"Oh, yes," Nick said. "I'm raring to go!"

"Then let's get out of here! I hear the call of the links!" Sam said and then added in a falsetto voice, "Play me! Play me!"

"Someone needs a caffeine intervention," Olivia whispered to Nick. Nick smiled.

"I have sun block for everyone," Buddy said. "And lip balm. What are you girls going to do today?"

"I'm going for a hike to find the lemurs!" Olivia said.

"That figures." Dorothy said, sighing with deep boredom. "I'm getting a hot stone ma.s.sage with ancient Vedic oils." She glanced in Bob's direction. "My skin will feel like velvet for days."

In a pig's eye, Olivia thought. It was an expression of Nick's that she loved.

Hearing Dorothy, Ellen frowned. Compet.i.tion was one hundred percent unwelcome, even from a cadaver. Bob looked straight at Dorothy as though she were crazy. But Maritza was completely composed; either she had not heard or she was ignoring Dorothy's overt invitation to Bob.

"That sounds yummy," Maritza said.

"Interesting word choice," Dorothy said and cut her eyes in Bob's direction again. "It's true. My skin will taste yummy."

Dorothy was just too much, even for Bob. He found himself unable to politely overlook her words. "Sam," he said, "please, sir, tell your wife I struggle mightily not to think of my guests as edible."

"Lighten up, Dorothy," Sam said and shook his head with a trace of annoyance.

"Oh, please," Dorothy said. "No one has a sense of humor anymore."

Then Bob laughed like a polar bear and all the other guys except Nick, joined in, guffawing like the pandering frat boys they were. Bob ignored Maritza but wagged his manicured (no polish, thank you) finger at Dorothy on the way out.

"You're a very bad girl," Bob said to Dorothy.

"Thank you," Dorothy said. "I'd like to be."

Olivia and Anne saw the sadness in Maritza's eyes. Lola was engrossed in her phone but looked up to see the tiny drama that had just unfolded. Lola frowned at Anne.

"Jesus Christ," Ellen muttered, but loudly enough for all the women to hear.

Dorothy was pleased with the attention and knew, or at least thought, that the first hook had been sunk into the soft tissue of Bob's curiosity. All men are the same, she thought. He'll be back for more.

Anne Fritz made note of Dorothy's wide grin of satisfaction, wondering what Dorothy was up to. Was she actually making a brazen play for Bob or did she think she was funny? And Ellen? There was no doubt in her mind that Ellen was engaged in some sort of inappropriate behavior with Bob. You would have had to be made of stone not to feel the electrical voltage in the air between them. But since any of them had yet to catch the lovebirds in flagrante delicto, she really did not feel it was within her professional boundaries to deliver a judgment call to Maritza. At least not yet. Still, she felt very badly for Maritza. Anne had thought numerous times that Maritza was too sweet for her own good.

When the men were out of earshot, Ellen stood up and said, "I'm taking Gladdie for a swim. Anyone want to come along?"

Gladdie hopped off the sofa and ran to Maritza's side, grabbing her around the legs.

"Come, Mommy! Come with us!"

"Not right now, sweetheart. I think I'd like to take a walk with Olivia and Anne, if y'all want to go? Mommy needs some exercise."

"Bad mommy!" Gladdie said and put a pout on her pudgy pint-size face about the size of China.

Provoked for Maritza's sake, Olivia said, "Gladdie, sweetie, that's not a nice thing to say. Your mother loves you very much and deserves your respect."

"Why?" Gladdie said.

"Because she's your mother," Olivia said. "If you didn't have a mommy, I think you'd be a very sad little girl, wouldn't you?"

Maritza gasped but then started to laugh. Ellen looked at Maritza as though she'd lost her last marble, but then that was how the majority of them looked at Maritza all the time.

"Ellen? You and Gladdie go on for a swim and meet us back here at one thirty, okay? And, Gladdie? Don't even think such things. If you're a good girl, I'll take you for a swim this afternoon. How's that?"

"I don't want to go swimming with you anymore!"

