“Wonderful. Isn’t life exciting?” Lola said, passion ringing in her voice.

Upstairs, Atlas stirred and rubbed his snout against his mistress’s arm to wake her up. Cady’s arm lashed out as she struggled to wakefulness.

“Oh, God, it’s daylight,” Cady said, rolling over on her back to stare up at the ceiling. “Even if I told you, you wouldn’t believe what happened to me last night, Atlas. My head is going to fly right off my neck any minute. It’s called a hangover. Okay, okay, I know you want to go out. I just need a minute, Atlas.”

The shepherd waited patiently till his mistress returned from the bathroom in her flannel robe. Together they walked down the steps to the kitchen, where she opened the door for the dog to go outside. She looked at the Big Three, who were staring at her intently. Her gaze dropped to the newspaper spread out on the table. She groaned.

“I don’t want to read it. Just hit the high spots. Are there pictures?” When they nodded, she groaned again. “I feel like I’m on a fast-track treadmill and can’t get off. I know I have to do something, make some decisions, but I don’t know…”

“Let us help you, dear,” Lola said. She winced at Mandy’s kick under the table. “At least let us offer some suggestions. By the way, dear, your mother is upstairs. She left your father and is going to seek a divorce.”

Cady blinked, then grabbed her head in her hands to still her pounding temples. “Just like that, after all these years, she up and leaves him! She’s here! I don’t believe this! What happened? Don’t tell me, I don’t want to know. Is she all right?”

“She’s fine. I’ll leave it to Agnes to explain things to you.”

“What about Dad? Who is going to take care of him?”

“I’m working on it, Cady. It all happened rather quickly. Social Services will look after him until I can come up with something. The bottom line is he is his normal, ugly self.”

“It was that damn reporter, wasn’t it?”

No one answered her question. Cady reached for the cup of coffee Anthony handed her. She gulped at it. She stared at the plate of cinnamon buns in the middle of the table. As much as she wanted one, she knew her stomach couldn’t handle the sticky, sweet breakfast treats.

“Now, dear, tell us how we can help you today,” Lola said.

“As soon as I get rid of this headache, I’m going out to the pond, and I’m going to ride the zip line. Boomer hooked it up yesterday, so it’s still there. You can go with me and watch. Since I can’t swim, I’ll pick up a life preserver at the sporting good store on the way. I’m going to ride that damn thing until I remember everything. I don’t care if it takes me all day, and I don’t care if I get waterlogged and my skin puckers up like a prune. I’m doing it!”