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She parked the car and sat there.
It was twenty-five minutes after six. The auction would be starting any minute. If she waited too long, everyone would notice her entrance. Better to slip in quietly.
She took a deep breath. "Okay. Im getting out of the car now. "
She wrapped the cashmere-blend shawl around her body and headed toward the hotel.
In the lobby, she saw several people she knew. Smiling, nodding, she kept moving, but she was certain she heard, Wheres Jack? whispered behind her.
She was imagining it, surely.
She hurried up the carpeted stairs toward the ballroom. At the open door, she paused.
Dozens of beautifully dressed people sat at white-clothed tables, chatting with one another.
She knew what they were saying: the same things a group like this always talked about, regardless of what city or town they were in. Men talked about jobs and sports. For women, it was school, kids, and diets.
In the corner, a jazz trio pumped out an uneasy rendition of an old Ella Fitzgerald song.
She didnt need to check her ticket to find her table. There it was, front and center. One of the perks of being Echo Beachs premier volunteer was prime table placement. Of course, it didnt hurt that she was--had been--married to one of the towns very few celebrities.
Allison and Chuck were already seated. Even from this distance, Elizabeth could see that Allison was wearing her usual choice: a black St. John knit. Three other couples were already at the table, talking quietly among themselves and sipping champagne. They were all people Elizabeth knew, some well, some only in passing. In a town this size, everyone knew everyone a little.
There were two empty chairs at the table.
Elizabeth could have done it; she knew that suddenly, certainly. She could have tilted her chin up and walked through the whispering crowd and taken her single place at that double opening.
But why?
This wasnt her life. It was the one shed taken on by default. The by-product of Jacks life. That was why she had so many acquaintances in this room and so few friends.
Long ago, when the girls had been small and money was tight and theyd moved to a new town every two years, shed discovered that the quickest way to make friends was to volunteer for everything. Town by town, her pattern had stayed the same. Move in, start volunteering, make fragile friendships, move on.
In Echo Beach, shed automatically shoehorned her life into Jacks footprint without bothering to question her choices.
Now she did just that.
She didnt want to be the woman shed been before. Wasnt that the whole point of what shed done? She didnt want to melt into this crowd, talk about the usual things, and become good-old-Elizabeth, the one to turn to in a pinch. Jacks wife.
She backed away from who shed been and turned around. Like Cinderella, she ran down the stairs with her shawl fluttering out behind her and got into her car.
A quick glance at the dashboard clock told her it was six-forty.
The Passionless women meeting started in twenty minutes.
She started the car and hit the gas. It was seven-fifteen when she reached the community college.
Wrapping the shawl tightly around her, she walked briskly through the empty corridors and stepped into the classroom.
"Elizabeth!" Sarah Taylor said when she walked into the room. "We were afraid you werent going to make it this week. "
Amazingly, Elizabeth laughed. The welcome was what shed needed. "I got lost. "
Mina chuckled. "Were all lost, sweetie. Come on in. "
Elizabeth wound through the circle of women and sat in an empty chair beside Kim.
Kim didnt smile. "You should have stayed away. This groupll just drag you down. "
