Private Means. Cree LeFavour

says. Is there a reward? It was disturbing. Of course I’ve put up ten thousand dollars. It says so right on the poster. But, as Julie said, nobody is going to call to ask about it. If they have the dog and they’re decent, they’ll return her and decline the reward. Or, at worst, take it reluctantly. It shouldn’t be the first thing they ask.

      Yes. Yes. The world is full of creeps. But what can you do, Alice replied politely, unsure of what to do with much of what he’d said. $10,000? Given her offer of $2,000, someone might assume she didn’t love Maebelle at all. An awkward pause ensued. Finally, Alice asked, Do you have children? It was not particularly appropriate, but what else could she say? Asking what he did was tantamount to asking how much money he made. Surely that was ruder. Alice suddenly saw him as a serial bachelor, a man who regularly whitened his teeth and kept a giant German shepherd to guard his country house or beach house—or both.

      No children. You?

      Alice launched into her standard explanation of the twins and her empty nest, a phrase she’d grown unbearably tired of but couldn’t seem to stop using. It was useful in conveying a great deal of information rapidly: married, children left for college or out in the world, missing them terribly, lonely, marriage going to hell. Now at least he knew she was married.

      He listened and then said simply, I’m sorry.

      It was an honest response, one that brushed up against the raw truth of many losses. She paused and, looking up from the inside of her wineglass where she’d been staring at flecks of sediment, felt tears begin to drip down her face.

      I’m sorry. Sorry. It’s been a bit rough, right? Lost dogs and all, she said, trying to laugh off the tears as they continued to fall. She’d been embarrassingly weepy lately. Perimenopause?

      Pardon me, she said, and abruptly set her wineglass down and unearthed herself from the depths of the cushion.

      She found the bathroom only after startling the maid, who was leaning against the wall in the hallway texting, a grin on her surprisingly animated face. Snapping to attention, she appeared stricken, as if Alice were sure to shout at her.