Ain’t She Sweet?

Her mom lifted an eyebrow, and her father shook his head. One thing about her parents… they weren’t stupid.

He salted his french fries. “Funny that with all that stimulation, you couldn’t do better than a C on your history test.”

Gigi knew she was walking a delicate line. Being the class brain-except for that dorky Gwen Lu-and being the richest girl in town, too, had made everybody hate her, but if she let her grades drop too far, she might find herself in boarding school, and then she’d have to kill herself. “I had a stomachache. I’m sure I’ll do better next time.”

He got that worried look in his eyes she’d been seeing a lot lately. “Why don’t you come to the factory with me on Saturday morning? I won’t be there long, and you can mess around with the computers.”

She rolled her eyes. When she was a kid, she’d loved to go to work with him, but now she thought it was boring. “No, thank you. Me and Chelsea are going over to Shannon’s house.”

“Chelsea and I,” her mother said.

“Are you going to Shannon’s, too?”

“That’s enough, Gi,” her father snapped. “Stop being a smart-ass.”

She scowled, but she didn’t have the nerve to talk back to him like she did her mom because it made him crazy, and she’d only just gotten her telephone privileges back.

Her mom didn’t say much for the rest of the dinner, which was unusual, because usually when her dad showed up to eat, she tried extra hard to be entertaining, being all chirpy and offering stimulating topics of conversation and everything. Tonight, though, she didn’t even seem to be paying attention, and Gigi wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that She Who Must Not Be Named had come back to town.

It made her mad that they still hadn’t said anything. Gigi’d had to hear the news from Chelsea, who heard it from her mom. Gigi’s parents acted like she was still a child, but everybody knew that Nana Sabrina hadn’t married Mom’s dad, Griffin Carey, until Mom was a senior in high school, and he’d had this other family, and, like, who cared? Although Gigi had to admit she was very, very curious.

The phone rang, and she made a dash for it because she knew it’d be Chelsea. “Can I be excused?”

She waited for her mom to say no like she always did, but she didn’t, so Gigi grabbed the phone and raced upstairs. Everything was too weird tonight.

Winnie watched Gigi disappear and wondered what had happened to the little girl who used to love just being with her. This time last year, Gigi had rushed in from school, so eager to share the news of the day that she’d stuttered over her words.

Ryan gazed toward the door. “I wish you didn’t let her hang around with Chelsea so much. That kid looks like an ad for kiddie porn.”

Winnie balled her fist in her lap, but she kept her voice calm. “Exactly how do you expect me to stop her?”

He sighed. “Sorry. Frustration. I keep thinkin’ she’s going to snap out of it, and we’ll have our daughter back.”

She and Ryan hardly ever spoke harshly to each other. They disagreed, but in more than thirteen years of marriage, they’d never done more than exchange a few chilly silences. She didn’t know how couples like Merylinn and Deke could stand it. During one of their fights, Deke had punched a hole in the garage wall, and they’d actually told people about it.

“I couldn’t punch her,” Deke had said, and Merylinn had laughed.

Winnie didn’t think she could tolerate that kind of strain.

Ryan leaned back in his chair. “She looks like a street kid in those clothes.”

Something else that was her fault. Today Gigi’d worn that awful shirt she’d insisted on getting at the Salvation Army Thrift Shop. Winnie should have known Gigi’s pricey wardrobe would eventually make her a target and backed off, but she’d wanted her daughter to feel good about herself, and she’d waited too long.

Winnie tossed her napkin on the table. “You’ll have to talk to her about it this time. She hates me enough as it is.”