"I'll get you chocolate ice cream?" Maritza said in a singsong voice, reaching out to tickle Gladdie's ribs.

Unfortunately, as Maritza got close to her, Gladdie slapped her hard right across the face. The women fell silent.

Whoo! That kid can pack one h.e.l.luva wallop for a four-year-old, Olivia thought.

"Somebody needs to show that kid who's boss!" Dorothy whispered.

Mich.e.l.le's face was expressionless, but her jaw was slack, as was Anne's.

Ellen said, "No comment."

"What happened?" Lola said, looking up from Words with Friends on her iPhone.

For as much as Ellen, probably Mich.e.l.le, and definitely Dorothy wished Maritza would simply vaporize; and as much as Anne and even Lola just wanted a chance to enjoy a few days in a place like this without a dramatic presentation; and as much as Olivia felt genuine concern for Maritza's emotional and mental health, they all wished Gladdie had not slapped her mother. It was a terrible thing to witness.

Ellen said with exasperation, "She's just disappointed in her mother. Again."

Olivia gasped. How dare Ellen say such a thing? Didn't she realize how impressionable Gladdie was? Or did she?

Dorothy muttered in Mich.e.l.le's direction, "She's quite the tiny sack of h.e.l.l, isn't she?"

Mich.e.l.le said, "Oh, mon Dieu!" And she laughed.

Anne Fritz said kindly but authoritatively, "Gladdie? Why did you do that?"

Gladdie looked at Anne and said, "'Cause she made me mad!"

"I see," Anne said.

"That wasn't nice," Olivia said firmly. "You should apologize to your mother at once."

"Sorry, Mommy." Gladdie said. Then, having enough sense to be embarra.s.sed, she began to cry and suck her thumb, burying herself in Ellen's shoulder, kicking Ellen's legs in frustration.

"Poor Gladdie," whispered Dorothy with a large dollop of sarcasm.

"It's okay, baby," Maritza said.

But it wasn't okay and Maritza just wanted peace.

"Poor Gladdie indeed," said Mich.e.l.le, thinking, Surely there are boarding schools for children of this age? "That child is feral."

"Mich.e.l.le!" Olivia said, shocked that Mich.e.l.le would be so cruel, but on second thought, as long as people drank wine, Mich.e.l.le's business with Bob would remain intact. She had nothing to lose by speaking her mind.

So while precocious Gladdie had no idea what feral meant, she knew from Mich.e.l.le's tone that it was not a good thing to be. She began hollering somewhere up in the diva operatic range that could shatter gla.s.s. Ellen clung to Gladdie's twisting and lurching body with a tight grip, then proceeded to give a scathing look to each woman, including Maritza.

"Thanks for stirring the pot, ladies," Ellen said and left, with Gladdie screeching like every demon in h.e.l.l. "We'll be in the kiddie pool."

"Good Lord," Lola said.

"I know," Maritza said. "Every day I thank G.o.d she wasn't twins. She sure can be a handful. Shall we take that walk?"

Handful? Olivia thought.

"Actually?" Dorothy said. "I have a date with that lovely hammock in the shade over there."

Yeah, we wouldn't want to tan that anorexic skin of yours, Olivia thought.

"I thought you were getting a yummy ma.s.sage with yummy Vedic oils so that you could be yummy," Mich.e.l.le said and smiled at Dorothy, silently calling her an a.s.shole.

So what do you know? Olivia suppressed a grin and thought, There's life in Mich.e.l.le after all?

"Ladies!" Anne said to them in a warning tone, hoping to avoid a potential catfight, and then turned to Maritza. "I'll walk with you another time, Olivia. Lola and I wanted to get in a game of tennis before the sun is too high."

"No problem," Maritza said. "Mich.e.l.le?"

"I have a mountain of email to answer before the close of business in France. But I'll see you at lunch?"

Was Mich.e.l.le actually being pleasant? Was it a full moon? Was Mercury retrograde?

"That's just fine. You ready, Olivia?"

"Sure! Let's go," Olivia said.

