“Sounds too good to pass up. I’ll meet you there, but give me ten extra minutes. I want to drop my dog off at home. I hate for him to sit in the car.”

“You got it,” the long-legged woman called over her shoulder.

Cady parked the Mountaineer next to the red Mustang and climbed out at the same moment Jill Hollister exited her car. Jill laughed when Cady offered up a snappy salute, at the same time looking at her watch. “Eighteen minutes. Sometimes I amaze myself.”

They walked through Eva’s parking lot, which Eva shared with Lupinsky’s Gymnasium customers just as Amy Chambers huffed and puffed her way to the car.

It all happened in the blink of an eye. Jill, her head down, was pretending to play hopscotch, wiggling and weaving her way between the parking lines as Cady cheered her on, laughing so hard she doubled over. Amy stopped in midstride, stared at both laughing women as her color turned from red to white to pasty gray.

“God, how I hate you!”

“That wasn’t for you, Cady, that was for me. Don’t let it bother you,” Jill said, sobering instantly.

“I’m not so sure of that, Jill. Why do you think she hates you?” Cady asked.

“Because I took her brother away from her. Amy likes to control things. I’ll deal with Amy in my own way. Let’s not let her spoil things. We’re just two girls going to breakfast, right?”

“Right.”

Cady turned and waved. If Jill hadn’t pulled her out of the way, Amy would have run her over.

“Now, that’s a bad-ass attitude if I ever saw one,” Jill muttered. “All she has to do is appear, and things get ruined. We aren’t going to let that happen, are we, Cady?”

“No, we are not going to let that happen. Let’s eat. I’m starved.”

Rage rivered through Amy as she drove home. Her jaw was clenched so tight, she thought her teeth would crack in two. The minute she entered the house, she slammed the door shut, locked it, and raced upstairs, where she showered and dressed. The rage stayed with her as she fussed and fumed with her curly hair, one eye on the unmade bed and the piles of dirty clothes scattered everywhere. Her world was coming apart, and she didn’t know what to do about it.

Everyone was sucking up to Cady Jordan. Everyone but her. Were they stupid, or was she the stupid one? Pete Danson had a date with Cady this evening. Boomer paid for her coffee and pastry this morning, then sat on the bench with her. They’d had a date the night before. Jill appeared to be Cady’s new best friend. Andy wanted nothing to do with her. Where did that leave her, Amy Chambers? Out in the cold, that’s where.

“Like hell,” she mumbled as she trundled down the hall and up the steps to the attic, where she stood looking around in dismay.

The attic, like the rest of Amy’s house, was a mess. Ripped lamp shades, rusty bikes, and skates were scattered about, as were doll buggies minus wheels. Wagons minus their pull handles leaned drunkenly in the far corners. Boxes of junk, broken toys, and rusty tools, along with bags of old clothes, were everywhere, forcing her to kick things out of the way to get to the trunk where the mementos of her youth were stored.