Page 56 of Tangled Up In You

"Caroline—the film star, the one who left her so much stuff?" Chelsea asked.

"Yes. I didn't hear any more, because she told me I should go home."

"I wish I had the power to make someone call me," Hannah said.

She smiled. Hannah had never realized how much power she actually had simply by the force of her personality.

"Phoebe seemed to be connected to the present and the past and the future all at the same time," Chloe interjected.

"That's true. It felt like Phoebe's mind was very fluid, like she saw more than anyone else. She often knew exactly what I was thinking. But then, I probably wasn't as complicated as I thought I was. I'm sure it wasn't that difficult to figure me out." She paused. "I miss her."

"Phoebe was something else," Hannah agreed, lifting her wine glass. "Let's drink to Phoebe."

She couldn't resist that one as she clinked glasses once more and sipped her wine.

"How's it going with your neighbor?" Chloe asked. "Jackie Hunt was in the café the other day with one of her friends, and she was on a rant about you selling drugs next door."

"I don't know why she's stuck on that when it's not true."

"She's just a bitter, angry woman," Hannah said.

"That's kind of sad," she murmured. "Maybe I need to be kinder to her, try to build a friendship. She and Phoebe were able to peacefully coexist. I need to figure out how to do that, too. In fact, I'm a little confused about why she wasn't doing all this ranting when Phoebe was alive. Or perhaps she was."

"Maybe Phoebe put a spell on her," Hannah said with a grin. "Didn't she used to have a big book on her counter that she called her bible, and we used to joke that she kept her magic spells in it?"

"Yes," she said, startled by the reminder. "I have not seen that book, not in the store anyway. It could be in her apartment. I need to find that."

"So you can cast a spell on Jackie?" Chloe asked. "That might be more effective than kindness."

"I'll try anything. Phoebe always told me a problem is the perfect opportunity to grow and be better."

"Sometimes a problem is just a problem, and sometimes it's unsolvable," Hannah said.

"Thanks for the downer," Lizzie said, rolling her eyes.

"Sorry, but I work in medicine, and not every good person survives a bad problem."

"Okay, I need a cupcake," Chelsea said.

"I'll stop," Hannah said, putting up an apologetic hand. "I didn't mean to bum anyone out. Let's talk about something else. Anyone want to complain about their man?"

"Yes," Gianna replied. "Is it really that hard to take off your shoes and socks in one place? Do the socks have to be left ten feet away from the shoes?"

As Gianna and Hannah started grumbling about small spousal irritations, Lizzie checked on the next batch of cupcakes while Chloe stepped into the other room to call her babysitter.

Chelsea turned to her with a smile. "I wish I'd gotten to know Phoebe better. She sounds fascinating."

"She was an interesting person and very nurturing. She listened to whatever I had to say without judging. Of course, she also gave me a lot of unsolicited advice. But she was generally encouraging and inspiring. She urged me to reach for the stars and to not get bogged down with my mother's life and my mother's problems. That was easier said than done, because my mom was all I had, and she always had drama in her life. Whenever the drama got too much for her, we left. She liked starting over."

"How did you handle that?"

"I learned to like starting over, too. Some moves were easier than others. I didn't always like where we'd landed, so I was okay to move on. The worst move was the one from here. I loved Whisper Lake. I loved all these girls. I felt a part of something for the first time, and I really didn't want to leave, but my mother got into a failed romantic relationship, and she insisted we go."

"You couldn't refuse?"

"No. And I wouldn't have refused even if I could," she said honestly. "Because then my mom would have been alone. I always felt like I needed to take care of her, maybe even more than she felt she needed to take care of me. We were more like sisters than mother and daughter. She was really young when she had me, so we grew up together."

"Are you still close?" Chelsea asked.

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