Panda wandered over to the honey and stared at it, like he was really interested in honey. “Did she say anything about me?”

His scab was itching again. “I don’t know. I guess not.”

Panda nodded, stared at the honey some more, then grabbed a bottle. Only after he was back in his car did Toby see that he’d paid for it with a twenty-dollar bill. “Hey!”

But Panda was pulling away.

LUCY HEARD THEIR VOICES BEFORE she reached the cottage. She’d hoped to write another few pages this afternoon, but an overpowering urge to eat something sweet had driven her back to the house. She was finding it more difficult to adjust to her former healthy eating habits than she’d ever imagined possible. In the old days, she seldom ate when she wasn’t hungry, but two months of “dieting” had made her obsess about food. Now, when she was uncomfortable, tired, or unhappy, all she wanted to do was stuff her mouth. No wonder most people gained their weight back after they dieted.

As the voices grew louder, she readjusted the beach towel she’d bunched under her arm and stopped to listen.

“You should leave now,” she heard Bree say.

“Not until I see Lucy,” Temple retorted.

“She’s gone.”

“I don’t believe you. Her things are still in her bedroom at the house.”

Bree hesitated. “Only because she doesn’t want them anymore.”

“Tell me another one. Where is she?”

“I’m not her keeper. How am I supposed to know?”

Lucy listened in bemusement as the timid field mouse stood up to the Evil Queen. What had happened to the insecure woman Lucy had first met? Lucy reluctantly stepped out of the trees. Temple slammed her hands on her hips. “There you are! I’m furious with you.”

“Leave her alone,” the field mouse said.

Temple stalked toward Lucy. “It was bad enough for you to walk out on Panda, but I didn’t do anything, and you had no right to walk out on me. Did you stop for one second to think how I’d feel when I heard you’d run away without a word? I’m so furious with you that I don’t care if I ever speak to you again.”

“Then why are you here?” Bree’s jaw set in a newly stubborn line.

Temple spun on her. “Stay out of this. It has nothing to do with you.”

“This is my house, and Lucy’s my guest. That makes it my business.”

Lucy forced herself to step in. “Have the two of you been properly introduced? Bree West, this is Temple Renshaw. Temple, Bree.”

“I know who she is,” Bree said tightly.

Lucy regarded her ruefully. “Believe it or not, Temple really isn’t quite as rude as she seems.”