"Go screw yourself, sweetie. Call me," Rina said as Emily climbed into the car and belted herself up. "Ta!" She gunned the car out of the fire lane, and back into the midafternoon traffic.

"Bye, Aaron," Emily called to him before Rina's window rolled up tightly.

"Who was the hottie with you?" Rina Seligmann wanted to know. "My God! Tall, dark, and handsome. You don't see too many of them today. Is he straight? Or is he one of Aaron and Kirk's friends? And why were you all having lunch together?"

"He's my new editor," Emily said. "Rachel's retired. It's a long story."

"It's a long ride home," Rina said. "Get talking, sweetie."

Rina Seligmann, nee Rina Fischer, and Aaron's younger sister, was the wife of Egret Pointe's beloved doctor. Her husband had cared for both Katya Shanski and Emily O'Malley until their deaths. Rina had known their granddaughter, Emily, most of her life. Actually, the young woman sitting next to her was the same age as her oldest child. She listened as Emily outlined her morning with Aaron, and her luncheon with her new editor.

"Aaron doesn't want to move you to another publisher?" Rina asked.

"I suppose that will be the court of last resort," Emily said slowly, "but it really wouldn't make a whole lot of sense, if we can avoid it. All my backlist is with Stratford, Rina. Even with my name and sales record, it would be starting over again."

"It makes me so damned mad that none of this is your fault," Rina said.

"It's like Rachel said: I'm a pawn on a chessboard. If I'm going to check the bitch queen, I have to pull this off. J. P. Woods doesn't give a shit for me. She just wants Martin to make her Stratford's new CEO so she can get back at Mick Devlin."

"Do you think you can work with him?" Rina asked. "I mean, without trying to jump his bones. He really is outrageously attractive. I'm glad he's not gay. That would really be a waste. Still, if he were gay we could all be friends, and cause gossip in town."