“Perfect.” Estrella stopped just long enough to kiss Kylie on the cheek. “Goodbye, my loves.” She waved at both of them, grabbed John by the elbow again and tugged him out of the shop.

“Bye!” Mary called, shaking her head when she realized that John didn’t even look back as he left the shop. He certainly didn’t say goodbye.

CHAPTER THREE

MARY FOLLOWED ESTRELLA’S directions and dressed up for the block party. It was a perfect June day, warm in the sun, cool in the shade, with just enough of a breeze to keep the sweat from sticking. Mary wore a cap-sleeve floaty blue dress with yellow suns stitched onto the hem and her favorite pair of high-heeled boots. Once Caleb arrived at her shop to relieve her, she ducked into the back room and dabbed on some pink lipstick and a little mascara. Her hair had been a bit bashful that morning, so she’d straightened it and let it fall down her back.

Estrella had promised there’d be some cuties at the party and the thought made Mary’s stomach flip. She liked cuties. She liked flirting. She liked men. She liked parties. Yeehaw.

She stopped at a bakery three blocks down and picked up a cake, then emerged from the train twenty minutes later in Estrella’s neighborhood. As well as they knew one another, Mary had never been to Estrella’s house before. She lived on a cute little block of Crown Heights, too far east to have been completely overrun by gentrifiers as of yet. The huge green oak trees touched hands where they loomed over the street, and one corner sported a Japanese cherry blossom tree, a few weeks past its May explosion of color but still gorgeous.

Estrella’s block was cordoned off with blue wooden sawhorses warning cars away but inviting anyone who wanted to party. There were about a hundred more people there than Mary had expected. One end of the block was inundated with children, all vying for a turn on the ten-foot-wide trampoline that had been dragged outside. The other end of the block was muzzy with barbecue smoke. In the middle sat four tables pushed together with mountains of food. Mary slipped her cake onto the dessert table and immediately lost track of which one she’d brought.

“Mary!” And then there was Estrella, beaming up at Mary and grabbing her by both hands. “You’re a vision. Come. You can stow your purse at my place.”