Delaney Shaw at Louie Allegrezzas? Nicks brother? Mrs. Allegrezzas son? Shed seen Benita the other day at the grocery store, and everything she remembered about the woman was still true. No one showed such cold contempt as Benita Allegrezza. No one could convey both superiority and disdain in the same look of her dark eyes. “Oh, I dont think so, but thanks.

“Chicken. Lisa stood and wiped her hands on her jeans.

“Im not a chicken. Delaney shifted her weight to one foot and tilted her head to the side. “I just dont want to go someplace where I know Im not welcome.

“Youre welcome. I talked to Louie, and he doesnt have a problem with you coming. Lisa took a deep breath, then said, “He said he likes you.

Delaney laughed. “Liar.

“Okay, he said he didnt know you. But if he gets to know you, hell like you.

“Will Nick be there? One of her main goals for surviving the entire year was to avoid him as much as humanly possible. He was rude and crude and purposely reminded her of things best forgotten. She was stuck in the same city, but that didnt mean she had to socialize with him.

“Nick will be out on the lake with some of his friends, so he wont be there.

“What about Mrs. Allegrezza?

Lisa looked at her as if she were an idiot. “Of course not. Louie is going to invite some of the guys who work for him, and Sophie will be there with some of her friends. Were going to get together for hot dogs and burgers about six. You should come. What else are you going to do?

“Well, I was going to watch the parade.

“Thats over by six, Delaney. You dont want to sit home alone do you?

Her obvious lack of a life embarrassed Delaney, and she glanced across the street toward Sterling Realty. She thought of the night ahead of her. After Wheel of Fortune , what was there to do? “Well, I guess I could drop by. If youre sure Louie wont mind my being there.

Lisa waved aside Delaneys concern and took a few steps backward to leave. “I told you, we talked it over, and he doesnt care. Once he gets to know you, hell like you.

Delaney watched her friend walk away. She wasnt as optimistic as Lisa. Louie was Nicks brother, and the tension and animosity between herself and Nick was a tangible thing. She hadnt spoken to Nick since the reading of Henrys will, but shed seen him several times. Shed seen him bombing down Wagon Wheel Road on his Harley, then a few days later walking into Morts with a redhead pressed up against his side. The last time shed laid eyes on him was at the intersection of Main and First. Shed been stopped at the traffic light, and hed crossed the street in front of her. I dont know, Frank. Shes pretty hot. What if I just cant control myself ?

Her grip had tightened on the steering wheel, and shed felt her cheeks burn. His attention had been focused on the folder in his right hand, and shed wondered what he would do if she accidentally bumped into him? If her foot accidentally slipped from the brake and hit the gas. If she accidentally mowed him down, then backed up just to make sure?

Shed revved the Miatas engine like she was Cha-Cha Muldowney waiting for the flag to drop, then shed eased the clutch just enough so the car lunged into the crosswalk. Nicks head had jerked up, and hed jumped out of the way. His brows lowered and his cool gray eyes bored into her. In another split second the bumper would have clipped his right leg.

Shed smiled at him. For that moment, life had been good.

Delaney vacillated for hours over whether she should show up at Lisas party. She hadnt fully decided until she caught herself thinking about curling up with a stack of magazines and a box of wine. She was twenty-nine, and if she didnt do something quick, she was afraid shed become one of those women who wore hats instead of brushing their hair and traded in their red platforms for Easy Spirit walking shoes. Before she could change her mind, she pulled on a black turtleneck and a quilted leather vest the color of limes. Her jeans were black also, but her ankle boots matched her vest. She scrunched mousse in her soft curls and hung little gold hoops in the four piercings she had in each ear.

By the time Delaney arrived at the party, it was a little after eight. Three giggling thirteen-year-old girls answered the door and led her toward the rear of a spacious home constructed of river rock and cedar.

“Theyre all back here, one of the girls with dark eyes informed her. “Do you wanna put your purse in my dads room?

Shed shoved her wallet and a tube of burgundy lipstick into a little patent leather bag that looked like a hatbox. The wallet she could live without, but she wouldnt be able to replace her Estee Lauder lipstick for a year. “No thanks. Are you Sophie?

The girl barely glanced over her shoulder at Delaney as they moved through the kitchen. “Yep. Who are you?

Sophie had braces and pimples and wonderfully thick hair with horrible dried and split ends. Split ends drove Delaney nuts. They were like a crooked picture that drove a person mad until it was straightened. “Im Lisas friend, Delaney.

Sophies head whipped around and her eyes widened. “Oh my gosh! I heard Grandma talk about you.

By the look on Sophies face, Benita hadnt been dispensing compliments. “Great, Delaney muttered as she stepped around the three girls. She walked through a set of double glass doors onto a deck. The white sandy beach below was shaded by two enormous Ponderosas, and several boats were tied to the dock riding the gentle waves of Lake Mary.

“Hey there, Lisa greeted and excused herself from the semicircle of people around her. “I was worried you wouldnt make it. Did you have to go to something fancy first?

Delaney glanced down at her clothes, then lifted her gaze to the other guests who wore T-shirts and shorts. “No. I still get cold, she answered. “Are you sure its okay that Im here?

“Sure. How was the parade?

“It was almost exactly the same as it was the last time I saw it, except the group of World War veterans has dwindled to two old guys in the back of a school bus. She smiled, more relaxed than shed been in over a month. “And the biggest thrill is still the anticipation over which unsuspecting tuba player will step in the horse crap.

“How was the junior high school band? Sophie told me they were pretty good this year.

Delaney struggled for a compliment. “Well, the uniforms are better than when we were in school.

“Thats what I thought. Lisa laughed. “Are you hungry?

“Ive eaten already.

“Come on, and Ill introduce you around. There are some people here you might remember.

Delaney followed Lisa to a knot of people gathered around two barbecues. The fifteen or so guests were a combination of friends Lisa and Louie had known most of their lives and people who worked for Allegrezza Construction.

Delaney chatted with Andrea Huff, the best baseball pitcher in elementary school. Andrea was married to John French, the boy whod taken one of Andreas knuckleballs in the stomach and had hurled macaroni and cheese on the playground. The two seemed happy together, and Delaney wondered if there was a connection.

“I have two sons. She pointed to the beach below, then paused to lean over the rail and bellow at a cluster of children wading in the lake, “Eric! Eric French, I told you not to get into that water so soon after youve eaten.

A tow-headed boy turned and raised a hand to shade his eyes. “Im only up to my knees.

“Fine, but if you drown dont come crying to me. Andrea sighed as she straightened. “Do you have children?

“No. Ive never been married.

Andrea looked at her as if she were an alien, and in Truly, Delaney supposed a twenty-nine-year-old, never-been-married woman was an oddity.

“Now, tell me what youve been up to since high school.