They began their brisk walk, heading out in a southeastern direction, taking the pathway toward the Crocodile Pavilion. They stopped at Lo Road.

"You were right to say what you said to Gladdie. Thank you," Maritza said.

"Well, you're nice to say so. I was just defending you and the inst.i.tution of motherhood."

"Sometimes it's so hard for me to know what to do and say, you know what I mean?"

"Yes, I do. But I also know that I've never met a single woman who wishes she'd been more permissive with her children."

Olivia watched as Maritza's face went from the depths of insecurity and uncertainty to firm resolve. Then her good nature took over and she began to smile.

"Olivia? You're right! You are so right! Somebody has to be in charge, and it ain't gonna be that child of mine! Or her nanny!"

"That's the spirit!"

"Ha-ha! Now, I studied the map. We can go on down to the water, kick off our sandals, and walk along the ocean. Or we can climb up to the salt pond to see the flamingos." Maritza said. "What do you think?"

"Flamingos!" Olivia said. "Are you kidding? I love them!"

"Me too! Flamingos it is!"

When they reached the edges of the salt pond area, Maritza began to squeal with delight. One hundred or more bright pink flamingos were there, wading in the shallow waters, feeding on the tiny crustaceans that give them their spectacular color.

"Olivia! Look at them! I have to bring Gladdie here! They're moving together like the Rockettes! Have you ever?"

"Esther Williams lives on," Olivia said.

"Who?"

"Esther Williams. She pioneered synchronized swimming about a thousand years before you were born."

"Oh, well. Wow. I've never seen anything so pretty and funny in all my life as these crazy birds. Just look at them! I just can't stop looking at them."

Olivia watched them for a few minutes, smiling because of Maritza's happiness. She had a moment of insight, acknowledging that she rarely ever let herself show Maritza's level of excitement over anything. She admired Maritza then and wanted to do something nice for her.

"If you'd like, we could incorporate these exact flamingos into a fabric."

Maritza became very excited. "We could? Are you serious? You'd do that for me? Oh, Olivia! I'd just about die!"

"Don't die!" Olivia said and smiled. Maritza's innocent charm was growing on her. She snapped a dozen or so pictures with her phone. "We can have it woven into something fabulous for your Time Warner co-op! Like a drill tape border for linen curtains for a guest room? Or if you buy a beach house at some point?"

At that moment, Olivia honestly wasn't trying to hustle business. She was just thinking as a decorator, flexing her creative muscle.

"Oh my! What a great idea! Can't you see it? That mean old Dorothy comes to visit and she says, What's that? And I say, Well, that's the flamingos from Necker Island! My friend Olivia had them woven into this here fabric just for me! She'll be so jealous she'll spit!"

As a general rule, Olivia didn't gossip, except with Nick. Olivia considered gossip to be a vulgar indulgence. But Ellen and Dorothy were both behaving so outrageously and Maritza's marriage was so plainly under siege that she gave herself a dispensation.

"I'd love to see that!" Olivia said. "I shouldn't say this, but wow, that Dorothy is something else, isn't she?"

That was as close as Olivia would allow herself to get to chin-wagging, especially with an important client, albeit her only meaningful one at the moment.

"Honey? Don't get me started! I just can't figure out for the life of me just who the heck she thinks she is."

"Agreed." Olivia said, thinking, Boy, is that ever the truth.

"She wants to trade places with me, but I don't think Bob would touch her with a ten-foot pole. She's too bizarre. Ellen really wants to trade places with me and she might be an actual threat. But you know what? They must be cracked! Do they know what it's like being married to Bob? He's like a big pizza and everybody wants a slice! All Ellen and Dorothy see is the money. And poor Sam. He's such a nice guy. He's got to be so embarra.s.sed by Dorothy. I just don't know what to say about Ellen."

"Sam is just a really nice guy. I agree."

"Ellen's a snake," Maritza offered.

Olivia wanted to tell Maritza that everything would be all right. She wanted to make her feel better about her marriage. But she knew Bob's commitment to this marriage or any marriage was always going to be dicey at best.