I thought about her second secret. Sometimes, my body feels like it belongs to someone else.

“Lily?” I said.

She blinked. “Headache.” Before she could return to the topic of the pie-eating contest—or why she cared about meeting the White Gloves’ challenge—her posture changed abruptly. She grabbed the snow cone out of my hand.

“Wouldn’t advise eating that if you want room for pie.” I realized a second later that she had no intention of eating anything. She just wanted something to look at. Something to hold. An excuse to pretend she didn’t see Walker and Campbell Ames across the way.

“Do you think she told him?” I asked so Lily wouldn’t have to. On the other side of the sprawling lawn, where a group of men was just starting to set up a half-dozen grills, Campbell and Walker were approached by Victoria.

And her father.

“Maybe Walker should date Victoria,” Lily said, tightening her death grip on the snow cone. “Dance with her. Talk to her. Kiss her and tell her she’s the one.”

I had the distinct feeling that Lily saying that was no different than her pressing on bruised knuckles to see if it hurt.

“Before you have your boyfriend and Victoria hypothetically married off and having babies,” I interjected, “I’d like to remind you that you’re the one who’s not sure, and they only danced together once.”

“I’m the one with doubts now,” Lily replied. “Walker was the one who wasn’t sure before.” She shifted the snow cone to her left hand, and the bruised fingers on her right curled and uncurled at her side. “Walker likes to be needed. He likes to ride in on a white horse and save the day, and he spent the last year thinking he’d never get to be that kind of guy again.”

“And you don’t want that kind of guy?” I asked.

“I don’t know what I want,” Lily reiterated as Walker and Campbell spotted us through the crowd. “I thought my mama and daddy had the perfect marriage. I thought they were the perfect couple. I was wrong. I wanted what they had. What does that say about me?”

Walker started making his way toward us, Campbell two steps behind.

“Are you hoping she didn’t tell him?” I asked Lily. “Or that she did?”

No reply.

“Happy Fourth of July.” Walker greeted her with a quick kiss to the lips. “Care for a stroll?”

He held out an arm, and she took it.

Once they were out of earshot, Campbell turned to me. “I didn’t tell him. Obviously.”

That was unusually altruistic of her. “What did Victoria and her father want?” I asked.

“To say hello,” Campbell replied. “Supposedly.” She didn’t dwell on that—or allow me to. “Get any texts this morning?”