“Does your mind ever stop, Lola?”

“No. What did you think of him, Mandy?”

“Nice-looking young man. Good body build. It’s obvious he works out. And, he’s a bachelor. He’s got a thriving practice, so he must be a good lawyer. I asked around in town, and nobody had a bad word to say about him. He does a lot of pro bono work, so that’s in his favor. If you’re asking me if Cady will like him, my answer would be, I don’t know.

“When I went to the market this morning I heard that Andy Hollister and his wife have split up. He’s Amy’s twin. That makes for three eligible bachelors. That’s if we’re counting, Lola.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” Lola smiled. “Of course we’re counting.”

The weekend after the newspaper article was the talk of Indigo Valley, Cady stared into her empty closet, a look of dismay on her face. Atlas whimpered at her feet. She stepped into the closet to be sure she wasn’t seeing things. No, it was empty. There wasn’t even a stray sneaker or sock to be seen. She ran to the built-in dressers and yanked at the drawers. Scented drawer liners were the only thing to be seen.

Mandy stepped into the room. “Danielle’s ladies will be bringing up all your new clothes in a few minutes. Lola had me pack up all your old things. She said they belong to your past, and you don’t need them anymore. I didn’t throw them out, Cady. I packed them all up and put them in the storage area of the attic. You can have them anytime you want. When you see all those gorgeous clothes, I don’t think you’ll want them, but you never know.”

“Maybe just my old bathrobe. It’s like an old friend.”

Mandy nodded. “I left it hanging on the back of the bathroom door. I have an old robe like that myself. Lola looked everything over and gave her nod of approval. The things those ladies made for you are breathtaking. I haven’t seen Herself this excited in a long time. Well, actually, I saw her just as excited the morning the newspaper with her interview arrived. She was so tickled with that article. Now everyone knows you’re back.”

“What do you think I should do? Should I call my old friends or wait to see if they call me? I know Lola wants me to hit the ground running. I think I’m ready now to beard my old ghosts.”

“You can look at this two ways, dear heart. If you initiate the calls or the meetings, that puts you in control. That’s always a good place to be. If you wait for them to get to you, they could, conceivably, catch you off guard, get you at a bad time, and they have the control. That means the results invariably won’t be what you wanted them to be. If I were you, I’d hit the ground running. Lola is rarely wrong, Cady.”