“Doesn’t matter so much, because I really did win the prize.” She looked over at Carter while he talked to a couple of his students who’d found him in the crowd.

“He is pretty great,” Laurel agreed. “Did we ever have any teachers that cute?”

“Mr. Zimmerman, U.S. History. He was cute.”

“Oh yeah, the Zim Man.Very cute, but gay.”

Green eyes wide, Mac lowered her cup. “He was gay?”

“Definitely. You must’ve been doing one of your stints at the Academy when that hit.”

“I missed a lot of the good stuff bouncing back and forth.Well, gay or straight, he starred in several of my adolescent dreams. Here’s to the Zim Man.”

“To the Zim Man,” Laurel echoed and tapped her can to Mac’s cup.

“Anyway,” Mac continued, “you and me.”

“There’s Emma. Solid family. They’re legion, but rock solid. Certainly privileged. Then Parker. The Browns are Greenwich. Then there’s you. Crazy mother, feckless father. Never knowing if you’re going to be up or down. Then there’s me, with my father and his little problem with the IRS and his mistress. Oops, we’re very nearly broke and nobody’s talking to anybody. We barely kept the house, and my mother’s more pissed about having to let the staff go than the mistress. Strange times.”

Mac nudged Laurel’s arm with hers, in solidarity. “We got through them.”

“We did. And we’re still here. I guess I didn’t think I would be, not when I look back. I was embarrassed and confused and angry, and imagined I’d take off as soon as I turned eighteen.”

“You did, in a way. Going to school in New York, getting your own place. Man, that was fun—for me for sure. Having a pal with an apartment in NewYork.Young, single, and not completely broke in New York City. We had some interesting times.When we weren’t working our asses off.”

Laurel drew her knees up, rested her cheek on them to keep her eyes on Mac. “We always worked, you and me. I don’t mean Emma and Parker sat on their ass, but ...”

“They had a cushion,” Mac put in with a nod. “We didn’t. Except, we had them, so we did.”

“Yeah, you’re right. We did.”

“So I guess I don’t wonder about it too much. We got here, and that’s what counts. And look, you’ve got a very nice prize there, too.”

Laurel lifted her head and studied Del. “I haven’t claimed him yet.”

“I know I’ve got money riding on it, but I’ve got to say, McBane, why the hell haven’t you?”

“You know, I’m asking myself the same question.”