Lisa laughed at the thought. “I’m sure it was Gene. He believes the world is way more murdery than it actually is. I think we need to talk about how to introduce you to the town. We made a mistake by not bringing you in earlier and having a nice long transition period. Now, while Zep is not discerning about who he sleeps with at night, he does know the town, and he’s right about a few things. I think the two of us having a girls’ day at Miss Marcelle’s could be helpful.”

“I had my hair cut before I came here.” She wasn’t due for another one for at least six weeks.

“Then we’ll get some highlights,” Lisa replied. “Or a manicure.”

She’d had that done, too. “I don’t need . . .”

Her sister interrupted her. “We’re going with the flow, Lila. The flow.”

Apparently the flow had highlights. She’d never had highlights, wasn’t sure she wanted highlights. But she did want patients. “I can try it. But I don’t know about the fake-date thing.”

“Think about it. Remy’s got a couple of friends. They’re nice guys. Rene Darois might be right up your alley. Not that you’re looking for a boyfriend. I understand that. Rene knows the town and he would totally understand that this plan could work. And who knows, you might like him. You’ve got a lot in common. He’s highly educated.”

“You talking about Rene?” Lisa’s massive, muscular Cajun husband stood at the table, two big bowls in his hands. He set one down in front of her. “What’s going on with him?”

Lisa smiled up at her man as she accepted her dinner. “I’m plotting and Rene might be a piece of the plan. The man meat, as your old boss would say.” Lisa leaned over with a conspiratorial wink. “Remy used to be man meat.”

The bowl in front of Lila contained rice and sausage and some stuff she wasn’t sure about.

But it smelled pretty good. She usually didn’t eat rice. Not because she didn’t like it. Mostly because she liked it too much.

Why shouldn’t you eat it every now and then? Her life had become one long denial. She called it discipline, but it was starting to feel like something else.

Can’t you see you’re punishing yourself? The problem is there’s no need for you to punish yourself. You make everything worse by doing it because the reason you’re denying yourself anything that might make you happy is irrational. You should be living a good life to honor your friend. Not this half-life you seem to insist on.

That could have come straight out of her brother’s mouth. Maybe she’d left Dallas to get away from Will. He sounded far too much like her therapist.