Rhonda’s expression darkened. She pointed discreetly at something behind Sherri. Oh, no. Sherri turned and there was Curtis, standing behind her, fuming as usual. He wore a stiff jean jacket with a giant comb sticking out of the chest pocket. She felt heat rise to her cheeks. Was it possible that he’d heard her? As upset as Sherri was with Val, she took no satisfaction from the predicament her friend was about to find herself in, not after seeing Curtis’s face flush with rage. Sherri prided herself on being good at keeping secrets, but she’d blown it this time. She wished like crazy that she could rewind the last five minutes—the last five days.

Jerry stepped into the lobby and waved, gesturing at his car. Who could have imagined that of all the people in Sherri’s world, he’d be her knight in shining armor, that his car was the carriage that would take her away from this very bad day? “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She threw her bag over her shoulder and brushed past Curtis without even looking at him. She dashed out the front door and sank into the passenger seat of Jerry’s car, replaying her conversation with Rhonda in her head, trying to figure out if Curtis could have heard her over the music and the din of conversation in the lobby. “Drive fast.”

“What’s up, buttercup?”

Sherri didn’t know where to begin. “I don’t think I’m cut out to be a Bunny, Jer.”

“I could have told you that a long time ago, saved you some trouble. That job is too easy for you.”

“Too easy? No, it’s too hard. I screw up all the time.”

“Cut yourself a forest of slack. Screwing up is what you do when you’re young. Only some of us, including yours truly, never stop making mistakes.” He patted her on the leg in a fatherly way and offered her a piece of Hubba Bubba. She’d never before looked straight into his eyes. Something had broken down between them. She was no longer a Bunny, and he was no longer Monopoly Jerry or the Barnacle. They were just a couple of locals heading home.

“Can you take me to Frascona’s? I bought a car.”

“Listen to you. That’s really something, your own car.”

“Jerry, can’t you do something about the building? It’s just been sitting there for months now. I can’t stand it. I need to move on.”

Jerry seemed to agree. “Well, I do have an idea, as a matter of fact. I don’t know if you’ll like it, but hear me out. It could help us both.”

“Yeah?”