Lovely Girls(31)

“I’m trying to help you,” she insisted.

“And I do appreciate that,” I said firmly. “I should get my groceries inside before the ice cream melts.”

I was starting to turn away, but Lita followed me, walking with me toward my house. I wondered if she was going to try to push her way inside with me. She suddenly grabbed my wrist so tightly, I yelped in pain.

“Ouch!” I pulled my arm back. “That hurts!”

Lita held up both hands, as though surrendering. “I’m sorry. But there’s something you really need to know. And if you won’t listen to me, maybe you’ll listen to Taylor.”

I rubbed my wrist. “Who’s Taylor?”

“Taylor Taunton. A friend of mine. Someone who used to live here. She’s the one you need to talk to. Will you do that?”

I looked at Lita, at her agitated expression, her eyes so wide open, they looked almost bugged out. She took a step closer to me, and I instinctively stepped back.

“Please,” she said.

“How would I meet her? You just said she doesn’t live here anymore.”

“She moved to West Palm Beach last year, so she’s only about forty-five minutes away. I know she’d drive up to talk to you about this.”

I hesitated. I’d meant what I’d said—I really didn’t want to get involved in whatever was going on between Genevieve and Lita. Also, Lita was starting to scare me. I wanted to get away from her, to go inside my house and lock the door behind me. But I had to admit, I was curious about what this Taylor Taunton had to say.

“Fine. I’ll meet her.”

Lita nodded and looked relieved. “Good. You won’t be sorry.”



I was putting away the groceries when Alex wandered into the kitchen.

“Hi there. Did you get your new phone set up?” I asked.

Alex nodded. She selected a banana from the fruit bowl.

“Will you put this in the freezer?” I handed her a carton of ice cream. “How did you break your phone again?”

“I told you, I dropped it.”

“Your phone was in pieces. That doesn’t happen just by dropping it,” I pointed out.

Alex looked at me with an expression I couldn’t read. “What if I told you that Daphne Hudson stomped on it? Would you believe me?”

I felt a lurch in my stomach. “Is that what happened?”

“Answer my question first.”

“Of course I’d believe you.”

“And then what would you do?”

“We’d go to the Hudsons’ and talk to Genevieve and Daphne about it. That phone cost six hundred dollars. If Daphne broke it, she should be responsible for paying for the replacement. And if she’s bullying you, that needs to end immediately.”

It was a perfectly reasonable response to Alex’s hypothetical—or perhaps not-so-hypothetical—question. And yet, even as I spoke, I felt the same queasy feeling in my stomach. I did not relish the idea of confronting Genevieve about her daughter’s behavior. I had a feeling it might just create even more conflict. Perhaps it was Emma’s warning the morning we walked the bridge. Things can always get worse. Alex shook her head. “Forget it. I dropped my phone. It was just an accident.”

I hesitated. “Alex, I’m always here if you want to talk. Or tell me something. I’m always on your side.”

Alex turned away, peeling her banana and taking a bite. I thought it was her way of ending the conversation, but then she surprised me by replying. “Actually, I do have something to tell you. I’ve challenged Daphne for her singles spot on the tennis team lineup.”

“Oh,” I said, confused. “Is that how they do things here?”

“Apparently. Unless you’re able to get Coach’s attention another way.”

This seemed like a cryptic remark. “What do you mean?”

“Never mind. But I thought I’d warn you.”

“Warn me about what?”

Alex finished her banana and tossed the peel in the garbage. She looked at me with something almost approaching pity.

“Your new friends aren’t going to like it,” she said. “You should be ready for the fallout.”

“I’m sure no one’s going to get upset about teenagers playing for a spot on a high school tennis team.”

Alex snorted. “Yeah, right. I’m sure Genevieve Hudson is going to be thrilled when I knock her daughter out of her first-place spot.”

I wondered whether Alex was right. Genevieve was overly invested in her children’s athletic prowess. But there was something more going on here. Alex hadn’t randomly picked Daphne to challenge.

“Is something going on between you and Daphne?” I rested my hands on the kitchen counter, suddenly feeling like I needed the support. “Something I should know about?”

“Nothing I can’t handle on my own.” Alex moved away, ready to decamp to the isolation of her room, where she spent every minute she wasn’t at school or playing tennis.

I was planning to go to Joe’s house for dinner that night. He was cooking for me, but I wondered whether I should cancel.

“I’m supposed to go out for dinner tonight,” I said. “But I don’t have to go. We could have a movie-and-popcorn night. We haven’t done that in a while.”