“Okay, gorgeous, get back to geeking out, I’m going to lunch,” Beatrice said, and strutted off quite pleased with herself. Though she was still uncertain whether Anna was ready to quit the zero and get with the hero.

“Hey, Bea, wait up!” Anna called out. “Can I joinsie? I’m ravenous, too.”

Oh me, oh my, Bea thought to herself as she waved Anna to come with. Vronsky may have caught a pretty little fly in his web after all.

XX

On the day of Bea’s party, there was a 70 percent chance of snow. Anna’s father insisted she and Steven take the Cadillac Escalade, which was the safest of all his cars (since Anna refused to drive the Hummer). Anna, Steven, and Lolly planned to leave Greenwich in the afternoon and would arrive at Bea’s family estate well before sundown. Bea was hosting a pre-party catered dinner for her A-list friends, the three of them plus twelve others who were all invited to spend the night.

“Kimmie isn’t coming?” Anna asked when she saw Lolly and Steven arrive from the city by themselves. “I had Bea send her an invitation.”

Lolly shook her head. “Kimmie’s been a little under the weather lately.”

Anna frowned. She had been hoping Kimmie would come so Anna could clear the air between them. Anna hated the idea of girls letting boys come between them. But after Kimmie had confessed her feelings for Vronsky and then seen Anna dance all night with him, Kimmie probably thought the worst of her. And Anna didn’t blame her. “Is it because she hates me?”

“Don’t be silly. Kimmie could never hate you. That whole Vronsky thing was just a dumb crush. I never wanted or expected it to amount to anything. They had only gone out a few times before Jaylen’s party, so she had no right to get that upset.”

Anna wasn’t aware that Kimmie and Vronsky had spent any real time together, but she didn’t let on that the news bothered her. “Would it help if I called her? She still has time to make it. We don’t have to go up early for the dinner.”

“Oh no, Anna, you’re too sweet,” Lolly responded. “Kimmie’s actually been sick for a few weeks now. In fact, my mom is taking her out West to see a specialist and spend a weekend at a spa. They’re leaving tomorrow morning, so even if she wanted to come, she couldn’t.”

Satisfied by the excuse, Anna dropped the subject.