sympatheticbut also dying to hear all the details.
We stopped at the Century City mall and checked out the stores, with Adele giving a running commentary on how much she preferred indoor shopping centers.
'That was fun,' Dinah said with a touch of sarcasm, as we got back into the car. 'Okay, Adele, where's the yarn store?'
'I'll just direct you,' Adele said, insisting that she needed to sit in the front seat.
Her directions took us to Third Street near La Cienega, where old, oddball stores were being replaced by new trendy businesses.
Adele told Dinah to park around the corner. The street that ran parallel was all residential, with mostly two- story stucco duplexes and apartment buildings.
Adele led us back to the commercial street, where there was a lot more foot traffic than in the Valley, and fewer people wearing shorts. I would have passed the actual store without seeing it, if Adele hadn't stopped our progress and taken us inside.
'Remember, his place stays a secret,' Adele said before we went in. It was called Frank's International Button, Fabricand Yarn Mart, and was the complete opposite of the store Dinah and I had visited. We had to walk in sideways because there was so much of everything heaped on the counter of the tiny shop. The yarn was displayed in the back corner.
Adele knew Frank and kept making conversation with him to make sure the other sideways shoppers knew she was a regular.
Dinah found some black yarn with gold threads running through it. I picked a green-blue cotton yarn that was the color of the greenmobile, and Adele went for some fuzzy stuff that seemed to be pink mixed with a lot of other colors.
Shaking her head with disbelief, Dinah looked down at the shopping bag Frank had just handed her. 'I can't believe I bought more yarn. I haven't even finished the scarf I started.'
Adele chuckled. 'Welcome to the club.' Loving to be the one in the know, she explained how once you started crocheting, you picked up the yarn habit. 'You see somethingbeautiful, and you have to have it. Particularly here. Did I mention that when whatever stock he has is gone, that's it?'
Dinah pulled me aside while Adele was going through a long good-bye with her yarn store friend. 'Give me details. What happened with Barry?'
I started to explain, but Adele interrupted.
'Ladies,' Adele said, breezing out of the store and draggingus along with her. 'Let's stop at the pastry shop down the street. I can personally vouch for the apple dumplings, but everyone says their cakes are fabulous, too.'
I looked at Dinah, and she took it from there, explaining that we'd been planning to stop at Farmers Market. It was a quaint bunch of outdoor stalls nearby that had been an L.A. landmark forever. Adele cut her off.
'Trust me on this--you'll be happier with my choice.' Without waiting for us to answer, Adele merely walked down the street. For just a second it occurred to me that Dinahhad driven, which meant we had the car keys and hence the power, and we could flex it. It annoyed me that I'd invitedAdele because she'd seemed so upset, and now she'd managed to take over Dinah's and my day. But not wanting to be stubborn for stubborn's sake, I realized the pastry place sounded really good, and I followed Adele.
It turned out to be one of those places with bistro tables, wrought-iron chairs and a huge display of mouthwatering cakes and pastries.
Adele went with her apple dumping, Dinah chose the triple chocolate cake and I picked the berry shortcake. We found a table by the window. Adele definitely knew her desserts; the combo of whipped cream, yellow cake and slightly tart berries was amazing.
Adele was checking some text messages on her phone between bites of her apple dumpling. Dinah was totally focusingon her dessert, pointing out that it had chocolate cake, fudge icing and bits of chocolate bars in both. I listenedwhile looking out the window. All the chocoholic talk was somewhat lost on me. I was one of the few people who liked chocolate only occasionally. My weakness was whipped-cream cake, and this one was worth every calorie.
There seemed to be a constant flow of people going to a place across the street. I squinted to read the sign, and recognized the name as one of the new celebrity hangouts. It looked like an ordinary storefront restaurant, but every few seconds another car pulled up and the valet jumped in while the owners got out.
I watched the flow for a few minutes, but then I almost choked on my cake. CeeCee got out of her Jaguar and walked over to the person getting out of the car behind her. There was no mistaking Lawrence Sheridan. They stood facing each other, talking. Then CeeCee's facial expression crumbled into distress. Lawrence was doing a lot of head shaking, which looked to me like he was telling her somethingshe didn't want to hear. I nudged Dinah, who looked up from her chocoholic stupor. We both watched as the still-arguing pair went inside.
'What's with you two?' Adele said, looking up from her text messages.
Neither of us said a word.
It was only later, when we'd dropped adele off, that I brought up CeeCee and Lawrence.
'I'm betting it was something about business. Maybe he found out CeeCee's secret,' I said. 'Mabye that's what CeeCee's been so upset about.'
Dinah shook her head. 'Maybe, but I'm more interested in you and Barry. What happened? How could you have broken up?'
When I told her about his booking the trip without an official yes from me, I expected a true-blue girlfriend response,something along the lines of, 'Of course you did the right thing. He was ridiculous to just assume you'd go.' Or even just a 'yeah, right.' Instead she regarded me with a puzzled expression, and not a good kind of puzzled.
'Have you ever heard the one about throwing out the baby with the bathwater? So maybe he made a little mistake.It sounds like his intent was good. I'm out there in the dating trenches, and believe me, it's not a pretty sight. Sometimes you have to let things slide.'
'You're missing the point. He wouldn't even acknowledgethat he did anything wrong. He acted like I was crazy for being upset. The man went ahead with a vacation withouteven getting my okay. And then he wanted me just to go along with his plan. He talked to Mrs. Shedd without consulting me.'
'Some people would consider that a romantic gesture. I keep meeting men who can't commit to a cup of coffee on Tuesday, and you find the one guy who wants a real relationship,even marriage. . . .'
I explained again. I had married young and had kids right away. I had loved all of it, but now that I was alone and starting over, I wanted to concentrate on my life and on my job for a while. I wanted the freedom to make my own plans. 'I wanted Barry, too, but on my terms.' It was hard to keep the sadness out of my voice. Dinah hugged me in understanding.
'Maybe Barry didn't realize he hit such a sensitive spot.'
'It doesn't matter. It's over. I can't undo what's done.'
'Do you really think he'll go with Detective Heather?'
I just gave Dinah a dirty look.
I might have sounded as though I had it all together, but when Dinah left, I crumbled. What if she was right? Maybe I had overreacted. I started to berate myself for making a mess of things. Even the Will Hunter appearance had gone south.
I had tried calling Lawrence Sheridan's office and, no surprise, hadn't gotten a call back. I would have called Will Hunter directly, but his number was beyond unlisted. Mrs. Shedd still didn't know anything was amiss. I was going to have to tell her soon, and I didn't look forward to it. Even though it wasn't my fault, I felt as if I had failed.
For a brief moment my thoughts went back to Barry, and I wondered what he was doing that very second. Did he miss me? I glanced at the lamp with the switch that wouldn't work. Barry would have fixed it in no time.
When the crochet group next met, we had lost our momentum because of the time off. All of CeeCee's paper squares had been ignored, and none of us had been doing much square making on our own. All the newbies had forgotten how to crochet, and CeeCee seemed preoccupied.Her mind was clearly elsewhere: She didn't even blink
