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  The front door opens, as if by family magic or pheromone ESP. Josh, also in flip-flops and jeans and his favorite gray Bexter sweatshirt, takes the two front steps as one. His pepper-and-salt hair is still morning mussed. His greeting is muffled as his arms encircle me, strong but gentle, my face snuggling into its familiar place in his shoulder. My body remembers his every contour, fitting, settling, connecting. Talk about home.

  I feel him sigh as he lets go. He steps back, keeping my hands in his, looking down at me.

  “Hey, sweets. Welcome back,” he says. “I—Penny and I—”

  There’s a look on his face, a flicker behind his tortoise-shell glasses I don’t quite recognize.

  “Charlie Mac brought me something! Do you think she brought you something?” Penny’s tugging at her father’s arm, her standard tactic every time she thinks too much of Josh’s attention is directed at me. After almost a year together, at least I finally learned I don’t need to compete. There’s room for both of us in Josh’s life.

  I’m still trying to read his expression. “What?” I ask.

  Josh rakes a hand through his already-tousled pepper-and-salt hair, then puts one arm around each of us. “My girls,” he says. “Let’s go inside.”

  “But what were you saying?” I persist, as we crowd, still connected, into the front hallway. I can usually read him, know what he’s thinking sometimes before he does. But now, no. “You and Penny—what?”

  He glances at his daughter, who’s hopping from one foot to the other. Just about out of patience. And perhaps, in the way. I get it.

  “Hey, Penneroo,” I say, pulling a crinkly plastic sack out of my tote bag. It’s a package of Hello Kitty barrettes from the airport. And a do-it-yourself balsa wood plane. And a T-shirt from the journalism conference with the First Amendment printed on the front. Just covering all bases. “Take this up to your secret place and check it out.”

  The lure of loot overcomes her need to monitor her father’s activities. She scoops up the bag and heads to her spot under the attic stairs.

  Josh smiles and takes my hand again, leading me down the sunlit hall. Family photos once covered the walls here, as they do in my apartment. But the Gelston gallery is now checkered with empty places. Photos removed by divorce. Are they now hanging on Victoria’s walls? Or maybe stored somewhere, the remnants of his ex-family. Memories fading with the images.

  “Coffee?” Josh asks, as we arrive in the kitchen. An open box of Cocoa Puffs is on the counter, which probably explains Penny’s chocolate aroma. “Food? Of some kind? I could make…eggs? Guess you don’t want Cocoa Puffs.” He closes the cereal box, and puts it in a cabinet. He looks at his watch. Josh is fidgeting. And he doesn’t fidget. “Is it too early for lunch? It’s too early for lunch. And I know you have to get back to the station.”

  I pull a green wrought iron stool up to the ivory-speckled Formica island in the center of the kitchen and perch on the wicker seat. I nervously examine a clumsily raffia-wrapped container of pens and pencils, probably one of Penny’s school projects. I suddenly remember I haven’t changed clothes since yesterday. Maybe I should have gone to my apartment first. Maybe I should have showered? I feel one foot begin to jiggle. Josh has seen me look worse. But he’s certainly distracted by something.

  “Coffee, of course, you know me,” I say. I’m wary, but maybe I’m wrong. I troll for info. And try to fill the unusual gully of silence between us. “But I can be here for a little while before they start hunting me down. So. What’s up? Your message? You guys okay? Penny fine? Bexter fine? Victoria and what’s-his-name fine?”

  His name is Elliott, but Victoria’s husband, Penny’s stepfather, is the one who must not be named around here. Last time Josh looked like this, it was the “Victoria wants to dump what’s-his-name and get back with me and Penny” trauma. Terrifying. But turned out that didn’t happen.

  Josh yanks the metal top from a new can of coffee, the air filling with that unmistakably tantalizing caffeinated perfume. He starts to scoop out a portion, then stops. He pours the coffee grounds back into the can. He turns back to me, leaning against the kitchen counter. Pushes up the sleeves of his sweatshirt. Crosses his arms.

  Body language saying: here comes something bad.

  He uncrosses his arms. Holds them out toward me, open.

  Okay, maybe it’s something good.

  “I was in the bursar’s office, yesterday. And you know Eleanor always has the television on in there. Sound off, pictures on.” Josh crosses his arms again. And he looks serious. “She says since September 11, you’ve got to monitor for breaking news.”

