Jordan walked into the office, noticed Kate looking at the layers of papers on her desk, and said, "It's a mess, isn't it?"

"For you it is," she said. "You always keep a clean desk when you work. You're kind of obsessive about it. You've had a lot of stress lately, though, and I would think paperwork would be the last thing on your mind."

"Most of the papers are legal documents. I'm being sued."

After dropping that bit of shocking news, she turned around and walked into the living room. Kate chased after her.

"You're being sued?"

"That's right," she said as she dropped into an easy chair and swung her legs over the arm.

"You're being awfully blase about it." Kate stood in front of the coffee table with her arms folded, frowning at her friend while she waited for an explanation.

It didn't come soon enough to suit her. "Okay, I'll ask. How come you're being sued? And how come you're so calm about it?"

"I might as well be calm," she said. "Getting all worked up won't do any good." She kicked off her sandals and leaned back. "I'm being sued by a man named Willard Bell. He seems to think he came up with the design for my chip before I did, and I figured out a way to steal it from him."

Kate sat in the opposite chair and crossed her feet on the ottoman. "Have you ever met this man?"

"No. He lives in Seattle," she said. "My attorney told me that Bell is a computer geek who makes his living suing people. A very nice living," she stressed. "He doesn't really ever have a case, but it's cheaper to settle than fight because of all the legal expenses."

"What are you going to do?"

Jordan looked exasperated. "What do you think I'm going to do? You know me better than anyone."

"You're not going to settle. Bet your attorney wants you to, doesn't he?"

"You're right, he does. I'm not going to, though. I don't care what it costs. What Bell's doing is wrong, and I'm not going to give him a dime. His attorney is playing hardball," she added. "He's frozen all of my accounts. That just means I won't have money for a while. I'll get them unfrozen soon," she hastened to add. "So there's no need to worry."

"What does Theo think about all this?"

"I haven't asked him for advice. In fact, I haven't even told him about it."

"Why not? He's an attorney, for heaven's sake. You could use his advice."

"Theo's overworked and underpaid, and with a new family… no, I'm not going to bother him."

"What about Nick?"

"He graduated from law school, but he doesn't practice," she pointed out. "Besides, I don't want to involve any of my brothers. My attorney is very capable, and any other problems that come along I can handle on my own. All of my brothers have a habit of taking over, but they're going to stay out of this. I'm a big girl now. I can fight my own battles."

"Why do you have to be so independent?"

Jordan smiled. "You make 'independent' sound like a bad word. I'm just like you, Kate. We both like to control everyone and everything."

She didn't argue because she knew Jordan was right. They were overachievers and did like to have complete control over every aspect of their lives. Other people's lives, too, when they could get away with it, she admitted.

"How come we're so smart about business matters and so stupid about men?"

"Oh, that one's easy. We tend to date men we can walk all over, and then we don't want them."

"You know what I think?"

"What?"

Kate wrinkled her nose and made a pathetic face. "We're really screwed up."

Jordan laughed. "I'm so glad you're here. Listen, I realized after our phone call that I hadn't really been paying any attention to what you were telling me. You know, when I asked what was going on with you. It was very self-centered of me, don't you suppose?"

Kate grinned. "I do suppose."

"Okay, I'm paying attention now. Did you say your mother gave away your business?"

"Close. I've just hit a couple of bumps, that's all."

"You know that if you ever need anything from me, it's yours, don't you?"

"That's very sweet," she said.

"I know you'd do the same for me."

"I would," Kate agreed. "But don't worry. I'll work this out. You've got enough on your mind right now."

Jordan's face turned pensive as if she were trying to re-create their phone conversation in her head. "And did I hear you say you almost blew something up? All I could think about was the surgery, so I was only half listening. Were you trying to cook again? Lord, I hope not. You could have blown up your house."

Kate protested. "Just because of one little mishap in your kitchen you assume-"

Jordan snorted. "Little mishap? The fire department showed up."

"All this talk about cooking has made me hungry. Do we go out or would you rather order in?"

They spent at least ten minutes deciding and ended up walking two blocks to a neighborhood bistro that Kate thought served the best seafood chowder in the city.

They chose a booth in the back of the restaurant so no one would bother them, but neither of them ate much. Jordan looked worn out.

Kate's stomach ached from the knot that wouldn't go away, but the rest of her body was numb. She knew if she allowed herself to feel, she'd melt into a pool of tears. She decided to try to take Jordan's mind off her worries for a few minutes.

"Don't you want to know how I almost got blown up?"

Jordan stopped swirling her spoon in the now-congealed chowder she'd barely tasted and smiled. "I'm waiting for the punch line."

"It's not a joke. I had a big bump on the back of my head, and haven't you noticed the whopper of a bruise on my forehead?" She lifted her hair away so Jordan could get a better look.

"Of course I noticed, but I just assumed…"

"Assumed what?"

"Kate, you've got to know by now that you're kind of a klutz. I just thought you tripped or something."

"I beg to differ. You're a klutz, not me."

Jordan didn't argue with her. "You weren't joking about almost being blown up, were you?"

"No, I wasn't. Do you want to hear what happened or not?"

"I want to hear."

"I guess I should start at the beginning. Have you ever heard of the Wonderbra?"

Kate had a selective memory. Because of her mother's long illness, she and her sisters had spent what seemed like a lifetime in numerous hospital waiting rooms, and yet Kate couldn't remember what any of them looked like. It was odd, she thought, that she couldn't recall a single piece of furniture, a wall color, or a carpet. She supposed all waiting rooms were pretty much the same, cold and sterile, with mass-produced paintings of mountains and meadows on the walls.

She did remember the people who came and went while she was there, almost every one of them, and she remembered the anxiety. The air was thick with it, and like a virus, it passed from one person to the next, attacking anyone and everyone who walked into the room to wait.

Time and fear, a horrible combination. She remembered the families huddled together, trying to gain comfort and hope from one another. She remembered the young father who looked so lost sitting with his two little girls squeezed up next to him while he read stories and waited to hear if their mother would live or die. He had broken down and sobbed when he was given the good news by the smiling surgeon.

And she remembered the elderly woman who was sitting all alone until Kate and her sisters walked in. She decided to keep them company, told them she was waiting to hear if her husband of forty years was going to survive bypass surgery. She told one story after another and another and wouldn't let anyone else get a word in. Faster and faster the woman talked until Kate's head was spinning. At one point Kate pictured herself sitting there with giant cotton balls stuffed in her ears. It was an uncharitable thought, but the image did make it easier to smile through the woman's endless chatter.