Nella seemed pleased by that.

“I’m pretty tired. I think I’ll go to bed.”

“Of course. I’ll see you in the morning. How about strawberry waffles for breakfast?”

“Excellent,” Kelly said, then went to her room and shut the door. When she saw herself in the mirror, she thought how different she’d looked before the date. She’d seemed younger, certainly more hopeful, then.

Now she was just confused. Perplexed and puzzled. What the hell is going on?

The whole date felt like she’d walked into the middle of a movie and she’d never figured out the plot. Adam had treated Miguel like he was an enemy, while Miguel acted like he knew something no one else did.

And then there was Vera. Usually she was calm. But tonight she’d looked like she was ready to kill someone. It was just that Kelly never could figure out who she wanted to murder.

As for Kelly, she ate and drank and said little. Mainly, she stayed out of whatever was going on among the others. No wonder I love animals, she thought. They make more sense.

She turned away from the mirror. When she had trouble undoing the halter knot of her dress, her bad temper made her want to use scissors on it, but she didn’t. She managed to strip down and put on her bathrobe. When she opened her bedroom door, she saw her mother on the phone. She was whispering, so it had to be a call to Forey.

Nella stopped talking as Kelly walked to the bathroom, but when Kelly was out of sight, Nella started again.

Kelly leaned against the door. She wanted to forget that this night had happened.

Tomorrow she’d skip church and go clean out cages. Better animal waste than facing Vera, Adam and Miguel again. Or answering questions about what the double date had been like.

She turned on the shower over the tub, got in and washed her hair. It took three shampoos to get all the hair spray out. She stepped out and wiped the steam off the mirror. With her wet hair slicked back, she again looked like herself. Well, maybe her eyebrows were better, but still the same.

“What in the world is going on?” she said aloud, but there was no answer.

When Robbie bounded down the stairs, he was jolted to see Adam sitting in a chair and drinking beer. It was eight thirty on a Sunday morning. He looked bad. He had on dress pants and a white shirt. His suit jacket and tie were slung over a chair.

“You look like crap. Did you sleep last night?”

Adam didn’t reply.

Robbie went to the kitchen and poured himself a bowl of Cheerios and added milk. Back in the living room, Adam hadn’t moved. Robbie sat on the arm of a chair across from his brother. “So what’s wrong with you?”

Adam took so long to speak that Robbie almost left. “Where are you going?”