  I open my mouth to make some sort of pro-television, thank goodness for viewers remark, but something in Josh’s demeanor stops me. “Uh-huh, sure,” I say.

  “And I was in her office when the news of the plane crash in Baltimore came on. What they thought was the plane crash, at least.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “And I almost lost it, Charlie. I almost lost it. That’s why I was so unsettled in that phone message. There was a moment when I thought you might be gone. Forever.”

  “But it wasn’t really—Franklin called you—and my plane wasn’t—”

  “I know, I know.” Josh pulls up the kitchen stool across from me. “I’m not saying it was logical. And it was just, well, I thought of that shooting star we saw on our first date. How big the universe is. How small we are. How out of control.” He takes my hand, examines my palm, turns it over, then back. Looks at me again. “And I thought—Charlie’s gone. And I had just found her.”

  I realize I’m fingering my necklace, a star of pave diamonds Josh gave me in honor of our shooting-star evening almost a year ago. Our first date. After midnight, in the front seat of my Jeep. Neither of us wanting to say goodbye. We both saw a shooting star, and Josh insisted that required a kiss. Our first. I haven’t kissed another man since.

  I realize I thought of Josh, too, last night. And Penny. As I raced through the Baltimore airport to what was supposed to be my live shot, even in my panic for airtime and a big story I’d yearned to call them. To tell them I was okay. I’m the big-time crusading journalist. Independent. Free. It was the first time in years, decades, I’d even thought of letting someone know I was safe.

  “And the thought of losing you,” Josh continues. “It was galvanizing. I adore you, Charlie. I don’t want to live without you. You must know that. You know that, right? And do you feel the same way? You do, don’t you?”

  “I—you—we—” I’m searching for answers to his questions. And I’m wondering, gradually, suddenly, whether there’s a bigger one coming up.

  Josh is patting the pockets of his jeans.

  My heart stops. Races. Stops. Races.

  “It all happened so fast,” he’s saying. “And I wish I had more time.” He pauses. “But I don’t.” He pulls a piece of paper from his pocket, then takes a pen from Penny’s raffia container. He begins to write, hiding the page from me with a cocked shoulder.

  “What?” I’m confused. My heart’s imagination had envisioned a little robin’s-egg-blue box, tied with white satin ribbon, emerging from one of those pockets. But paper?

  Josh twinkles at me, looking up from under his unfairly long eyelashes. “You’re the genuine article, Miz McNally. The real thing. And I think we ought to have it in writing.” He folds the paper in half, then half again, then holds it out to me. He’s smiling, but his face has the second unreadable look of the day. “What do you say to this?”

  I don’t like surprises. But I do like Josh. Love Josh. Do I want to marry Josh? I do. I don’t. I do. Seems like I’m going to have to answer that pretty damn soon. If this, um, unfolds as I predict—I’m going to have to answer it right now.

  My foot is still jiggling as I accept the square of paper. Unfold it once. Twice.

  It’s a change of address form from the United States Postal Service. Josh has filled in the blanks. Under “new address,” it now shows:

  Cha
rlotte Ann McNally

  6 Bexter Drive

  Brookline, MA

  Josh is looking at me. Expectantly.

  Dear Miss Manners. My boyfriend, who I crave and adore, has just asked me to marry him. Or maybe not. I’m a 47-year-old reporter and he’s a 49-year-old English professor, so you’d think we’d be able to communicate with some clarity, and that’s often true. But this time, I’m not sure I understand exactly what he’s talking about. Should I just say yes, and then clarify what it is I’m agreeing to? Marriage? Or living—as my newlywed mother would pronounce it—in sin? Or do I risk ruining the potentially most romantic moment of my life by asking for clarification first?

  And, Miss Manners, how do I know if it’s the real thing?

  “Charlie Mac! Duck!” Some unseen projectile swoops across the room, snags through my hair, then crashes into the pencil jar. Penny’s not far behind, waving her arms, running, her flip-flops slapping on the linoleum. “Did you see that? Daddy? Daddy? Did you see that? I can fly my plane! It flew, just like real!”

