Page 154 of A Naked Beauty

“It’s going to be a bestseller, I know it.”

“Love your faith in me, beauty.”

“Always.” My eyes catch the edge of the pink message slip under the files. I pull it out. “Hey, guess who called me?”

“Who?”

“Molly Whitaker.”

“The girl we went to school with?”

“You remember her?”

“Sure. She made it possible for us to sneak away to the lake. I owe her big time.”

“You do, at that.” I laugh. “I’m going to call her back. It’ll be nice to reconnect. See you tonight around 8:00.”

“Want something cooked or ordered?”

“Surprise me.”

Toward the end of theday, I get around to calling Molly. She answers on the second ring. “Molly Whitaker.”

“Hi. It’s Deeana Ch—Peters,” I amend. “Dee.”

“Dee! It’s great to hear from you. Congratulations!”

“Thank you. I’m sure the news came as a surprise.”

“Not so much.”

“Oh?”

“I suspected you had a secret boyfriend back in senior year. All those evening shifts you asked me to cover. You were too excited for me to believe you were babysitting. And the way Mick took down JT…I had an inkling.”

“It was complicated.”

“Most relationships are.”

True enough. “So, how are you?”

“No current complicated relationships to speak of. We should meet and catch up. I always wondered what happened to you.”

“Sorry that I took off without ever saying good-bye.”

“No apology needed. I wish I had been a better friend.”

“It wasn’t you. I wish I could have been a friend to you, too.”

“We both could have used it. But from what I saw last night, you have come into your own. A children’s lawyer just like you planned. You looked so confident and together.”

“Still a work in progress. What about you?” I picture the tiny awkward girl with a mouth full of braces. Head bowed and shoulders scrunched like a turtle trying to hide in her shell. I recognized that posture. I had it too. “You don’t sound like the timid girl I remember.”

“Not as much, but I still prefer to stay behind the scenes.”

“Mama T mentioned that you work for the Women’s Network in Chicago.”

“I produceWomen Like Us. Do you know it?”

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