The second the show was over, Kate walked straight off the set and grabbed her handbag from her office.

"Kate!" Chloe called after her.

"Not now."

With measured movements, mentally reeling off the name of every president since George Washington,

she left the building. Although as soon as she stepped out into the bright sunshine, she realized she had no

idea where she could go. Certainly not home, since the last person she wanted to see was Jesse.

So she went to the mall. Not the Sunland Park Mall close to the house. She drove across town to the Cielo Vista Mall.

She didn't want to think-not about ratings, television shows, or cats. She couldn't remember the last time she had shopped or indulged herself with a hot dog on a stick.

But the minute she walked inside the air-conditioned expanse, she heard the first whistle.

"Look, it's Meeeees Kate!"

That got a few cheers. Though it also got more than a few less-than-funny comments alluding to the episode.

"That's some kind of pussy you have, Meeeees Kate" was just a taste of the critique that came her way.

Had everyone and their brother watched that show of all shows?

She was tempted to drown herself in the sparkling fountain in the middle of the mall. Unfortunately it was empty for repair and if she dove in she would only give herself a good knock on the head. Though maybe with luck amnesia would follow and she could forget pussies and pet psychics and start a new life as a fry cook in a truck stop diner. Too bad she couldn't cook.

"I'm the laughingstock of West Texas," she muttered, returning to her car.

She took herself to lunch at Louis's Barbeque Palace, the darkest place she knew, where customers

couldn't possibly recognize her in the dimness. If they did, they didn't mention it. She ordered a gigantic plate of tangy meat, coleslaw, and potato salad and the largest size Coke they had.

But before her food arrived, the door opened, sunlight brightening the interior. She cringed and tried to

hide when she saw it was Julia and Chloe.

She considered diving under the table, but her shoes kind of stuck to the floor and she really didn't want to ruin her new pants.

"We knew we'd find you here," Julia announced, sitting down across from her in the booth, her Tiffany

charm bracelet jangling against the Formica tabletop.

Chloe sat down next to Kate, as always looking sweet and endearing in her bangs and sensible clothes.

"Are you okay?" Chloe asked kindly.

"I'm great, never been better."

"You're talking to us, sugar," Julia announced. "And you've just been through a rough day at work. Who

knew that Mistress Reynalda was going to go on like that about pussies?"

Kate groaned, Chloe bit her lip, and then suddenly a laugh bubbled up and Kate dropped her head into her hands. "A pet psychic wanting to pet my pussy."

Then all three of them were laughing until tears streamed down their cheeks.

"It's really not funny," Kate chastised through her laughter.

"See, you're better already," Julia added, calming down. "Next time, we'll come up with something

different, something better." She smiled at her. "We're the Three Musketeers, remember? We stick

together."

Kate felt her throat swell with emotion and gratitude for her friends. "I sure miss the old days when life wasn't so complicated."

"No offense, sweetie, but life has never been all that uncomplicated." Julia waved a waitress over. "Two

more of whatever it is that she ordered. Thank you." Then she turned back. "Where was I? Ah, Kate's revision of history by saying that life didn't used to be so complicated."

"I haven't rewritten anything."

"Need I bring up your mother and her revolving door policy regarding husbands?"

"Julia," Chloe reprimanded.

"What? We both know that Kate refused to learn new stepfather's names until they made it past the six-month mark."

"That's not true!"

Julia leaned forward. "How many names did you learn?"

"I learned them all." Then Kate wrinkled her nose. "I just wouldn't use their names until they made it past the six-month mark."

"Ah, yes," Julia stated wryly, "not complicated at all."

Kate knew it was true. Growing up with Mary Beth was anything but easy, or normal. Though the truth was, until Kate had been seven years old, when Julia and her family had built their mansion next door, changing the neighborhood forever, she hadn't realized that there was any other way to live. Chloe hadn't moved in until a few months after that. Not that Chloe or her life had been normal.

It had been seeing Mrs. Boudreaux that had opened Kate's eyes. The beautifully ordered woman had made Kate realize that other mothers didn't stay in bed for days at a time. And Julia's pretty white ruffled bed always had sheets on it.