  The balsa wood plane I brought Penny has come to a landing, precariously tilt-winged, on the kitchen’s Formica runway. Penny grabs it, pretending to fly it into her father. Apparently her daddy-time alarm signaled we’ve been alone too long.

  Josh glances at me, then defends himself from Penny’s invading air force. My future is at stake. And a little girl flies an airplane into the room. I hate flying.

  “Watch it, kiddo,” Josh says. “No airplanes in the house. That goes outside. Now.”

  Penny puts one foot on her bare knee, standing stork-like, apparently considering her options. “You come out with me, daddo. Charlie Mac can…. Can…Well how about if I fly it inside but I don’t let go? That’s perfectly okay, right?”

  Nothing like an nine-year-old attempting to chaperone two adults. Penny’s in full swing now, holding the plane in one hand and piloting it through the room.

  Josh comes around beside me, takes my hand and keeps hold as he wraps his arm around me. “I don’t want to push you, Charlie. But I’m not going to let go of this topic, either.”

  I look up at him, as confused as I’ve ever been. I always know what to say. That’s my job. Now I’m as inarticulate as a newbie on a job interview. Do it, McNally. All you have to say is: are you asking me to marry you?

  With a hoot and a roar of jet engine noise, Penny flies out the back door. The screen door slams, and we’re alone. And then my cell phone rings. And then my beeper goes off.

  “Your master’s voice,” Josh says. “I know you must obey.” With a grin, he lifts me by the waist and perches me on the kitchen island, holding me there. He looks into my eyes. Challenging.

  “Penny’s headed back to Victoria’s this afternoon. Do you, Charlotte Ann McNally, promise to come back here—tonight? Do you promise to think about me? Do you promise to consider what I’ve said?”

  I’ll figure this out somehow.

  “I do,” I reply.

  Chapter Three

  “W

  elcome back to bad news, Charlotte. So you got my beep? The Prada P.I. postponed our meeting. So now we have to wait to hear from her.” Franklin’s at his desk, holding two brown-and-tan logo-covered purses, one in each hand. He holds them out to me. “So meantime, here’s a quiz for you. Which one is the real thing and which is the copy?” At first glance, it looks like both purses are Delleton-Marachelle hobo totes. If they’re real, they’re worth at least four thousand dollars each. I’m embarrassed to admit to myself that I’d love to have one. I’m working on dampening my lust to own a designer bag displaying those intertwined D-M initials. It’s actually Mom’s fault. She educated my little sister, Nora, and me using Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar like textbooks for a course in acquisition. What to Want: 101. I know it’s unworthy. But I’m guilty. I want it.

  “You know how I feel about pop quizzes,” I say, throwing my tote bag onto the extra chair in our office. I glare at my desk. “And you know how I feel about mail piled on my desk.” I gather up the pile of letters, press releases and junk our current intern has unceremoniously delivered and deposit it on the floor. Swiveling into my chair, I put down my coffee and hold out my hand. “Let’s see those bags again. What’s the scoop? Is one a fake? Who do they belong to? Did you get them from the Prada P.I.? Today? I can’t believe she canceled the meeting.”

  “Me, either. And no note about why she cancelled. Annoying. Someone in her office left a message on my voice mail, just saying ‘Katie Harkins will have to reschedule.’ I e-mailed her to set us up again, but I haven’t heard back. I also talked to the special agent in charge of the FBI’s counterfeit squad. Marren Lattimer? You know of him, right? He’s new?”

  I nod. My FBI pals told me he’d just been transferred to the Boston office from down south someplace. The new special agent in charge. “SAC” they call it. Like “sack.” “So the new SAC’s interested? He’ll help us?” I ask.

  “Yup. I explained what we’re looking for,” Franklin continues. “Lattimer says the bureau has started a whole operation targeting fakes—they’ve even named it. Operation Knockoff. Says he ‘blew the lid off’ a phony purse ring in Atlanta, so the ‘brass’ sent him here. We’ve got an appointment at headquarters tomorrow.”

  Franklin picks up the bags again, offering them to me. “Anyway. Speaking of knockoffs. Which is real? Can you tell? And if so, how? Oh.”

  He stops, looking toward our office doorway, and puts the bags back down. “Hello, Susannah.”

