There was no response. Tia’s heart sank as one minute ticked into two and two into three. If Barbie was innocent, she would’ve texted right back to say that there was no way Kouretas could’ve named her because she’d never so much as spoken to him.

The door opened, and Seth poked his head in. “You just about done in here?”

“Almost. You finished working?”

“It’s Christmas. I decided to tackle it tomorrow. Want to get in the hot tub?”

Tia’s phone rang before she could respond. “It’s Barbie,” she told him. “I accused her of telling Kouretas, and this is where she tries to convince me that I’m wrong.”

He came in and began throwing the ball for Kiki so that she could answer and concentrate on the conversation. “Hello?”

“It wasn’t me,” Barbie said.

Tia closed her eyes and dropped her head into one hand, because Barbie didn’t sound very convincing. “Then, how would Kouretas know your name?”

“He’s just...throwing me under the bus, trying to ruin our relationship.”

“That still doesn’t explain how he would know your name.”

“He must know more about you than you think. Must know we’re friends.”

It was easy to tell Barbie was lying. “Stop,” Tia said. “You’re only making it worse.”

When Barbie spoke again, her voice was barely above a whisper. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. You have to believe that. It was Mike who came up with the idea. He said we’d make a lot of money and...and you deserved it, anyway.”

“Deserved it?” Tia echoed. “How could anyone deserve what happened to me?”

“He said you had to have been texting or something when you ran that red light.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. I wasn’t texting, Barbie. I was upset. Do you want to know why?”

“Why?” she said.

“I had just run into Mike at the acting academy. I’d gone back there to thank our old instructor for all he had taught me. You remember Mr. Arzaga, don’t you?”

“Of course. But what does Mike have to do with that?”

“He was there, still taking lessons. And as I was getting in my car to go, he hit on me.”

“That’s a lie!” Barbie exclaimed.

“Whether or not you believe it is up to you. But I was crying when I ran that red light. I couldn’t figure out what to do—whether to tell you or to...to hope Mike had just gotten a little starstruck after my success with the movie. I was so distracted, trying to justify his behavior so that I wouldn’t have to hurt you, that I didn’t even see that light when I blew through it.”

“That can’t be true,” she said, but the tone of her voice suggested she did, in fact, believe it.