“Blaire, come on. I’ve saved you a seat.”

A young woman in a robe grabbed Blaire’s hand and pulled her toward the next room, where folding chairs had been set up in front of a television set.

“I have to go now—it’s my premiere, Isabel. They’ll be waiting for me on the red carpet.”

“Come on, the movie’s about to start,” Isabel said.

Blaire didn’t want to miss it. She sat in the front row. Where was Seth? Oh well, the opening credits were rolling. They’d have to start without him. There she was. She had to give it to the makeup artists. They’d done a spectacular job. She barely even recognized herself. She sat, entranced, as the movie played. Her favorite part was coming up, the one in the department store where she and Bette Midler had the big fight. Bette was a great actress, but Blaire had held her own. Beaches was going to be a smash hit. She would probably even win an Academy Award.

Wait till all her friends heard about it. They’d be sorry they’d turned their backs on her.

35

Kate’s flight had gotten into LAX late the night before. Simon was initially concerned about her plan, but in the end, he’d understood. After all, Blaire was her sister, and Kate knew that, despite everything, Lily would want them to move past everything and begin again. And Kate wanted it as well. Kate had worked hard, with the help of a therapist, to control her anxiety. She and Simon had spent that first year after Lily’s death in counseling. They had learned that secrets were poison to a marriage. But the first hurdle that Kate had to overcome was her anger. She was still struggling to come to terms with the fact that her mother’s oldest friend had been the one to end her life. Kate wanted vengeance, and the few years Georgina got for involuntary manslaughter seemed paltry in comparison to what she’d taken away. Her sentence had been reduced, and she’d already served her four years. She was out now. Free and alive. Unlike Lily.

Kate had severed ties with Selby and all the Hathaways. She thought about the last time she’d spoken to Selby, a few days after Georgina was arrested, when she’d stopped by the hotel where Kate was staying.

“Kate, I’m so sorry. I don’t even know what to say.” Selby had reached out and embraced Kate, both of them in tears.

“Come sit,” Kate said, struggling to come up with something to say to the daughter of her mother’s killer. “I assume you know everything?”

Selby wrung her hands and shook her head. “Yes. Your father and my mother. I don’t understand. I’ll never understand. How could she do that to my mother?”