Nancy pushed open the door.

“Just a sec!” called Lu. “Just coming down!” She ran down the stairs and threw herself in front of the door, blocking Nancy from entering. She’d left some of the cocktail fixings out on the counter; she didn’t think Nancy was going to be on board with the idea of day drinking, especially if Jeremy had told Nancy about their fight.

Nancy peered around her, trying to see what Lu was keeping her from. “Jeremy said you might need some extra help, so I thought I’d stop by. I would have come yesterday but I had an engagement.”

“Extra help?” Lu wondered if Nancy came in, Lu could shuttle the cocktail glasses into the sink before Nancy had a chance to see them.

“He said you’ve been worn out lately.” So he’d told her something. Nancy smiled conspiratorially. “Ooooh, maybe you’re pregnant!”

“Definitely not,” said Lu. Definitely not.

“Soon, I’m sure.”

“Here’s hoping.” Lu manufactured her own smile and plastered it to her face. “Chase has been having nightmares, that’s all. I haven’t been sleeping well.”

Nancy’s face fell. “Oh. Well, soon enough, I’m sure.” Lu wasn’t quite sure how she’d gotten caught up in this third-child conspiracy. Two children had always seemed exactly right to Lu: one for each hand. Maybe that was because she had grown up in a small family, while Jeremy had two brothers. Whatever the reason, he was gung-ho to go for the bigger family. He always said “go for,” like a new baby was a tricky soccer shot. It was easier for Jeremy to talk like that because if a new baby came along he’d be mainly watching from the sidelines while Lu ran up and down the field.

“Where are the boys?” Nancy bobbed and weaved; there was a second when Lu thought she was going to duck right under her arms to get past her.

“They’re upstairs.”

“Maybe I’ll just come in and say hi.”

“Oh, gosh, I wish you could, but they’re napping!”

Nancy looked at her shrewdly and said, “Chase doesn’t nap.”

“Not at home, he doesn’t,” said Lu. “But something about the salt air here, all the sun—he gets really wiped out. I was just checking on them, they’re out like a couple of lights.”

“Call me when they wake up,” said Nancy. “Maybe I’ll come back.”

“That would be so great,” said Lu. “They’d love it.”

She hustled Nancy out the front door and made her way back to the kitchen. Before returning to the cocktail scene she checked her email. She had seventy-eight new messages, one of which said, Invitation! in the subject heading. Lu got a little fluttery feeling in her stomach just as she used to as a girl when she got asked to a birthday party.

She read the email, then reread it. She was invited to Sapor!, one of the biggest food blogging conferences in the country. Sapor! was huge; it was the conference that had launched a thousand bloggers. It would take place over five days. In San Francisco! Not only was Lu invited, she was invited to be a panelist. The topic of her panel: “Infusing Your Blog with Real-Life Stories.”