"Maren won’t let either of us keep it.”

"You don’t think I can get around her?” Kari stood, went to one of the antique chests in the entryway, and put the skirt inside. She sat back down against the wall right before Maren came inside again. Without speaking to either one of us, Maren picked up two more bags and a couple of shoe boxes. She tucked them under her arms and headed back outside to her car.

Kari opened a box that sat at her side. She gingerly pulled apart a Styrofoam container and took out a shiny Siamese cat figurine no larger than her palm. “Do you like it?” She turned the cat over in her hands. "I always wanted a kitten when I was little, but I’m allergic, so my dad bought me the glass kind. I have over a hundred now.”

I looked at the cat in her hand, and I swallowed hard. "He loves you, you know.”

She shook her head and wouldn’t stop shaking it. "He cut me off. Won’t give me another cent. He doesn’t like how I spend my money, but the thing is, he’s the reason I keep spending it.” Her hand tightened on the cat. "I used to drink when I got upset—like Lorna wrote in her book. He made me promise I'd stop. So now I only gamble or go shopping when I'm upset, and why can’t everybody be glad it's not worse than that?” She raised the cat above her head. "It’s his fault for not caring, and your fault for those stupid pictures, and Maren's fault for letting me keep my credit cards when she knows I’m a compulsive shopper.” At the last word, she threw the cat against the wall and it exploded into a hundred shards of glass.

"Well,” she said with satisfaction. "I guess Maren won’t be returning that.”

I winced at the mess and couldn’t help the words that popped out of my mouth. “How much did that cost?”

She picked up the box and threw it against the wall too. "Not much. Probably about ten minutes of your next event.”

"I’m not doing any more appearances for you. I already told Maren that I quit, and besides, you just fired me."

She blinked, taken aback. "Well, now I'm unfiring you. Instead I want you to work overtime. You owe me that much.”

I shook my head. "I came here to tell you good-bye.” The words got hard to say. I had to push out the rest. “If you ever want to call or text something—I'd really like that.”

Kari’s voice raised an octave, her face flushed with panic. “You can’t leave! I need you!"

I hadn't heard Maren come back inside, but she was there gathering up another armful of things. "That’s another reason you need to cut back on your expenses, Kari. Alexia is tired of being you.”

"You’re tired of being me?” Kari repeated each word as though they’d come with a slap in the face.

“It's not that.” I watched as Maren headed back out the door, and I lowered my voice. "I never should have done this in the first place. It ended up hurting people.”

Kari put her hand on my arm. "But I forgive you about Grant. You don’t have to leave because of that.”

I was glad she forgave me and wished Grant's forgiveness could have been so easily obtained. "Thanks,” I said. "But I need to go home. I have a present to give you before I leave, though.” I pulled the chain upward, revealing the sapphire pendant. As I spoke, I ran my thumb over its surface, saying good-bye to it. "My dad gave this to my mom before he left her. It's the only thing he ever gave us. You know how you never knew your mom? Well, I never knew my dad. I know how that feels, to grow up missing a piece of you like that.” I took the necklace off and held it out to her. "I want you to have this.”

I had expected her to be touched, moved by the gesture. Instead her eyes looked at the necklace in horror. "I can’t take that.”

"I want you to. And when you wear it, you can remember you're not alone. You have so many people who love you—your fans, your father, me."

She shook her head and then crossed her arms as though to make sure I didn’t put it in her hand. "Don’t say you love me—you don't even care what happens. You're leaving when I need you more than ever. I’m not going out in public anymore. I'm not.”

"Kari, you dance and sing better than I ever could. You can do everything I’ve done.”

"I can’t. I'm never going where the paparazzi can find me again." She put her head down on her knees and let out a moan. I had no idea what I’d said that had upset her, but then I heard Maren’s voice. She’d come back inside and instead of picking up the remaining bags, she stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips. "Kari, did you say something to the press while you were out today?”

Kari moaned again.

"What did you say this time?”

Kari didn’t answer.

Maren walked over to Kari, hands still on her hips. "Just tell me how bad it was.”

Kari peered over her knees, hugging her legs. "I tried to avoid them. I wore sunglasses and a hat. Someone at Gucci must have tipped them off. When I came out of the store, a cameraman was waiting. He asked if I was dating both Michael and Grant.”

Maren put her hand on her temple. "What did you say?”

"Not at the same time."

Maren groaned and shut her eyes.

Kari held a hand out in her defense. "What could I say? Everyone has seen those pictures of me kissing Grant.”

Maren looked at the ceiling and sighed. "You couldn't have thought of something that wasn't quite so incriminating?"

"I don't think well when cameras are in my face.” Kari put her head back on her knees. "So I’m not going out in public again. Ever.”

Maren let her gaze fall back onto Kari. "You have the concert in San Diego in exactly one week.”

"And I’m not doing it.”

"You have to. You need the money. You’ll lose your house if you miss more payments.”

Kari lifted her head enough to look at me. "Alexia can do it.”

I shook my head. "No, I can't.”

She blinked, and new tears ran down her cheeks. "My boyfriend thinks I’m sneaking around with Grant Delray. And I can't blame him, since the rest of the world thinks it too. They all hate me. If you’d kept away from Grant like you were supposed to, none of this would have happened. And now you’re leaving me. Thanks a million. It’s about what I’m short."

I stared at her openmouthed. I did feel awful about what I’d done, but I didn’t want to stay another minute. Besides, it was one thing to lip-synch a few songs at a rodeo or places like that; it was another thing to do a real concert. Those were major productions. Despite Jacqueline's training, I didn’t have the skill to pull it off.

"I can't do that many dance routines, and besides, your backup dancers won’t be fooled by me. They’ll know I’m an imposter.”

Kari nodded as though making a mental list. "We’ll have to get new backup dancers.”

I turned to Maren, waiting for her to step in and point out the impossibility of me performing a full blown concert in a week. Instead her gaze grew calculating. She looked first at me and then at Kari. "I’ll help Alexia pull it off on one condition."

"What?" I asked—although I meant What are you talking about? and not What is your one condition?

Maren ignored me. "Kari, you have to enter some sort of treatment program."

Kari let her knees drop down to the floor. “You think I need to go to rehab?”

“You need help dealing with your problems in a healthy way.”

Kari folded her arms and looked away from us. “I don't. No.”

Maren picked up the last of the bags, but instead of holding it, she dropped it into Kari’s lap. "Fine, then, Alexia goes home, I quit, and you can figure out how to pay your bills on your own."