“L, what’s up on the plans?” Chicho raised her eyebrows at the last word. Liza realized she had stupidly left her picket signs with the last person she should have. “Do I have the wrong night?” Chicho’s lips pressed together in concern.

“Liza, I know you are not trying to stir up any trouble here!” Beverly warned. “Look at your sister.”

Liza saw Janae tilt her head in that funny way that always made men stare. Liza had practiced that delicate tilt in the mirror for as long as she could remember, but she only ever looked like she had a crick in her neck. Her sister was enchanted by this boy. And after everything Janae had lost, she deserved an enchanting night. The guilt pricking her insides was warring with the embarrassment she would feel if she didn’t pull off her pop-up protest. Not only that, but Granny was the belle of the horticulture ball after everyone went gaga over the state of her roses, so she and some professional gardeners were deep in conversation.

“Momma, you see the type of people we’re dealing with? Janae could find a man ten times better than this guy.” Liza pulled away, but her mother grabbed her arm and intertwined it with hers. From an onlooker’s perspective, it didn’t look hostile or painful at all. “Ma! Let me go.”

“Don’t you get upset over that Dorsey boy.” Her mother’s mind was back on matchmaking. “Men like that marry top models and have them sign ironclad prenups and divorce them once the newness wears off.”

“Momma, please, I said I was fine. May I go now?”

When Bev released her daughter’s elbow, Liza shot out like a racer. She didn’t have time to be embarrassed about Dorsey’s discourtesy, but the way she ran out of the ballroom was probably giving everyone that impression. I don’t care. She had spent hours on this, and the signs were ready for prime time. Nearly every local and national news outlet was here today. It was now or never. Liza pushed open the double doors to see the charred remains of her signs.

IT’S ELECTRIC