“Oh my God, she beat us home,” Lola muttered. “I thought she would be out the better part of the day. Try and look like this is a daily occurrence, Mandy. You, too, Anthony.”

“Did you have a nice day, Cady?” Lola asked as she swished past her, the fishing hat she was holding slapping at her side.

“Nice but strange. Boomer asked me to dinner this evening. I said yes. Pete asked me to dinner tomorrow night, and I said yes to his invitation. Amy almost kicked me out of her house, and Andy just waved in passing. How was your day?” she said, eyeing the getups the little group were wearing.

“Routine, sweetie, routine. Mr. Denville is coming to dinner. We more or less…ran into him, and Mandy thought he looked like he needed a home-cooked meal. I’m sorry you won’t be joining us. Hello, Atlas, I missed you this morning. Come into the house, and I’ll give you one of those jerky treats you love so much,” Lola called over her shoulder.

“I was just going to make some coffee. Would you like me to bring some up to your suite, Lola?”

“Coffee? Good God, no. The sun is almost over the yardarm. We’ll have a drink on my terrace. Forty-five minutes.”

Cady blinked as she stared after her grandmother. “Okay,” she said. Whatever the group had been up to, it was obvious they had accomplished their mission. They positively exuded victory. This must be one of Lola’s really good days.

Even though she’d been there almost three weeks, she already knew it didn’t pay to question her grandmother. If Lola wanted her to know something, she would tell her, but only when she was good and ready.

Atlas returned with a rawhide chew and a jerky stick stuck between his teeth. He settled down at her feet and proceeded to whittle away at the rawhide.

Cady leaned back in her padded chair, the warm afternoon sun bathing her in its golden glow. She should be thinking about Boomer Ward and her dinner date that evening. She should be stewing and fretting about what she was going to wear and worrying about keeping up her end of the conversation over dinner. First dates were always so awkward. She hated first dates. Then again, maybe she needed to shift into neutral and not think of it as a date but more like two old friends meeting up again.

Maybe she needed to shift out of neutral and think about Amy Hollister Chambers and her less-than-cordial welcome. She shook her head. Thinking about Amy was depressing. Better to think about and compare her old friends…Pete Danson and Boomer Ward. Both were good-looking. Both were tall and lean. Both appeared to be athletic. Both were successful. What kind of people had they turned into? Were they kind and caring adults? Neither had been mean or ornery when they were youngsters. Even though Boomer had hung out with Jeff King, he hadn’t been ugly and hateful. What was it he had called her today? Ah, yes, little Cady Jordan. It had a nice ring to it. Almost like he’d been fond of her back then.