Bloor Line, looking over the Viaduct

Caucasian woman, mid 30s, wearing plaid "clam diggers", black collared shirt, carrying a patchwork bag in patterns of paisley, snowflakes and flowers. Her hair is held back by sunglasses; her complexion a shade of bronzed golf glow. Her bookmark is Rasta knit.

Phantom, Terry Goodkind (Tor Books)

The more Richard studied it, the more he couldn't stop staring at it, as if it were pulling him in...drawing him into the patterns of lines, angles, and arcs. There seemed to be something he should recognize about it all, but he couldn't figure out what.

Each year, the two women meet in Palm Springs for the Dinah Shore weekend. Their husbands support the friendship, encourage it, empathizing even with the desire for comrades you can "just be yourself with."