Free Cheating at Solitaire by Ally Carter Page A

wondered where her normally docile sister had gone. Caroline must have read Julia's mind, because she held her hands out to her side and said, "Myrtle makes me crazy."
    "I hope my being here didn't embarrass your mother too much," Lance said.
    "Don't worry about it. There's dip out there. That's all she really needs," Caroline said and threw the rag into the sink.
    "Where are the munchkins?" Julia asked, looking around for her niece and nephew.
    "Oh, no," Caroline said. "You need a shower and a nap first. Trust me." She pushed Julia toward the stairs. "Steve, get Nina's keys and bring Julia's bags in. Lance's, too. They've got to clean up.
    And then I want you to go get the spray paint in the garage and mark the ground between the stakes so that we'll know where the line is when the fence people show up."
    "But, honey—" Steve started. One look at Caroline changed his tune to "Yes, dear," and the Hello Kitty hat was out the door.
    "There you are, sleepyhead," Julia's father said.
    "Hi Daddy," Julia said, and leaned down to kiss the top of his head. After a long shower and a quick nap, the only thing she needed to feel completely renewed was the sight of her father sitting in the formal living room, reading the newspaper, his bifocals low on his nose. "It's good to see you, honey."
    "You, too," she said, taking a seat on the edge of the table in front of him.
    He folded his paper and said, "You almost missed the party."

    Julia grinned. "Isn't that what you're doing?" He smiled and adjusted his grip on the paper and said, "If I lay quiet enough, they'll forget about me, and I might just get i i done."
    She watched her father shift in the tasteful furniture, and she could tell that even here, in his youngest daughter's enormous house, he felt fenced in. Bill James was a man for whom ax thousand square feet would never be enough room. And as Julia sat there, studying him, she realized that the older, the more she became her father's daughter.
    "Have we had any rain?" she asked him.
    He nodded his head and said, "Enough."
    "How are we for hay?"
    "Good shape. Good shape. I think we're going to get that bull bought."
    "That's great," she said, feigning normalcy, but her breaking throat betrayed her. "Daddy . . . "
    "It's okay, sweetie," he said. His big hands fell over both of hers, the universal father signal for you're still my little girl. "It's gonna be okay," he told her. "Now, go, enjoy the party."
    She hugged him, then moved toward the noise.
    "But I'd watch out for Ro-Ro," he called after her.
    Through the French doors of the family room, Julia saw that Cassie and her friends were engaged in a fiery game o duck-duck-goose on the back lawn. Ro-Ro was settled on a wicker chair, with Steve waiting dutifully at her side. A number of parents stood around, playing referee. But Julia didn’t' follow the action; she followed the voices.
    "I like him," Nina said as Julia neared the kitchen. "He laughs when he's supposed to, and he wears good shoes. You can tell a lot about a man by his shoes."
    "I don't think it matters what we think. Julia doesn't like him," Caroline stated flatly.
    "How can you tell?" Nina asked.
    "Because men make Julia uncomfortable."
    "Caroline, I don't think you're being fair to your sister, her mother replied.
    "I love her, Mother. Aside from my own children, I love he more than anybody in the world, but my sister is—"
    "Listening to every word you say." Looks of tremor passed over the three faces as they stared at Julia in the door way. "Caroline, you're right, I'm not interested in him. And Mother, thank you for defending my honor. That seems to be needed a lot lately," Julia said, walking toward them.

    "Honey," her mother asked, "how are you feeling?"
    "The last two days haven't been a dream, have they?"
    Nina shook her head. "Nope."
    Julia sighed. "Where is he?" she asked.
    "With the kids. He's doing magic tricks. He's really good," Caroline added, as if that would make the situation better.
    "I know.