Mrs. Boudreaux wore fancy suits, making her look like Nancy Reagan. Kate's mother dressed in flowing garments that fluttered like gossamer draperies caught in a breeze. Mary Beth had always been like a fairy-tale princess, disconnected from reality. Kate had acted as the bridge, tethered to her mother by the fiery brightness and love that Kate forced herself to remember all those times when the brightness dimmed and the love seemed to disappear. As much as Kate hated all the men, she had learned that a new man always meant the love returned, doled out unselfishly to everyone in the house.

As the years went by, Kate took care of Suzanne, learned to pay the bills, ward off bill collectors when money ran low, and call the divorce attorney when a father moved out.

All these years later, Kate couldn't have been more thankful when their meals arrived, distracting her from her thoughts.

"Jeez, you could feed all of China with this," Julia proclaimed. Though that didn't stop her from digging in-with all the delicate grace and finesse that was Julia.

Between Kate's friends and every bite of the best barbecue in town, the memory of the pet psychic began to fade. Emotion welled up, and she reached out and grabbed each of their hands. "You are the greatest. I'm glad you found me."

"You know we couldn't let you hurt like that," Chloe said.

Julia pulled away. "Don't you two go all sappy on me. Of course we would find you."

"Remember my braids?" Kate asked. "Remember how I was the laughingstock because my mother insisted that I wear them?"

"They called you Swiss Miss," Julia said.

Chloe nodded her head in memory. "Kids can be so mean."

"I hadn't thought of your braids in years," Julia mused, after finishing a bite of her meal. "Your mother should have been shot. The only plus to your mother's episodes of self-involved melodrama was that at least then she didn't make you do crazy things. Her idea of motherhood must have been learned from a how-to book written by the old woman in Hansel and Gretel. Did Mary Beth ever try to put you in the stove?"

"Julia!" Chloe and Kate barked their surprised laughter.

"Fine, just wondered."

"Anyway," Kate continued, "you took one look at my hideous hairdo and the merciless teasing I got, then the next day you came to school with the exact same style."

Julia waved the comment away. "I wanted to make a fashion statement."

"You wanted to make a statement that I was your friend. No one would dare make fun of Julia Boudreaux- or me either after you took me under your wing. I wish everyone knew what a big heart you have underneath all those feathers and glitz."

Julia busied herself by stirring her Coke with the straw. She had never been all that comfortable with people's kind words and sentimentality. "You must be hormonal or overwrought, Kate." She glanced up and smiled almost shyly. "But a sweet, wonderful mess of overwrought hormones."

All three of them had tears burning in their eyes by the time they had cleaned their plates. And when they got out into the parking lot, Julia reached out one last time. "I'm glad you're feeling better, sweetie. Now go home. Take the rest of the day off to regroup. Then tomorrow we'll come up with something new."

Chloe gave her a big hug, then the two of them were off in Julia's Lexus.

Feeling better and hopeful, Kate thought she'd surprise Parker and stop by his office, concentrating on the thought of his sweet and gentle kiss, the soothing flutter she felt when he held her hand.

But he wasn't in, and by four in the afternoon she had little choice but to go home.

The minute she pulled up she noticed Travis's rental clubs set up against the side wall. She could just make out a hint of the boy and Jesse high up in the old cot-tonwood. They really were rebuilding the tree house. A rough-hewn floor had already been secured to the old notches in the limbs that were still there.

The sight raised her respect for Jesse even more. It was unsettling to think that bad boy Jesse Chapman might care more than he let on. Did she really know him at all anymore?

Travis and Jesse worked up in the tree. Rather, Jesse worked, and Travis sat cross-legged, his fingers

curled around the branches to keep him secure.

It seemed impossible to take her eyes off of Jesse, who was working with a confident precision. His concentration was intense. He held nails between his lips, before he took them one by one, hammering them home with three dead-on hits. If she hadn't known he was a golfer by trade, she would have assumed he was an experienced carpenter.

But it was the distinct contours of his body that held her attention. No shirt, bronzed skin covered with

a light sheen of sweat. Hips slim beneath the soft jeans he wore.

Shaking the image away, she went inside and changed, intending to get on the computer to work from home. Instead, she ignored the phone messages, didn't check her e-mail. She returned to the backyard.

With her thoughts still beating through her like a drum, she crossed the grass to the tree and climbed the newly hammered-in rungs.

"Where's Travis?" she asked when she reached the top. "I saw him just a second ago."

Jesse looked at her for a moment, sexual heat competing with the punishing Texas sun, before his eyes