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about? We can’t squeeze into one of those tiny houses down there!”
    “We have to move somewhere,” Susan said, “and we have to do it soon. A small house of our own is better than an apartment. From now on, we only have my salary as a teacher and your child support to live on, which means we’ll be on a tight budget.”
    Megan groaned. “Mom! All the way down in Rosslyn Village?”
    “Some of those cottages are cute,” Susan replied.
    “Cute? What does that mean? Small?”
    Caroline saw the fear and emotion in her mother’s face and jumped to her defense. “Megan, stop it. Mom’s doing the best she can.”
    Susan exhaled. “That’s why I called Emily. This is all so overwhelming. I need her moral support, as well as her real estate expertise.”
    Caroline was dubious. “Emily and Sara have been living in Chicago for two years. Isn’t she kind of out of touch with the Indianapolis real estate market?”
    “That’s what the Internet is for. And she told me she’s always available to help her best friend.”
    “So you’re going house-hunting in Rosslyn Village,” Caroline restated.
    Susan looked down at her shoes, noticed an untied lace, and propped her foot on the coffee table to retie it. “Emily knows people in Indianapolis real estate. That’s how she made a name for herself here. I’m sure between the two of us we’ll find something affordable.”
    “Did you even bother looking up here in Belford?” Megan demanded.
    “Even the small houses here are too expensive, Megan,” Susan sighed.
    “Mooommm…” Megan whined.
    Susan planted both feet firmly on the floor. “We’re running out of time, girls, because your dad and Sharlene are still planning to move in here June first.”
    Megan sank listlessly down into the sofa cushions. She turned up the volume on the TV and pretended to be engrossed in the program.
    Caroline grabbed the remote and muted the volume. She turned to Susan, determined to bring up the subject none of them had mentioned. “Mom, you still haven’t talked to Allie, have you?”
    “No, not yet, although I’m sure she’s already had an email from the new Mrs. Benedict.” Susan shook her head. “That’s a sentence I never thought I’d say.”
    “Okay, she probably does know that Dad got remarried, but you can’t keep the rest of this from her,” Caroline insisted.
    “I think it would be best to wait until she finishes final exams.” Susan returned to the kitchen. She turned off the burner under the stir fry pan and slid it to the back of the stove. Then she went to the fridge and started pulling out vegetables for a salad.
    Caroline got between her mother and the open fridge door. “You know Allie doesn’t handle change well, Mom, and she doesn’t like to be blind-sided either.”
    Susan nodded. “All I’m trying to avoid is telling her bad news while she should be concentrating on her exams.”
    “Maybe you’re not giving her enough credit,” Caroline said.
    “I’m just going by past experience. Do you remember when she was in high school and she lost that statewide piano competition? She thought she played brilliantly, but she was upset because the boyfriend du jour had dumped her, and she lost.”
    Caroline shuddered at the memory. A small private college in Indianapolis, Bradley University, was hosting the finals in their Central Hall. Allie played well despite her distraction, but unfortunately, her main competitor played better, and the judges awarded first prize to the other girl.
    “Second place? Second ?” Allie had screamed. “No way! I was better than that no-talent fraud!”
    Obviously Allie hadn’t played her best, but she refused to accept that. She yelled and cried so much it brought on a migraine, and she went to bed for three days. It was the longest three days of everyone’s lives.
    Caroline nodded. “Oh, I remember. All too well. But she’s not in high school anymore, Mom.”
    “Allie may be older, but she still reacts in the