“Oh, I’d love to see it,” Alice said, then pointed to one of the trays of cheese and crackers. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but I wanted to let you all know that these are rice crackers. I was just diagnosed with celiac disease, so I’m trying to change my diet around.”

“Oh, the gluten allergy?” Vinnie asked.

“That’s right,” Alice said. “No wheat, rye, barley, or oats. No pizza, which is sad, but I guess it’s the gluten that was killing my stomach.”

“That sounds very painful,” Vinnie said.

“It was awful,” Alice continued. “So now I’m determined to stay far away from anything resembling gluten. I had a simple blood test and they diagnosed it. And almost overnight, I feel so much better. No stomachaches, no leg cramps in the middle of the night.”

“Ouch,” Suzie said, wincing.

“That’s good news, Alice,” I said. “I’m really happy for you.”

“Thanks.” She grabbed a rice cracker and popped it into her mouth, then made a face. “Like I said, it’ll take some getting used to.”

There was a knock at the door; then I heard someone cry, “Yoo-hoo!”

“Is that my mother?” I said in alarm.

“No, it’s Jeremy, one of our new neighbors,” Vinnie said. “I left a note on their door that we were over here. I hope that’s okay, Brooklyn. I believe we should all be good neighbors.”

“It’s fine,” I said, and jogged down the short hall to my workroom, which was actually the front of my apartment. The door was open and a gorgeous man with bleached blond streaks in his hair was peeking inside.

“Hi, it’s us,” he said. “Your rude new neighbors.”

“Come in,” I said. “I’m Brooklyn.”

“I’m Jeremy,” he said, looking around. “What a great room.”

A dark-haired Adonis followed him inside and stared at my walls of supplies and tools. “So this is where it all happens,” he said. “I’m Sergio, by the way.”

“I’m Brooklyn. Welcome to the neighborhood. Where what happens?”

Sergio pointed at the walls and cabinets. “Suzie told us what you do. All the book stuff. Fascinating.”

Jeremy walked slowly around my central worktable, staring at the counters, where two large book presses were neatly arranged next to jars of brushes and filing tools and bone folders. Above the counters were wall-mounted shelves that held books and rolls of leather and heavy paper and threads of every color.

“Wow,” Sergio said. “Cool stuff.”

“Yeah, great energy,” Jeremy said.

“Thanks, I like it, too,” I said, smiling with pride. “Come on back. We’re having wine.”

“We didn’t want to interrupt, but Vinnie left a note.”

“No worries. We were hoping you’d come over.” I ushered them through the hallway and into my living space.

“Hi, girls,” Jeremy said, waving.

“Hi, boys,” Suzie said with a grin.

“Ooh,” Jeremy said, pulling Sergio into the room. “I like the way she’s got this set up over here.”

“Great chair,” Sergio said, running his hand along the back of the big red Hawaiian-print chair that faced the green couch in the center of the room.

I couldn’t help feeling a touch of satisfaction. I loved my place a lot. As the women moved everything over to the bar for easier access to the refrigerator, I gave the two men a minitour.

“My business called for a separate workroom office area,” I explained, pointing out features as we walked around the wide-open space. “So I had the wall built between the office and the living area, then added a closet and powder room to accommodate my clients.”

“Ooh, tax write-off,” Jeremy said, wiggling his eyebrows at Sergio.

I laughed. “You betcha.”

“It looks really nice.” Sergio wandered over to the wall of windows with the eastern view. “I like the different seating areas you’ve arranged.”

“Me, too.” The windows on the east side of the room showed off a view of the bay that was worth the price I’d paid for the place. The view was pure luck. Two nearby buildings blocked the view from some of my neighbors’ apartments, but my place was in the center of the top floor and I was able to see straight out to the bay.

I’d set two comfy leather Buster chairs, a shared ottoman, and a sturdy table in front of the windows. It was perfect for reading, which was one reason why I had a long, low bookcase running the length of the windows. Some mornings, I liked to sit there with a cup of coffee and a book on my lap, just staring out at the bay, feeling at peace with the world.

I hadn’t felt that peaceful in a while.

I left Sergio and Jeremy sitting in the Buster chairs, plotting the redesign of their own space, took their wine requests, and joined the females in the kitchen area.

“I opened another bottle,” Robin said.

“Thanks.” I poured two glasses of red wine and took them to Sergio and Jeremy.

Sergio protested. “We shouldn’t have barged in. Looks like you’re having a girls’ night.”

Jeremy slapped his arm in good humor. “Oh, honey, we can do girls’ night.”

From across the room, Suzie said, “Hey, if they’ll let me in, they’ll definitely let you in.”

Everyone laughed, and I said, “We’re just hanging out and you’re more than welcome to stay.”

Sergio held up his glass. “We don’t want to drink you out of house and home.”

I smiled. “Then it’s a happy coincidence that my dad owns a winery.”

“I love this girl!” Jeremy said.

“Brooklyn, we need you in here,” Robin said. “Alice needs consoling.”

“I’m fine,” Alice said, but I could hear her voice cracking.

I walked back to the kitchen and put my arm around her shoulders. “What’s wrong, my friend?”

Alice burst into tears and ran to the bathroom.

Alarmed, I turned to Robin. “What did you do?”

She looked nonplussed. “Nothing. I swear. She was talking about all the cool people in your bookbinding class, and I thought she was going to burst into tears, so that’s why I called you over. I thought I was kidding, but it turns out I was right.”

“You called her your friend, Brooklyn,” Vinnie said. “I believe that sent her over the edge. She seems a bit overwhelmed. Perhaps she does not have many friends.”

“She just moved to town a month or two ago,” I said.

“Well, that sucks,” Suzie said. She drained her wineglass and held it out to me. “Please, sir, I want some more.”

I blinked. “That’s from Oliver Twist.”

“Yeah, we watched it on TV the other night,” she said with a cockeyed grin. “The Polanski version, which is very cool and dark, by the way.” She slid off her barstool and went to the fridge to get her own wine. “But quite the downer. That kid couldn’t get a break.”

“I just finished rebinding a beautiful copy of the book,” I said.

“Cool.”

“Yeah, it was. Except it belonged to Layla.”

“Ouch,” Suzie said, hopping back up on her stool.

“Right. That was the book that caused all the trouble.”

“Ooh.” Suzie nodded. “Okay, that’s weird.”

Alice came back to the kitchen carrying a tissue and blotting her eyes. “I’m sorry to be such a twerp. You guys are just too nice. I don’t have any girlfriends in town yet and my stomach gives me problems and so does my fiancé, and I’m under a lot of pressure at the center and Layla’s dead now and I don’t know how to do what I’m supposed to do. I’m floundering.”

Vinnie patted her back. “I find I get flundery at times, too. It is good at these times to be with friends.”

Alice nodded sincerely and sipped her wine.

There was a pause; then Robin said, “Flundery?”

Suzie snorted. “It’s a Vinnie-ism. I figure it’s a cross between fluttery and floundering and flucked up.”

I pulled an apple out of the crisper and began to cut it up to go with the cheese. Glancing over my shoulder at Alice, I said, “I hope I didn’t say anything to upset you.”

“No, no,” Alice insisted. “I’m a little emotional, but right now, it’s because I’m so happy. I wish you were all my friends.”