It had been Cass who had made certain that Khaliyah got all the counseling she needed in the months and years after her mother’s death, Cass who had encouraged Khaliyah to ask to be tested for the top academic track when she reached high school, Cass who had paid for the summer school classes that had allowed her to catch up after having lagged behind in junior high. It had been Cass who had recognized Khaliyah’s athletic promise and enrolled her in basketball camp, and Cass who had helped Khaliyah get the part-time waitressing job at the diner where all the local officers stopped for meals during the day, and who had sat down with Khaliyah’s aunt and asked her to permit Khaliyah to take the PSATs this past year. Come the fall, it would be Cass who would work with the guidance counselors to look at the options for college, help her seek out the financial aid she would need, and take her on campus visits.

It was not lost on Cass that perhaps she was trying to replace one lost younger sister with another, but she’d shrugged off the thought. Khaliyah was smart and brave, brave enough to sit in open court and describe what had been done to her, what had been done to her mother. She had endured and survived, and was, in Cass’s mind, deserving of whatever advantages Cass could help her attain. She’d have done the same for Trish, if she’d had the chance. Now she’d do for Khaliyah. She knew what it was like to lose your mother, to have that core of strength and confidence taken from you. She, too, had been placed with relatives, and though she’d never doubted her aunt and uncle loved her, she’d never quite been able to completely settle there. Whatever she now did for Khaliyah, it was to help her through the toughest times and make certain that she knew there was someone who would stand behind her. Cass never regretted a minute of time she spent with her.

It was almost nine-thirty when Cass arrived home and crept into the stone driveway next to her bungalow. This year, she was going to get these stones replaced if she did nothing else. Macadam, maybe. Something nice and smooth…

Exhausted, she started to open the car door, then realized the lights were on inside her house. Had they been turned on when she left?

A shadow moved across the kitchen window.

Taking her bag from the front seat, she felt around for her gun. Holding it down, her finger on the safety, she exited the car but left the door ajar so as not to slam it. She crept up the back steps, and peered through the window. The shadow moved through the front hall into the living room.

Cass eased the door open and slid inside, lowering her bag to the floor silently as she proceeded toward the front of the house. She rounded the corner, her gun level in front of her.

“Don’t move,” she told the figure who stood in the middle of the living room floor.

“Oh, for Christ’s sake, Cassie, don’t you get enough of that cop drama during the day?”

“Lucy.” Cass exhaled loudly and lowered the gun. “Jesus, Lucy, I could have shot you.”

“A simple ‘Gee, it’s nice to see you’ would suffice.”

Muttering under her breath, Cass went outside and closed the car door.

“I brought dinner with me. Or have you eaten already?” Lucy said as she came into the kitchen. “And how ’bout a hug?”

“No, actually, I haven’t eaten.” Cass embraced her cousin lightly.

“Good. Chicken parm and pasta. I stopped at that place right as you come into town?” Lucy hustled to the refrigerator and opened it. “Get two plates, Cass, I was waiting for you.”

“Where are David and the twins?” Cass asked.

“The kids are both at sleepover camp this summer-they’ve gone before, but it never ceases to amaze me that they’re old enough for real sleepover camp.” Lucy shook her head. “I don’t know where the years have gone, Cass, I swear it.”

“And David?”

“You want a little wine with this, Cassie? I brought a bottle with me, it’s right there on the counter, by your elbow.”

Lucy fixed two plates and popped one into the microwave.

“Yay, a new microwave. The old one finally pooped out, eh? With any luck, the stove will follow suit and you’ll have to get a new one of those, too. Have you seen the kind that has two ovens? A little oven on the top and a full-sized one on the bottom? It’s super.”

Cass popped the cork on the wine bottle as Lucy found two glasses.

“Well, we could probably spring for a few real wineglasses, but I suppose it tastes just as good in these fat little tumblers.” Lucy smiled brightly and took a sip. “Yum. Cass, why don’t you sit down-you look like you’re about to pass out on your feet-and I’ll just find us some knives and forks…”

“The second drawer next to the sink.” Cass sank into a chair.

“Where they have been for the past, oh, thirty-five or so years.” Lucy turned and opened the drawer. “No one can ever accuse you of rocking the boat, Cassandra Burke.”

Cass stuck out her tongue at Lucy’s back.

“I saw that. I saw it in the window glass.” Lucy grinned and handed Cass the flatware just as the microwave beeped. In one motion, Lucy removed one plate, handed it to Cass, then slid the second plate into the microwave.

“I already moved my stuff into my room,” Lucy told her. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Why should I mind?” Cass shrugged. “The house is as much yours as it is mine.”

“Only because Gramma’s will left it that way. We both know it’s your home, Cassie. I don’t mind. I’m glad you decided to live here. It keeps the old place alive. I’m grateful for my little bit of time down here in the summer.”

The microwave beeped and Lucy took the plate out and placed it on the table, across from Cass.

“I may want to stay a little longer this year, if that’s okay.” Lucy pulled out a chair and sat down. Her eyes were on her plate. “I mean, if it’s not inconvenient for you…”

“My home is your home. Literally. Stay as long as you like.”

“Thanks. It might just be a few weeks. I’m not sure.”

“Luce, what’s going on?” Cass took another sip of wine. “Are you and David having problems?”

“Problems?” Lucy speared a piece of chicken and studied it. “If you call finding out your husband has been playing footsies with your next-door neighbor for the past six months and everyone on your block knew but you having problems, then, why, yes, David and I are having problems.”

“Lucy, I’m so sorry.” Cass set her fork down on the side of her plate. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Not much to say.” Lucy’s eyes filled with tears. “The bastard.”

Lucy nibbled at her food, sniffing all the while. “I’m sorry, Cass.” She shook her head. “I know you probably don’t really want to know about it. I know you don’t do emotional, and right now, I’m awfully emotional. And am likely to be weepy on and off for the next few months. I’ll try to do most of my best crying when you’re at work.”

“Lucy…” Cass protested weakly.

“It’s okay, honey.” Lucy wiped at her eyes.

“Lucy, you can feel free to cry whenever you need to or want to. I’m so sorry you’re going through this. I wish I could make it better for you.” Cass met her cousin’s eyes across the table. “I don’t know what else to say.”

“You could say, ‘David is a total creep and bastard and he was never good enough for you.’”

“David is a total creep and a bastard, and I never did think he was good enough for you, Lucy.”

Lucy nodded. “That was good, Cassie.”

“I never understood what you saw in him. He’s not worthy of your tears.”

“You’re getting better at this.”

“Actually, I thought you were crazy to marry him in the first place.”

“Nice, honey. Thank you.”

“To tell the truth, he always reminded me a bit of Mr. Janner.”

“Mr. Janner?”

“Sleazy guy who ran the movie theater when we were kids and who always seemed to have teenage boys hanging around him.”