“Cam. Stop. I know you want to protect me from all the bad things, but I don’t need it. I’m a grown woman. I can handle Lyle and I really couldn’t care less what people say about the mistakes I made years ago.” She presses her lips together and crushes them to the side, in a move that’s self-deprecating. “Although, Lorelai is helping me hire a publicist if things move forward after this. I don’t want to be caught off guard again. This means that someone else will get paid to deal with Lyle.”

“You’re sure?” I check one last time, reaching for her hand.

She squeezes mine in response. “Positive.”

“Then, I am, too.”

“Me three,” Kevin adds. “Not that you asked, but you did mention friends somewhere in that pretty speech. You’ve always got access to my karaoke machine if you’re feeling desperate.”

After dinner, the sun is slipping low, so Beth lights a veritable moat of citronella candles around the edges of their deck. The yard glitters with amorous fireflies, and the shrill cries of cicadas echo in our lazy silence. Kevin returns from putting the kids to bed and asks if I need a fresh beer. I shake my head, raising the half-full bottle I’ve been nursing the last hour. Shelby settles back in her chair, bouncing a little and propping her pretty bare feet on the railing of the deck.

“I’ve been thinking.”

“Here we go,” Kevin mutters good-naturedly.

Shelby pauses her bouncing. Her eyes sparkle in the fading light. “And?”

“About my brother. And him showing up unexpectedly.”

“I thought it went well,” Shelby says. “And he’s coming back, right? Are you okay with that?”

I nod. “I am. He’s the best at what he does. I’m annoyed I didn’t come up with the idea of bringing him on. But I was thinking about what you said, that good can come from this. What if we took control and not only brought him in, this time prepared, but offered him a regular partnership with the show? If, one, we make it past the pilot, and two, he does well on the Caroline Street house?”

Shelby doesn’t even take time to consider. “I love it.”

“Yeah?”

“Absolutely. Let’s ask him on the show. He doesn’t even have to do anything on camera, if he doesn’t want, but he adjusted all right that first morning. Maybe he’s got a little of your charm inside—”

“Deep inside,” I offer wryly.

Shelby bites her lip, hiding her smile. “I’d like to get to know him, and he needs to see what you do, not just the finished product on television, but the real Cameron at work.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“And I think it would go far in patching things up between you two.”