  I can’t believe I didn’t smell the warning fragrance. A waft of her trademark Poison usually heralds the arrival of Susannah Smith-Bagley, the “news doctor” consultant Channel 3 management hired to “young up” the news. She actually says “young up.” I think she’s more about “the buzz” than “the news,” all platinum hair and collagened face, a package of pretense straight from the coast. Even her shoes. The platforms of her patent leather pumps rival that girl in the airport. Regine. The belt artfully twisted over Susannah’s bouclé jacket alternates chunky pearls and gold links. She might as well be wearing a T-shirt that says “I heart Chanel.” No one I know of hearts Susannah.

  “Thanks for the teamwork in Baltimore, Charlie. Too bad there wasn’t a plane crash,” she says, eyeing me. A pause. A curl of her plump lip. “You haven’t been home yet, I see.”

  Franklin risks giving me a surreptitious eye-roll as Susannah attempts to raise one waxed brow at my tote that’s occupying our extra chair. I grab the bag and stash it under my desk, balancing it atop my collection of backup shoes.

  She descends into the throne, one silky leg swishing over the other. Queen bee and the drones.

  “Anyway, you two. Just checking on your ‘It’s in the Bag’ story for November,” she says. “Do you love it?” She looks at us, back and forth, as if she’s expecting we’ll applaud yet another cliché of a title ripped from the news-consultant handbook. We don’t.

  I smile noncommittally. Change direction. “Well, we were just looking at some purses, matter of fact. From the Prada P.I.? She’s the private investigator who scouts for the fakes. Franklin found her mentioned in some newspaper article and tracked her down. She’s been giving us the scoop via e-mail on the secret signs manufacturers use to designate the genuine article. And she’s arranging for us to visit the actual Delleton-Marachelle design studio in Georgia.”

  “Well, in fact, I found her through a reporter pal who had used her as a source in Atlanta. Gave me her e-mail. And she didn’t—” Franklin begins.

  I’m realizing it might actually be a good thing old Susannah showed up. This creates the perfect opportunity for us to make her think we’re really working on the story she thinks we are. I can’t let Franklin interrupt my flow. “See the two Delleton-Marachelles Franklin has? One of them is—”

  “Stand by,” Susannah interrupts. She flips open a leather-bound portfolio and pulls a calendar out of a pocket, checking the dates with a chunky black ballpoint. She holds up the calenda
r, her pen pointing to one square. “We’re thinking—first week of November? Thursday? We’ll have a solid lead-in from that new ‘top model’ reality show. Models at ten, then you’re all about fashion at eleven. Perfectamundo. So, Frank? Charlie? Do you love it? I mean, do you love it?”

  My turn for a furtive eye-roll. No one calls him Frank. And I don’t love it. Not one bit.

  “No problem,” I say. “Can do.” I’m performing my dependable reliable worker-bee act. Then I take the two bags from Franklin’s desk and offer them, one in each hand, to Susannah. Big smile.

  “Up for a pop quiz?” I ask. “Think you can pick out the authentic D-M? Franklin just asked me if I can—but maybe you should try.”

  “Let’s see if Charlotte can do it,” Franklin says, interrupting. He pushes the two purses back toward me, smiling like a ten-year-old trying to taunt his big sister. “Just for fun.”

  “Sure,” I say. I look at Susannah, and try for some wiggle room. “I just got back from Baltimore, though, remember? Franklin’s had more time.”

  “Chicken,” Franklin says.

  “You’re on.” I wish I could stick my tongue out at him, but I know that’s unprofessional. And it would let him know he’s won.

  Okay. How do I tell the real thing? At first, the bags look identical. I choose one, and turn it over, examining, remembering the research Franklin and I have already done. I check the stitching, the leather piping around the edges, the metal d-rings that hold the camel leather handle. The brown-and-tan logo pattern matches at the side seams. That’s a point for authentic. The zipper sticks. Possible fake. The lining is flat and the stitches are even. I open an inner pocket. There’s a tiny brown leather rectangle, stamped in gold with the D-M logo. Good. A tiny label says: made in China. Hmm.

  The second bag. This one’s handle is wrapped in protective plastic. When I zip it open, the zipper sticks. There’s no “made in China” label. I zip open an inner pocket. Inside is an identical tiny dark brown leather rectangle, letters on it stamped in gold: Delleton-Marachelle. Below the name, it says: Made in Paris.