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the carpet, and shoved her skirt up. She was begging for him as he took her right there, and then carried her to the bedroom with their clothes strewn across the floor. They didn’t leave the apartment again after that for two days, until her kids came home. Ted left five minutes before Pattie’s ex-husband dropped them off, and he went back to his own apartment, exhausted and happy and missing her.
    Annie called Ted several times over the weekend, but his phone always went to voice mail. She finally called Liz and Kate, who was out with friends.
    “Have you heard from your brother?” she asked them both the same question. He usually checked in with her every few days, and this week he hadn’t, and she thought it was strange. “I hope he’s okay.” Maybe he was sick. But he was never too busy to call her, and she hadn’t heard a word from him since the Sunday after Thanksgiving when he’d left. Kate said he hadn’t called her, and Liz said the same and that she’d had a busy week herself. They all had, and things were going to be even busier before Christmas and over the holidays.
    “I’m sure he’s fine,” Liz reassured her. “He’s probably just busy with school. He was complaining about it the other day. Law school is really tough.”
    “Maybe he has a new girlfriend,” Annie suggested, sounding pensive, and Lizzie laughed.
    “I don’t think so. After he broke up with Meg, he’s been pretty careful not to get too involved with anyone. I think it’s just school.”
    “I guess you’re right.” The two women chatted for a few minutes, and Liz said that Jean-Louis was going back to Paris over the weekend. She was flying over to meet him the day after Christmas, spend a week with him, and then she had to work. She was trying to get him assigned to her shoot. It would be fun working with him if she could. “Is this getting serious?” Annie asked, and Liz just laughed at her.
    “I don’t know what you’d call it. Neither of us goes out with anyone else, so it’s exclusive, but we’re not making plans for the future or anything. We’re too young for that.” Annie wasn’t so sure. Some women were ready to settle down at twenty-eight. Others weren’t. Lizzie wasn’t. And Jean-Louis didn’t seem to want to settle down either. They were having too much fun in their own lives. And Jean-Louis had apparently not felt too young to have a son, since he had a five-year-old at twenty-nine. It made Annie nervous to realize that he had been Ted’s age when he had a child. She couldn’t even imagine it. Ted still seemed like a kid to her. And so did Kate at twenty-one. And Annie couldn’t see Liz with Jean-Louis long term. He just didn’t seem like the right man to her. He was no better or worse than the others Lizzie had gone out with. She always went out with someone who, like her, wanted no commitment. Annie had other dreams for her, like a serious man who would take care of her. And Annie couldn’t imagine Jean-Louis as anyone’s father, nor as the husband Lizzie deserved. And at twenty-eight it wasn’t unreasonable to be thinking about her future. Annie didn’t want her to end up alone like her. It worked for her, but she wanted something more for Liz. Jean-Louis wasn’t it. Ted and Kate were far too young to worry about long-term partners yet. They were still just kids, and still in school, but Liz was an adult.
    Annie finally reached Ted on Sunday night, when he got back to his apartment, and she was relieved to hear him, although he sounded a little sick.
    “Are you okay? Do you have a cold?”
    “I’m fine.” He smiled at her concern. He couldn’t help wondering how she would react to Pattie, but he wasn’t ready to share the news of her arrival in his life yet, so he kept it to himself. “I’m just tired. I’ve been working really hard all week.” He certainly had, but not in the way Annie thought.
    “At least you’ll get a nice break over Christmas,” Annie said kindly,