“What possible kind of trouble could you have gotten yourself into to warrant a jail cell? Parking on Lover’s Lane up on Grayland’s Point? Four-wheeling on the sand dunes?”

“I was too old even then to park on Lover’s Lane. And no four-wheeling either, not on those fragile sand dunes.” She smiled at him, but said nothing more.

He glanced quickly at Kelly again, gave Mary Lisa a small salute, and turned on his heel to walk through the crowd to where his mother and father were holding court. She saw Patricia Bigelow looking after him.

“Beth’s dress makes your shoulders look all bony. It never looked good on her either.”

Mary Lisa turned to face her sister, saw the bright eyes, the flushed face. She had obviously downed too much of Monica’s excellent champagne and was in a mood to rock and roll, or kill. It hadn’t taken her long to spot Mary Lisa finally alone on the living room balcony. She took her sister’s hand and squeezed it, to get her attention. “Kelly, listen to me now. I’m your sister. You’re supposed to be kind to me, perhaps even love me a little bit.”

“Yeah, yada, yada, but I just saw my sister yucking it up with John. Did you mention me?”

“I’m very sorry to tell you this, Kelly, but the world isn’t always focused on you. It’s a bummer, but it’s true.”

Kelly drank half of her champagne, gave a dainty hiccup, and eyed her sister with glaze-eyed frustration. “Monica says you’re after Mark again and you think you can get him back since you’re a big star now. She says men are so brain-dead it might be true.”

“Is that really what Monica says?”

“Stop making fun of me, Mary Lisa!”

Mary Lisa sighed. “Then why did Monica throw this party for me if she thinks I’m a home wrecker?”

“Are you stupid? You know very well it’s for her political campaign. You could have run down her mother-in-law and you’d still be her guest of honor.”

“I’m surprised she’d believe I could be that important to her.”

“I don’t want to talk about Monica, I want to talk about John. I want you to keep away from him, Mary Lisa. Don’t run tomorrow morning. He’ll want to meet you because he’s using you to upset me, make me jealous.”

“But why would it upset you or make you jealous when you were the one who kissed him off? Why would you care what he does or who he dates now?”

Kelly downed the rest of her champagne. She walked to the railing with the careful gait of a person who knows they’re seriously impaired. She leaned on the railing, looked down into a mess of rosebushes, and, laughing, dropped her champagne glass. It disappeared into the thick leaves.

She turned, leaned her elbows on the railing. “You’re right. He’s not worth my time, never was. I’ve decided I want Jack. Did you get a good look at him tonight? In that tux he’s wearing, he looks elegant, more classy than dear old John.”

“Not as elegant or classy as Dad.”

Kelly ignored her. “I know for a fact Jack hasn’t dated for a long while. I know he was married before he came here, back in Chicago. So he must be ready by now. Don’t you think?”

Mary Lisa followed her sister’s eyes. Jack did look fine in a tux, but then again, so did most men. Uniforms and tuxes were definitely dangerous. “Chief of Police Jack Wolf? John Goddard’s best friend? You think maybe this has something to do with making someone jealous? You know he’d arrest you in a minute for drunk driving if you headed out of here right now.”

Kelly’s voice sounded dreamy from all the champagne. “His name-it sounds sexy, doesn’t it? Jack Wolf, like one of those macho fake names down in Hollywood.”

“Nah, I think Matt Damon has a sexier name.”

Kelly ignored that. “When I decide I’m ready, I think I’ll take Jack next. Sooner or later, he’ll hop to. What’s even better is he doesn’t like you.”

Mary Lisa was nearly twenty-eight and Kelly was twenty-five-her younger sister hadn’t been this self-absorbed, this seemingly man-crazy when she’d last seen her three years ago. What had happened? Was she still stuck on John?

Mary Lisa sighed. She found herself repeating to Kelly what she’d just said to Monica. “We’re sisters, Kelly. I’m not on this earth to hurt you. I’m not here to steal guys away from you.” Then she thought of the girl-fight she’d had with Lou Lou over a surfer dude who’d asked them both out. For a day or two it had been touch-and-go between them until they saw him flirting with another girl on the beach; they just looked at each other and laughed their heads off. Lou Lou, as usually happened, had the last word. “That girl shouldn’t wear a thong.”

Kelly said, “He’s only thirty-two, you know, same age as John.”

“But he seems a hard man, Kelly. Have you ever seen him smile?”

“Sure, all the time. It’s only you he doesn’t smile at. Of course he doesn’t like Pat Bigelow either, but that makes sense, what with Pat hassling him about the Hildebrands. What’d you do to make him dislike you so much?”

“Are you about ready to go home, Kelly? It’s late, I swear I’ve spoken to every person in Monica’s living room and powder room, and-”

“There’s Jack looming over Patricia Bigelow. He looks like he wants to smack her. Hey, wouldn’t that make Monica’s boring party memorable? Could you imagine if the Hildebrands were here? Of course Monica didn’t invite them.”

Mary Lisa knew it was way past time to take her sister home. But Kelly wasn’t done yet. She leaned back, her elbows on the railing. “So, Mary Lisa, tell me, did Monica take Mark from you because he’s such a stud in bed?”

No, I think I was too happy and she couldn’t stand that. “Could be. I don’t remember. Let’s go home.”

Kelly twisted about and looked down into the bushes where she’d tossed the champagne flute. “I wonder how much that glass cost. I hope it puts her back some.”

“Yeah, she might have to move out of this beautiful house,” Mary Lisa said as she took her sister’s arm. She’d managed ten steps inside the door when Kelly pulled away and went like a homing pigeon to Chief Jack Wolf.

“Jack,” she said, her smile dazzling, looking not at all drunk. “You look taller tonight. Are you wearing lifts?”

For an instant, Mary Lisa thought she saw a flash of humor in the chief’s dark blue eyes, but his mask settled in again. “No, not tonight, Kelly,” he said, “I must have forgotten them at home. If it’s height you want, why not borrow a pair of your sister’s shoes? A big Hollywood actress probably has dozens of pairs of pole-vault heels.”

Kelly said, “I would hope so. I’ve never seen Mary Lisa’s shoe collection. Rodeo Drive, can you imagine how great that would be? Pradas and Blahniks on every block. But it wouldn’t matter, Mary Lisa’s feet are bigger than mine.”

“Let’s go, Kelly,” Mary Lisa said, her hand cupping her sister’s elbow. “Dad’s waving at us.”

He wasn’t, Chief Wolf knew he wasn’t, but he didn’t say anything. “I hope you’re not driving, Kelly,” he said finally. “I’d have to give you a ticket.”

Again, that glittering smile. “One of your guys gave me a ticket in March for speeding, only I wasn’t, at least that time. It was Officer Gruber and he wanted to go out with me.”

“I hope you took pity on him and didn’t.”

Mary Lisa saw that her sister was too trashed to figure her way to the insult. Mary Lisa looked him straight in the eye. “My sister is beautiful, smart, and fun. Any man she’d accept would be lucky.”

He nodded. “As you say, Ms. Beverly. Good night.” He turned abruptly, only to say over his shoulder, “The name of your show is perfect for you.”

Kelly got her brain to focus. “What’s that? Oh, you mean Born to Be Wild? Mary Lisa, wild?” Kelly laughed. “Mary Lisa is about as wild as listening to teeth grind. I think you’ve got us confused.”

Mary Lisa rolled her eyes, grinned at Chief Wolf, and shrugged. “Call me Steppenwolf.”