“We called Alex’s parents and brother last night. I thought I’d call mine, and Valentina, tomorrow. I wanted to give us some time to enjoy it first.”

“That should be fun with your mom,” Morgan teased her. Morgan knew that Sasha’s mother was no advocate for marriage, and would try to talk her out of it. She thought Sasha’s father was a nice guy, but her mother was hell on wheels and rarely nice to Sasha, or anyone else.

“I think Valentina is coming home from Paris tomorrow, or the next day. And you’re all bridesmaids,” she told Morgan and Abby, “and Claire, of course. I have to send Claire an e-mail to tell her. We think we’ll get married in June.” She gave them all the details, as they drank the champagne. And Valentina would be the maid of honor, of course.

“Who’s going to plan it?” Morgan asked her.

“I don’t know yet. We haven’t thought about it.” It hadn’t even occurred to Sasha.

“You need a wedding planner. You’ll go crazy without one. You’re too busy to do it. And I can’t see your mom planning a wedding. That would be like hiring Cruella De Vil to be your dogwalker.” They all laughed at that. “She’d be handing out pamphlets on divorce law in church.” Listening to her, Sasha realized that they had a lot of decisions to make—about church wedding or not, Atlanta or New York, big wedding or small one—not to mention who was going to pay for the wedding. For now, she just wanted to enjoy the moment with Alex before all hell broke loose and they had to figure it all out. And it sounded like Morgan was right, they would need a wedding planner.

They talked about their e-mail from Claire about her mother moving in with them for a few months, so Claire could start a shoe business with her. They were all happy for her, and the three women said they liked her mother and thought it would be fine. She was a quiet woman, and if Claire didn’t mind sharing her bedroom with her, it would work.

They all had a good time at dinner that night, and went back to the apartment. And the next day Sasha called her mother. She was already back in her office the day after Christmas.

They made small talk for a few minutes, which was never easy with her, and then Sasha decided to bite the bullet and cut to the chase.

“I have something to tell you, Mom,” she said, feeling ten years old again and as though she’d gotten in trouble at school.

“You’re giving up medicine to go to law school? Now that would be good news.” Muriel was only half-joking.

“Actually, no. I’ve been dating someone wonderful, and we’re getting married. I’m engaged.”

“How long have you been dating him, and why don’t I know about him?” Because you’re a sour old bat, Sasha wanted to say to her, but didn’t.

“We haven’t been dating for very long, and I wanted to be sure it was serious before I told you.”

“How long?” Muriel Hartman asked, sounding as though she were cross-examining a witness.

“Three months.”

“That’s ridiculous. You don’t know each other. Do you know the success rate of people who get married after three months?”

“I’m sure sometimes it works out. We’ve spent a lot of time together.”

“What does he do for a living?” The inquisition was on.

“He’s a resident at NYU, like I am, in pediatrics.”

“I hope you’re prepared to starve. He won’t make any money, and you won’t either. What do his parents do?” She hated the way her mother viewed things and the things she said. But none of it surprised her. This was why she rarely called her mother.

“His father is a cardiologist, and his mother is an attorney, in Chicago.” It was all the information Sasha could give her. “They’re very nice people. I met them at Thanksgiving.”

“Well, I’m not paying for the wedding. I don’t believe in marriage.”

“I didn’t call you to ask you to subsidize my wedding,” Sasha said, annoyed. “I just called to tell you I’m getting married, and I was hoping you’d congratulate me, if that’s not too much to ask.”

“Congratulations,” Muriel said tersely. “I’m sure your father will pay for the wedding,” she added, sounding angry. “Have you called him?”

“No. I called you first.”

“That was nice of you,” she said, surprised. “When are you getting married?”

“Maybe June. We don’t have a date yet. It just happened.”

“Well, congratulations,” she said again, “even though I think you’re making a mistake. You should live together for a few years, and by then you probably won’t want to get married. And don’t have children!” she said sternly, which was a direct slam at Sasha and Valentina. How about just not having a mother? Sasha wanted to ask her. Sasha thought her mother was truly the most unpleasant woman she’d ever met. “Don’t forget to give me the wedding date so I can put it on my calendar.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Sasha said, and hung up. She had waited until Alex had left the apartment to call her, so he wouldn’t be shocked by the exchange, and Sasha was glad she had.

