"Then ran straight to you to report what he saw. Sounds like a spy to me."

Kate rummaged in Emma's diaper bag for a pacifier. "He only mentioned it to me because a couple weeks ago I asked him again about the girl he saw on our swing."

Richard drew his eyebrows together as if trying to figure out what she referred to, then nodded. "Oh, that. But what would that have had to do with today?"

"Richard, Joe said the girl he saw you with today is the same one he saw on our swing. He's certain of it." When her husband simply stared uncomprehendingly at her, she let her breath out in an exasperated huff. "Don't you see how odd this all is? Why would Julianna have been on our swing, weeks before you had even met her?"

"This is ridiculous." He made a sound of disgust. "You're going to listen to some old geezer instead of your husband?"

"But what does this even have to do with you? We're talking about Julianna."

"And I'm telling you, Joe was mistaken."

When he tried to take his wine and walk away, she stopped him by stepping directly in front of him and forcing him to look at her. "How can you be sure? I told you, something about Julianna isn't as it seems. I don't trust her, I don't think she's honest."

"Oh, for heaven's sake. Now you're talking crazy. Julianna's smart and sweet and a damn good worker. I trust her completely and don't believe she has a dishonest bone in her body."

"What if she was on our swing? And why are you defending her?"

"Why shouldn't I be? I think you're jealous."

"Jealous!" She made a sound of shock. "Why would I be jealous of your assistant?"

"Why do you think? She's young, attractive and unencumbered."

Kate caught her breath, his words hitting her with the force of a blow. "Unencumbered, Richard? Is that what you think I want to be?"

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean? Maybe it's you who longs to be free?"

"I'm not going to listen to another moment of this." He pushed past her, some of his wine sloshing over the rim of his glass and splattering on the hardwood floor.

"Feeling guilty, Richard?"

He stopped and turned slowly to face her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just what it sounds like." She sucked in a deep, fortifying breath. "Are you…cheating on me with Julianna? Is that what all the flowers and gifts and ‘I love yous' have been about?"