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woman issues. I need to ask the nurse for a painkiller.”
    Cassie shrugged and concealed the oncoming laughter at their feeble attempts to get out of the job. “Whatever you think is best.”
    The girls looked at each other and turned to leave.
    â€œBut you know, when I said that you were going to help me, one of those guys you hang out with rolled his eyes.”
    Whitney spun around. “Which one?”
    â€œDoes it matter? I’m pretty sure they think you girls are too weak to help me out. I guess I’ll go get the guys and let you two work in the kitchen for the day.”
    The girls glared at each other. Whitney marched to the center of the room and wrapped her arms around the huge roll of dirty carpet. Marcy’s shoulders fell as she bent over to help her. Together they dragged it toward the door.
    With the carpet finally on the front porch of the cabin, the girls stood a little taller with their hands on their hips. They surveyed what they had done, both covered in dust and sweat.
    â€œTime to demolish the bathroom,” Cassie said.
    The girls scrunched their button noses but didn’t question her. They deserved a treat for being good sports. Their faces beamed when Cassie held up a sledgehammer.
    The girls didn’t grumble as they pulled the two toilets out of the cabin and didn’t run when a mouse scurried across the now-bare concrete floor.
    After the trio had carried the rest of the junk to the dumpster and ripped out part of the bathroom, Beth brought them each a sandwich, chips, and a thermos of lemonade for lunch. The girls found a spot on the grass outside the cabin while Cassie and Beth sat on the railing of the porch. Cassie took a gulp of lemonade.
    â€œIt looked like you and Mr. Big Shot hit it off last night,” Beth said.
    Cassie shielded her eyes from the sun. “I don’t know. I mean, sometimes Will’s a decent guy, and then I remember he might be trying to take our camp. I can’t let my guard down.”
    Beth’s eyebrows arched.
    â€œYou know what I mean. I know I’ll be the one who loses in all of this.” Cassie dug through her bag of food. “Did you bring dessert?”
    Beth held up a napkin with two chocolate chip cookies.
    â€œYou’re the best,” Cassie said.
    Beth nodded toward the two girls, who were now lying on their backs staring up at the cloudless sky. “I didn’t want the two fugitives to get them.”
    Cassie closed her eyes as she bit into a cookie. “They aren’t such bad kids,” she said with a mouthful.
    â€œYeah, the guys have actually been pretty fun to have around today. They’ve nicknamed me the Dining Room Diva,” Beth said, beaming.
    â€œThe Dining Room Diva,” Cassie said. “I like it.” Cassie paused and glanced at the girls.
    â€œThose two actually surprised me today. I think they surprised themselves, too.” Like she’d told Beth, they were good girls, just too willing to please cute young boys.
    After sending the pair back to their group and running to her house for a quick shower, Cassie walked to her office on leaden legs. Her old office chair never looked so good. She dropped into the seat and rubbed her palms across her achy thighs. She had worked the girls harder than she had realized. Eager to stay in her office and rest for a few minutes, she opened her e-mail.
    Her sister’s name was in the list of e-mail senders. They rarely spoke, only having information about their lives relayed by their mother with excruciating pride. Melissa constantly sent her forwards, which Cassie automatically deleted. They usually had subject lines like “A Poem of Friendship” or “Please Keep This Going.” But today the subject line read, “Hey, Sis!” Cassie opened it.
    Hi.
    Mom says you’re busy with work. The girls are doing great. Gracie already knows all of her letters, and Ashley rolled over before any of