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See if Cody’s around.”
    Cody had been Nick’s best friend since kindergarten, but Lauren had heard from Fran—who owned the Whitford General Store & Service Station with her husband, Butch—that Cody had been getting in some trouble lately, and Nick didn’t need any more of that. “Stay out of trouble.”
    He rolled his eyes. “Like there’s any trouble to get into in Whitford. I can’t believe you won’t let me take driver’s ed. If one of us had a car, we could actually go somewhere.”
    “If you can’t handle homework, you can’t handle driving.” This wasn’t the first time they’d had this discussion. “When I see a semester with no detentions, all your assignments done and the best grades you can achieve, we’ll talk about it.”
    “Whatever.” He got up and grabbed his backpack. “I have to write a stupid book report about some stupid book, so I’m going to go read.”
    More than likely, he was going to shove earbuds in his ears, crank some angry rock music on his iPod and stare at his ceiling, but she left him alone. If she tried to make him feel better, she’d have to make excuses for Dean and she wasn’t in the mood.
    Her phone rang and she saw the library’s number in the caller-ID window. Hailey Genest, the Whitford librarian, was not only one of her best friends, but was fun and fairly drama-free, so she welcomed the call. “The dog ate my library books.”
    “Ha, you’re funny,” Hailey said. “Though that’s actually happened. You should have seen what was left of the book. Anyway, you have to get out of work early on October fifth.”
    Lauren walked over to the calendar hanging on the fridge. “That’s two weeks from today, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Why do I need to get out of work early?”
    “I made us a salon appointment. You know, for Paige’s wedding?”
    “Is she definitely getting married on the sixth?”
    “I guess Mitch is still waiting to hear from Liz, but the rest of the family can come from New Hampshire, so they’re going to do it. Paige said Mitch will get Liz here one way or another.”
    She grabbed a pen and wrote wedding in the Saturday block. “What time is the appointment? Oh...wait. Dean’s coming on Friday to pick up Nick. They’re going camping for the long weekend, so I had to get out early anyway. What time did you make the appointment for?”
    “Two. I’m closing the library at noon and we’re heading for the city, baby.”
    “Dean’s picking Nick up at noon. It’ll be close.”
    “We’ll make it. And it’s my treat. Hair, facials, manicures, pedicures, the works.”
    It sounded like heaven. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d gone to a salon. Usually she ran into the barbershop during a lunch break and had Katie trim her hair. “I’m not letting you pay.”
    “You can’t stop me. It’s going to be awesome girl-time and we’ll look hot as hell for the wedding. Oh, and speaking of hot, what’re you wearing?”
    “I haven’t gotten that far. I looked in my closet, but all I have is a funeral suit and a dress with shoulder pads and sequins I don’t remember buying.”
    “Since you were still a kid in the eighties, I’m going to pretend you went on a drunken shopping spree. We’ll find you a dress on the fifth, too. Something sexy and slinky.”
    Lauren laughed. “I was thinking something warm, since Paige is getting married outside in October.”
    “Trust me. We’ll find the perfect dress. Something you can dance in, too.”
    She didn’t plan on doing any dancing. It was something she wasn’t very good at and tended to save for very dark nightclubs that served copious amounts of alcohol. “I have to go wash my floor.”
    “And I have to batten down the hatches for the homework club. Last week the homework seems to have been to sneak all the sexy romances into the Y.A. room and giggle over them.”
    “Lucky you. I’d rather mop my floor.”
    By the time she was satisfied the old linoleum was as