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going?’
    ‘Pretty good. I nearly didn’t get to come. My mom is totally freaking out.’
    ‘And that’s different, how?’ her friend replied.
    Joshua headed their way, the dog on his heels. ‘Hi. Sorry I’m late,’ he said, addressing Reena. ‘Lots of tourists at the stables this time of year so my boss
wouldn’t let me leave early.’
    It sounded as if he and her best friend had planned to meet at the party.
    ‘No sweat. I just got here,’ Reena replied.
    Joshua was staring at Briar now, a faint redness to his cheeks. He was dressed in a pale blue T-shirt and jeans that were worn at the knees, and, as usual, his hair was doing its own thing. On
him it looked good. Briar had to admit she’d caught herself checking him out at school more often than was wise. At least when she thought no one was looking.
    She started in surprise when the collie’s cold nose nudged her palm.
    ‘Come here, Kerry,’ Joshua said, slapping his thigh. ‘Leave her alone.’ The dog complied, though the awkwardness of the situation didn’t change.
    After Reena cleared her throat, he fumbled in his jeans pocket for something.
    ‘Umm, Briar, I have a—’ A spike of panic filled his eyes as if he’d just found himself head to head with a nine-foot grizzly bear. ‘Ah . . .’
    Reena raised an eyebrow, but didn’t weigh in.
    ‘I should get Kerry some water,’ he said, and hurried off towards the lake, the dog in tow.
    Her friend huffed. ‘Wimp,’ she muttered.
    ‘What was that all about?’
    ‘Give me a sec, will you? I need to talk to him,’ Reena said, already on the move before Briar could reply.
    Everybody’s weird tonight.
    Briar’s cousin waved her over to the picnic bench. Though everyone said they looked similar, Saralyn had shorter hair and bigger boobs, which she liked to show off by wearing tops that
were too small. That little trick bought her a lot of male attention, which she thrived on.
    ‘What’s up with Joshua?’ she asked. ‘Why’s he hanging around you?’
    ‘No idea.’
    ‘He’s just cruising for trouble.’ Saralyn watched a guy walk past, checking him out from head to toe. ‘Cute. Do you know who he is?’
    ‘He’s a sophomore this year. Name’s Greg something or other,’ Briar replied.
    Saralyn adjusted a bra strap, tucking it underneath her sleeveless tee. ‘How’s Aunt Maralee doing? Is she going off the deep end yet about the curse?’
    Curse?
‘You know about that?’ Briar hissed under her breath, stunned that Saralyn would blurt out that kind of thing in front of everyone.
    ‘Yeah. Most of the family does,’ her cousin replied. ‘From what my parents said, your mom’s been nutty since your Aunt Sarah died, only she’s much worse
now.’
    ‘It’s not like that,’ Briar replied. Though it really was.
    ‘I never believed the curse was for real anyway. I think it’s just her wanting attention. She’s such a drama queen.’
    Before Briar could respond, a familiar sound cut through the party noise. The laugh belonged to her ex-boyfriend and it took her only a few seconds to find him near the bonfire, his arm round a
tall redheaded girl clad in a micro bikini.
    The ex.
    Mike was an athlete, with a cocky smile and an impressive set of pecs. His light-brown hair had gone summer blond and his eyes were a dark brown. In short, he’d been the perfect boyfriend
and everything had seemed great between them, at least until he’d dumped her a few weeks back.
    The memory of that dumping rose along with a thick coat of acid in the back of her throat. Now here he was with another girl hanging all over him. No break-up grief there. Briar checked the girl
out and found that she wasn’t that special: her legs were short, her neck too long and her hair needed serious help.
    ‘Bet you miss going out with him,’ her cousin observed.
    ‘What? No way.’ But that was a lie.
    She’d liked Mike. He’d been pretty cool, though his constant pushing for them to go all the way had