And if she were really, really smart, she wouldn't do what she was about to do.

Ginger took a breath. She reached out a trembling hand. Here is my card. My numbers are on the back.

Lucio took it, intentionally letting his fingers brush across the top of her hand. Ginger nearly jumped off the ground.

He raised a single dark eyebrow and gave her a tentative smile. I am not sure what this means, senora.

It means if you suddenly feel the need to photograph lapdogs, give me a shout. Good night, Lucio.

Ginger turned and walked away, leaving Lucio in the garden. She knew he was checking her out. She could feel the heat of his stare all over her legs and backside. But he said nothing. He let her go without a fight.

Ginger appreciated that he'd respected her wishesfor the most part, anyway.

It was hours later when the four women raised a glass to Josie and Rick and enjoyed a leisurely dinner at Carneros Bistro in downtown Sonoma. While they ate, Ginger got the distinct impression that Mrs. Needleman was taking Bea under her wingto what end, she wasn't sure. Bea was an assistant sports editor at the Herald who spent most of her free time driving her Finnish spitz to West Coast dog agility contests. Bea was also a former Olympic swimmerexcept that she had never gotten to compete in the 1980 games because of the boycott, a tragedy she'd just described to Mrs. Needleman in dramatic detail. Ginger couldn't imagine what Mrs. Needleman and Bea had in common, but their camaraderie was obvious.

Roxie seemed antsy all through dinner, and Ginger couldn't blame her. Her friend's life was in transition and she knew she just wanted to get home. Roxie had been the criminal courts reporter for the Herald, but just weeks after an ugly breakup with her boyfriend, the paper had canned her. Roxie was trying to make a go of a Web site called i-vomit-on-all-men.com, an online community where women shared boyfriend horror stories from around the world. She'd recently expanded into retail sales of hats, shopping bags, shirts, bumper stickers, and coffee mugs, and she was struggling to keep up with demand.