How had it come to this? Winnie wondered. She’d been so determined to be the kind of mother to Gigi that she’d wanted so badly for herself when she was growing up. Sabrina had done her best, Winnie supposed, but her mother’s economic survival had depended on Griffin Carey’s goodwill, and Sabrina had devoted all her energy to his comfort, leaving nothing for an emotionally needy daughter. Sabrina had hated Diddie Carey with a passion, and knowing that Diddie had given birth to the dazzling Sugar Beth, while Sabrina had born such an unimpressive child, galled her. Even the fact that Griffin doted on Winnie hadn’t eased her anxiety. Sabrina understood her lover’s fundamentally ruthless nature and kept waiting for him to transfer his affections to his legitimate daughter. But he never had, and Winnie missed him to this day.

“Gigi doesn’t hate you,” Ryan said. “She’s just being a teenager.”

“It’s more than that. I’d like to smack those girls for turning against her last summer. It was simple jealousy.”

“Gigi played into their hands. She’ll work through it.”

Despite his words, Winnie knew he was as worried as she. She rose and began carrying the dishes to the sink. “I only have ice cream for dessert.”

“Maybe later.” Ryan wasn’t particular about food. Half the time he didn’t remember to eat, which was why he stayed so lean, while she had to watch every bite.

She needed to tell him about Sugar Beth coming into the shop. Otherwise, she’d be giving it too much importance. But as she tried to frame the words, the wineglass she’d been rinsing slipped in her fingers and broke in the sink.

“You okay?” He rose and came toward her. She wanted him to wrap his arms around her, but he studied the mess instead.

“I’m fine. Why don’t you make coffee while I clean this up?”

As she tossed the bigger pieces of glass in the trash, she wondered why she didn’t feel more satisfaction about today. The years had taken their toll on Sugar Beth, and for the first time in their lives, Winnie had come out ahead.

She’d begun to bloom her senior year in high school after Sugar Beth and Ryan had left for college. She’d stopped overeating and found the courage to have her hair cut. Inside, she might have been the same awkward teenager, but outside she began to move with a new assurance that only grew more pronounced after Griffin and Sabrina’s marriage. Suddenly, she was the rich girl who lived at Frenchman’s Bride.

Winnie’s fingers crept to the pearls on her throat. The stricken expression on Sugar Beth’s face had been the culmination of every revenge fantasy she’d ever entertained. She should have enjoyed it more.

The past wove its way through the sound of the furnace clicking on and the smell of the coffee beans Ryan was grinding. She was sixteen again, taking a shortcut through the gym when she’d tripped and her algebra notebook had fallen open at Sugar Beth’s feet.

“Give it back!” Winnie’s voice, high and shrill, had bounced off the gym rafters. But Sugar Beth had only stepped higher on the bleachers, the algebra notebook open in her hands. Tall and willowy, blond and beautiful, Sugar Beth had been evil all the way to the bottom of her heart.

“Listen up, y’all. Winnie’s been doin’ a lot more than solving problems in advanced algebra.”

The Seawillows abandoned their chatter. Winnie’s heart was pounding so fast she was afraid it would burst. “Sugar Beth, I’m warning you…”

But Sugar Beth just smiled and took another step up into the bleachers. Winnie started after her, but her sneaker caught on the seat. She winced as she stumbled. “Give it to me.”

Sugar Beth smirked. “I don’t know why you’re getting so uptight. It’s just girls.”

Amy touched the gold cross at her neck. “Maybe you shouldn’t read it if Winnie doesn’t want you to.”

Sugar Beth ignored her. “Y’all aren’t going to believe this.”

Winnie blinked furiously against her tears. Just once she’d like to be able to defend herself, but Sugar Beth was too powerful. “That’s private. Give it back right now.”

“Oh, don’t be so immature.” The gold hoops at Sugar Beth’s ears flashed as she flipped her perfect mane of hair. Then she began to read. “He looked at my naked nipples.”

The girls laughed, even Amy, although she touched her cross again. Sweat soaked through the underarms of Winnie’s blouse. She’d started writing her fantasies a few months earlier in a special notebook that she kept hidden in the back of her closet, but today in study hall she’d gotten careless. “Stop it, Sugar Beth.”