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from the airport to tell her that she’d arrived safely and the two women promised to call several times during the following week. This would be their first extended separation and, although it was her choice, Jenna was still choked up. Now she was here, she thought, as the taxi arrived at the address she’d given the driver.
    She opened the taxi door and stepped out. The brownstone was four stories tall, with two steps leading to a small stoop. She tipped the driver as he set her suitcase beside the front door, and watched him drive away. She was really here. She’d done it. This was day one of the rest of her life. That phrase might be a cliché but it was as true for her as it could be.
    She inhaled deeply. She was here, where she belonged. She was startled at the thought but somehow it was true. Manhattan felt like home. Seneca Falls was a small, touristy town, pleasantly nicknamed the Gateway to the Finger Lakes and she’d spent a good deal of time in Syracuse on business. Large as Syracuse was, it was nothing like this. Manhattan hummed with life and action. Sounds of cars, trucks, taxi horns, and garbage cans clanging, interspersed with sirens, pounded the air. The city smelled of pavement, the bagel cart on the corner, and the Pakistani restaurant in the middle of the block. She raised her face to the brilliant blue sky, only a narrow strip of it visible between the buildings, and she couldn’t keep from grinning. She was really here. She took a deep gulp of city air and let it out slowly, then pressed the doorbell.
    Almost immediately the door flew open and, with an almost childlike squeal, Chloe propelled herself out and threw her arms around her friend. “You made it,” she said.
    Jenna leaned down and embraced her. “I did. The flight was uneventful, just the way I like a flight to be.”
    Chloe backed up and gazed at her, taking in her bright red Minnie Mouse tee shirt and denim vest over her jeans and sneakers. “You look just terrific,” she said. “It’s hard to believe it’s been more than nine years since Albany.”
    Jenna hugged her again. Chloe’s lush figure was barely contained in a pair of navy blue short shorts, a white tank top covered with a sheer, kelly green overshirt, tied beneath her breasts. Her auburn hair was seemingly uncombed, a riot of curls all over her head. Her feet were bare and Jenna could see that her manicured toenails were the same shade of shocking coral as her fingernails. “Closer to eleven, but who’s counting. Anyway, Chloe, we’ve seen each other lots of times since then. Every time I’ve been in New York, actually.”
    â€œRight, all three times. I’m just glad you’re here.”
    â€œI’m glad you’re glad,” Jenna said, shaking her head in wonder. “You haven’t changed, you know. You still look about sixteen years old.” She knew that, like she and her sister, Chloe was in her early thirties.
    Chloe shook her head sadly. “I still get proofed at most of the places I go. It’s the bane of my existence.”
    â€œMost people would love that. I always envied you. All the guys in school wanted to cuddle and cosset you, but you kept it all under control. Me? All they wanted to do was get help with their assignments.”
    â€œThey still want to cuddle and cosset me, and more,” Chloe said, then grabbed Jenna’s arm and pulled. “Come inside and let’s really catch up.”
    Jenna walked through a small entryway with black and white checkerboard tile and a small chandelier. Chloe led her past a spacious living room, furnished with homey pieces that made you want to sit down and curl up. Two large, gray upholstered chairs, a leather lounger, and an overstuffed sofa upholstered in a rose and gray tweed and covered with a dozen pillows in various shades and patterns, all in black and white. A fifty-two-inch TV set stood in the