Jenna took in a deep breath, looking the slightest bit relieved. “May I be excused now?”

Kay started to stop her but Damien said, “Of course. I’ll get the ice cream out later.”

“Yum. Ice cream. That’s all I need, more fat on my hips,” Jenna growled, throwing her napkin onto the table. She disappeared up the stairs.

“Can I have her pork chop?” Hunter asked.

Damien scooted the plate toward him but stared at Kay. “What was that all about?”

“What? I’m just trying to figure out who she’s hanging out with.”

“It seemed like you already had an opinion about whom that should be.”

“Don’t give me the third degree on this. I happen to know the mothers of those girls, and it’s better for us if we know the parents of the girls she’s hanging out with.”

“She doesn’t seem to be a big fan,” Damien said, continuing with his meal.

“Well, sometimes at this age they don’t know what’s best. Can’t you see what’s happening with her? Didn’t you see her shirt tonight? Papier-mâché thin.”

“You know Jenna. She’s never been drawn to the most popular girls. Even when she was younger, she was able to choose quality over quantity. I think we should trust her on this one.”

Kay looked down, everything on her plate suddenly unappetizing. “She just can’t see…”

“See what?”

The doorbell rang and Damien scooted his chair back. “I’ll get it.”

Kay watched him go around the corner to the door, then looked at Hunter.

But Hunter didn’t look back. “May I be excused?” he asked and didn’t wait for an answer. Before she knew it, she was totally alone.

The table, overcrowded with dishes and plates of uneaten food, caused her to push away and leave the room. She wandered to the office, where a bright screen saver of a rolling hillside greeted her. With one click she was on the Internet. Ten seconds later, she was immersed in a dark world of insinuation and accusation, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away.

She searched for anything that could be about her.

Damien smelled her before he even opened the door. That was some kind of dousing to be able to instantly kill the smell of pan-seared pork chops. He braced himself for the overwhelming scent of jasmine and the intrusive eyes that would undoubtedly focus on him.

He’d once complained to Frank that Angela wore too much perfume. He made that mistake only once.

Swinging open the door, he feigned surprise while managing to say, “Angela!” and hold his breath. “What are you doing here?” He stepped out onto the porch for some fresh air and privacy. He didn’t want Kay involved in this conversation, whatever conversation it might be. When Angela dumped Frank, Kay remained friends with her but not for long. They got into a fight and hadn’t spoken since. To this day, Kay wouldn’t talk about it or her again. Damien never even knew what the fight was about.

His nose twitched, fighting off a sneeze. He turned a little toward the breeze.

“I want to talk to you.” Her voice was low, breathy.

“I’m here. What can I do for you?”

“It’s about Frank.”

“I figured it was.”

“You know he filed a missing person report on me, don’t you?”

“I haven’t talked to Frank today.”

“Surprising. I thought you two were attached at the hip. And also, you went with him.”

“I don’t know what the report was about. Honestly I don’t really care. The thing is-the thing you’ve never understood-is that Frank loves you and will never stop loving you. He does crazy things because of his love for you. And his love has been tested in a variety of different ways. It’s still holding.”

“Don’t you dare bring up the affair.”

“I didn’t say a word about it.”

“A lot of people blame me for that. But nobody knows what it was like. Frank was not an easy person to live with.”

“I can only imagine.”

Angela kept her eyes locked on Damien’s, stepping forward. “I’ve put up with a lot from that man, but he’s crossed the line now. And I’m not talking about the ridiculous missing person report he filed on me.”

“Okay…” The muscles in his shoulders began seizing up. He didn’t like talking about Frank, not in this way, where all his vulnerabilities and shortcomings were exposed. That tended to happen a lot when Angela was involved, but Damien never questioned it to Frank. Daresay a bad word about Angela, and that was the permanent end to the friendship.

Again, she stepped forward, backing him toward his front door. Not only was he drowning in the scent of jasmine, but he was also now suffocating from lack of personal space. He had nowhere to go. He blinked rapidly as if a fly buzzed near his face.

“And I know something,” Angela said, her voice lowering again. “I know that you don’t like to hear that Frank isn’t the perfect guy. Nobody likes to hear that. But you have to hear this.”

“First of all, I know Frank’s not perfect. None of us are. Nobody ever said Frank was perfect.”

“That’s the thing that always got under my skin,” she said, her eyes narrowing. “Despite the immense personal failings of this guy, nobody was more liked than Frank Merret. The guy has the social skills and the self-awareness of a baboon, yet most people think the world of him.”

“That’s because he’s a good guy. Something you could never see about him. Despite all his flaws, at the end of the day, he’d do anything for anybody. And he’d do more than anything, above and beyond, for you.”

It seemed whatever words Angela was about to speak halted at the tip of her tongue. She stared at her feet for a moment, her fingers twisting around her lips and her chin, scratching her skin as if she were attempting to fend off whatever it was she thought she needed to say.

She finally looked up, a half-baked resolve set in her eyes. She didn’t look directly at Damien. Her gaze shifted to the left to the point that Damien wanted to lean over into her line of sight. “I’m seeing someone,” she said.

“All right. What does that have to do with me?”

“We’re getting serious. Very serious.”

“Good for you. You’re afraid this is going to upset Frank? He’s been down this road a time or ten.”

Angela scowled. “You’re painting me like I’m a… Maybe this was a mistake. I came over because I figured Kay wouldn’t answer the phone if she saw it was me calling.” She took a few steps back.

Damien drew in a big breath that probably sounded like a heavy sigh, at least judging from the sour expression on her face. “I’m just saying that Frank cares for you and whatever he may or may not be doing all stems from his feelings for you.”

“Does that include listening to my private conversations?” Angela folded her arms.

“What are you talking about?”

“He’s listening to me. Listening to my private conversations.”

Damien shook his head, still not understanding.

“There’s a Web site called-”

“Listen to Yourself.”

“He told you!”

“He told me about it, but Frank’s not the one doing this.”

“Oh, really? Already defending him.”

“What makes you think it’s Frank?”

“Because a conversation I had with the man I’m seeing was posted on there.” Suddenly the harshness in her voice was gone.

“I know about this Web site. Lots and lots of conversations from the town have been recorded and posted.”

“Yes, well, the only one that matters to me is mine.”

“So what does this have to do with Frank?”

“I caught him. He was behind the house near the sidewalk, peeking over the fence, on the same day that I had that conversation.”

“You don’t have a fence.”

Angela bit her lip. “It wasn’t at my apartment. I was with the man I’m seeing. At his house. Frank must’ve followed me there. And I don’t know how he listened to what was being said, but what’s on that Web site-” she covered her mouth for a moment as if the words were too hard to say-“is exactly what I said.” A tear dripped down her cheek, desperation blowing through a cloud of what looked like shame. “And now I’m afraid.”