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against each other. “I’ll be back.”
    As Jill stomped away, Kay took in a deep breath. All this drama over brownies? She began taking the brownies, which she’d laid in a perfectly acceptable circle, off the platter and started over.
    “Don’t worry about her.” An attractive woman with a sleek ponytail and darkly lined eyes stood next to the table.
    “Oh, um . . .”
    “I’ve done cheer moms with her twice, and she’s a total control freak. I’m Shannon Branson, by the way.”
    “Kay Underwood.”
    The blonde behind leaned in. “She’s having an affair.”
    Shannon glanced at her. “Kelly, you’re serious?”
    “Totally serious. Susan told me.”
    Susan popped up from a box she was digging through. “Nobody really knows what’s going on, except she’s coming home at two in the morning. That’s what her neighbor told me.”
    “How do you know her neighbor?” Kelly asked.
    “We go to church together.”
    Kay tried a casual lean against the table. “All I know is she and Mike are getting a divorce.”
    Shannon’s eyes widened. “No kidding.”
    “Yeah, um, she told me herself.” Not exactly true. She’d heard something about it while eavesdropping on one of Jenna’s phone conversations.
    “Maybe that explains her mood,” Kelly said, then looked at Kay, putting a hand over her arm. “Well, whatever. Don’t mind her. She’s a brat and always has been, which is probably why she’s getting a divorce. Did she say anything else about it?”
    Susan said, “The day we were making the posters, I went to the bathroom and she was on her cell phone in there, really upset and crying.”
    Kelly roared with laughter. “I see where Natalie gets her drama-queen genes. According to my Madison, Natalie cries at the drop of a hat.” She checked her watch. “The kids will be here in about fifteen. Kay, you want to come with me, grab some Starbucks for us?”
    “Yeah, we’ll definitely need Starbucks,” Susan said. “You’ll be our lifesaver and forever friend!”
    Kay smiled. “Sure, I’ll go with you.” As they walked off, Kay grinned and looked over her shoulder. “But, Susan, whatever you do, stack those brownies.”
    The women howled.

 
4
    Frank devoured fourteen chicken wings before he spoke a word to Damien, who never kept up, though he tried hard. The problem with Damien was his aversion to gristle, which slowed him down considerably.
    Frank downed another bottle of beer and turned the sound up on the television, which had picture-in-picture going so they could watch the ESPN highlight show and the NFL game.
    Damien popped open another can of Mountain Dew. “So, how’d it go?” he asked, wiping his mouth and reaching for a few more wings.
    “Okay.”
    “Okay?” Damien leaned forward. “That’s different.”
    “It’s a hard day for me, but I made it through.”
    “That’s good, right?”
    “That’s good. Maybe it’s getting easier.”
    “It probably helped that you didn’t look through your old photo albums.”
    “Yeah. Thanks for taking those.”
    “Have another chicken wing.”
    “My tongue is on fire,” Frank said. “Just the way I like it. You know, the first sign that Angela and I might not make it was the day I ordered chicken wings to surprise her for our anniversary.”
    “A good woman loves chicken wings.”
    “I know, and I totally thought she was that kind of woman. I really did. I mean, she smokes cigars sometimes. How can she hate chicken wings?”
    “I don’t know, dude. Women are hard to figure out. Kay’s going through some sort of high school crisis with the cheerleading mothers. And she’s got a weird aversion to anything Jenna wears that doesn’t look like she stepped off an Amish buggy. I don’t get women, even my own.”
    “You’re lucky to have ’em.”
    “There are other women out there, looking for someone as loyal as you. In fact, there’s a woman at the office who—”
    Frank held out a saucy hand. “Don’t want to hear