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She had just put two big pans of lasagna in the oven when her cell phone chirped.
She wiped her hands on the ragged dish towel she was using as an apron and took the phone from her pocket.
Emily, said the caller ID.
Lissa took a steadying breath, pasted on a smile as if her youngest sister could see her—which, thank goodness, she could not—and said a bright, happy “Hi!”
“Liss. I’ve been calling and calling! Don’t you ever check your voice mail?”
“What’s the matter? Is somebody sick?”
“No, no, we’re all fine. I just started worrying, that’s all. You know. When you didn’t take my calls.”
“I didn’t get them.”
“How come?”
Because I’m not in L.A., I’m in Montana, and there was a snowstorm and I’d bet that there’s zero coverage for cell phones around here when the weather closes in…
“Liss?”
“I don’t know,” Lissa said blithely. “You know how these cell phones are.”
“Well, you should get it checked.”
“I will, I will.”
“Because, I mean, that’s the whole purpose of having a cell phone, right? So people can reach you?”
“Right, Sure.”
“I mean—”
“I know what you mean,” Lissa said, a little tightly. She took a breath, eased it out. “So, what’s new, Em? How are you?”
“I’m fine.”
“And that gorgeous husband of yours?”
“Marco’s fine, too,” Emily said. “He says to send his love.”
“Yeah, great, my love right back at you both. Listen, Em, I’m a little busy right now—”
“I won’t keep you, Liss. I just wanted to know if you’d like a visit.”
“A what?” Lissa said, trying not to sound panicky.
“You remember Nola? She and I shared an apartment in Manhattan.”
Lissa didn’t remember Nola. In fact, she doubted if she’d ever met her sister’s former roommate. Back then, Emily hadn’t let anybody within a hundred miles of where she lived, because she’d been living a lie, but why go into that now?
“What about her?”
“Well, she just called me. She’s in Hollywood, some kind of audition thing, and she’s only going to be there tonight and part of tomorrow, so I thought it might be cool if you guys got together.”
“Now?”
“I know it’s kind of last minute, but that’s Nola. She doesn’t always plan ahead.”
