The kitchen was beautiful, a picture right out of Veranda magazine. Cady found herself smiling. It was a happy kitchen in spite of its elegance. It was also a highly functional kitchen, with every conceivable convenience, including her favorite, a built-in cappuccino machine. Back home, before going to school, she’d gotten into the habit of stopping by Starbucks for a large latte. But here, all she had to do was push a couple of buttons and she had a latte, a cappuccino, or a mocha. What a delicious luxury.

Lola didn’t even know how to boil water. She must have had Mandy or a kitchen designer put it all together. Anthony might have had some input.

The focal point of the large kitchen was a huge bow window and a beat-up round table that screamed antique and character. A table that was always set with colorful place mats and matching dishes. A round yellow vase held fresh flowers, something else that Lola loved. Today the flowers were daffodils with feathery fern mixed between the long stems.

The floor was a combination of old-looking brick and heart of pine. It, too, screamed of times past. The appliances were modern, all Sub Zero, and monstrous in size. Double everything. Why? The huge butler’s pantry held two freezers besides the one in the kitchen, and she knew there was a fourth one in one of the garages.

Mandy was seated at the table. Lola’s majordomo, Anthony, was already at the massive Sub Zero range cooking; tantalizing aromas wafted through the room. “We have everything this morning, Cady. Herself is up. She likes to test me this early in the morning. I’ll ask her what she wants, and she thinks she’s throwing me a curve by saying some outlandish thing. I have her number. I make everything in the hope she’ll eat more than a bite or two. Lola has this thing about food. I guess when she was younger there wasn’t enough to go around, so she went hungry a lot of the time. Right now all four freezers are full. I donate it all to the homeless shelter at least once a month, then buy a new supply and start all over again. Let’s just keep this our little secret, okay?

“Lola has always been a nester of sorts. You’d never know that, with her being such a famous star and all. Frugal, too. She saw early on how unkind Hollywood could be to aging actors and actresses. She didn’t want that to happen to her, so she made sure to save for her old age from the start.”

Cady nodded to show she understood. “Do you have blueberry waffles this morning?”

“I do. And I have sausage and bacon for Atlas and some beautiful scrambled eggs warming here in the oven. Sit down, and I’ll get it all ready. Help yourself to the coffee. There’s fresh melon in the fridge, all cut up.”

“It’s such a waste of money. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded,” Cady said hastily.