She called her father after that, and her father said he was thrilled for her, congratulated her immediately, and said he couldn’t wait to meet Alex. He said all the right things, and then put his wife on the phone to congratulate her too, which was a lot better than the conversation with her mother.

“Where are you getting married?” he asked her.

“We don’t know yet, Dad. Maybe New York. I’ve lived here for a long time, all my friends are here now, and destination weddings are hard.”

“Well, wherever you decide to do it, remember I want to pay for the wedding. Whatever it costs. And you need to hire a wedding planner. They’re expensive but you don’t have time to do it yourself.” It was exactly what Morgan had said. And she was touched by her father’s constant generosity to her. He was still helping her financially at thirty-two, and never complained. He knew how hard she worked, and one day, after her residencies, she’d be self-supporting, though not for a while. “Do you have a date yet?”

“Sometime in June. We have to figure it out.” He hesitated for a minute when she said it, and then said it would be fine, whatever worked for her. “Thank you again, Dad.” She was touched that he had been so quick to offer to pay for the wedding, unlike her mother, who would be a guest and nothing more.

“You two have to come to Atlanta now, so we can meet the groom.”

“We will as soon as we can. Our schedules are pretty tough.”

“We’ll give you an engagement party when you come down.”

She thanked him again and hung up, relieved that it had gone so well with her father, and according to expectations with her mother. At least now they knew and couldn’t complain that she hadn’t told them. And now they had to choose a location, a date, and find a wedding planner. It felt a little overwhelming as Sasha went to meet Alex for lunch. They were off for the entire day and night. And she smiled as she saw her engagement ring sparkle on her finger. She waved at Abby on the way out. She was sitting at her computer and gave her a thumbs-up.

—

Abby had been glued to her computer ever since Thanksgiving, working on her novel and short stories. And she was happy with the results. She was dedicated to what she was doing. Her parents had called her from Mexico over the holiday, and were pleased to hear that she was hard at work. As her mother told her, that always paid off in the end.

It had been something of a lonely holiday for her. Her parents were on a trip, Ivan was out of her life, although she hardly ever missed him, Claire was in San Francisco, Sasha and Alex were always working, Morgan was at the restaurant with Max, and there were times when she was very sad. Her work was a good distraction, but it wasn’t someone to talk to. She went out for a walk that afternoon to get some air, and walked past a pet hospital with signs on the window, about dogs and cats that were available for adoption. There were several Chihuahua mixes that looked a little like one of Oliver and Greg’s dogs, a pug mixed with a beagle they referred to as a puggle, and a number of fluffy dogs with a lot of hair that were also mixes. Her favorite listed on the poster was a Chihuahua-Dachshund mix they called a chiweenie, which made her laugh. And feeling irresistibly drawn to the photographs on the window, Abby walked inside. There was a sign indicating that the adoption center was upstairs, and she followed the arrows to the second floor, where she found herself looking through windows at heartbreaking little abandoned dogs. There were a number of cats too, some of them very old. All of the pets at the hospital had been rescued, some found by people and brought in, others brought in by their owners, to give up. It seemed sad to Abby, and all of them needed a home. It made Abby’s eyes fill with tears to look at them, they were all so forlorn. And then she found herself nearly eye to eye with an enormous black dog who stared at her, barked, and sounded like he was saying “Take me home.”

“Don’t look at me like that,” she said to him through the glass, and he barked again. He wasn’t taking no for an answer. “I can’t,” she said, staring him in the eye. “I live in an apartment.” His next bark sounded like “I don’t care.” She walked away from him, and he started barking frantically, as she glanced at a dog whose sign said it was a Lhasa Apso, but she was very old. And suddenly Abby knew she had to leave before she made a terrible mistake and went home with a dog. She had just gone to see them for the fun of it, to cheer herself up, and now they were tugging at her heart. The enormous black dog was still barking, standing up in his cage, and he was as tall as a man.

“What is that?” Abby asked an attendant walking by.