“That’s my girl! Of course we’re going with you. We have nothing planned today, do we?” Lola said, staring at Anthony and Mandy and defying them to contradict her.

“Absolutely nothing,” they responded in unison.

Cady didn’t know why, but she thought the three of them were lying through their teeth. She nodded.

“Some dry toast and tomato juice with a dash of Tabasco might help,” Anthony said.

Cady nodded again.

“By the way, dear, your friends stopped by yesterday. They came in separate cars, Boomer, Peter, and Andy. We had to tell them you weren’t here. We could have directed them to the Drop Zone had we known that’s where you were entertaining Andy’s wife. We weren’t really worried about you since you’re all grown-up,” Lola said.

“The three of them came here! Did they say what they wanted?”

“No, they didn’t say. Mandy didn’t open the gate. She spoke to them through the intercom. They backed up and left. It was before your…ah…arrest,” Lola said, tongue in cheek.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to live that down.”

“It will look good in your memoirs someday.” Anthony beamed.

“Oh, God! Is my mother really all right, Lola? Put that paper away. I don’t want her seeing that article. She’ll never understand something like that.”

Lola laughed. “Dear girl, if you only knew how wrong you are. On top of that, you worry too much. But to answer your question, your mother is fine. She’s probably the best she’s ever been since marrying my son. She’s looking forward to seeing you.”

Cady made a face as she downed the glass of ice-cold tomato juice. She waited for a moment to see how it would sit in her stomach. Satisfied that her hangover was on the road to recovery, she got up, waved, and headed for the steps that would take her to the second floor. She looked back, and called over her shoulder, “Remember now, don’t show that paper to my mother.”

Chief of Police Mac Ward, aka Boomer, shuffled papers on his desk in between fielding phone calls. He had no idea what he was shuffling, no idea what to do or what the day would bring. He wished he was a kid again so he could bawl his head off. He toyed with the idea of calling his parents for advice, but shame stopped him. He was a man, for God’s sake. On top of that, he was the police chief. That had to mean he was a man with a brain. In Cady Jordan’s eyes he wasn’t the police chief, and he sure as hell wasn’t a man. In her eyes he was an out-and-out liar. He had to correct that misconception, and he had to do it immediately. Well, maybe not right that minute, since the clock told him it was only ten minutes to eight. Ten o’clock would be a decent time to make his appearance at the Jor Dan mansion.

If he had to grovel, he would. If he had to stand on his head, he would. Whatever it took, he was willing to do to make Cady understand he’d done what he could for her that awful day.