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warning? No, I did not. The fact that I haven’t seen Matt for a month should have been my first clue. Spending Christmas alone should have been my second clue. Why didn’t I think that was important? A smattering of phone calls in one month should have been my third clue. Not only am I dumb, I’m stupid as well. Look, don’t worry about me. Go to Australia. Meet Tom’s parents, enjoy your two-month leave. I’m a survivor. I’ll be okay.”
    Sadie hiked up the hunter green gown and sat down cross-legged in front of Lily. “Are you going to go back to camp?”
    â€œNo. Even I know you can’t go back. I need to wallow in my misery for a little while before I make any decisions. I think I’m going to sell my parents’ condo. I never liked it. That’s a concrete decision. I won’t have to pay the maintenance if I sell it. I’ll save three thousand a year if I get rid of it, not to mention the utilities. I hate going back there. There are just too many memories attached to that condo. With that in mind, the logical thing for me to do is stay in Natchez and make my life here. Thanks for being my friend, Sadie. I’m going to miss you.”
    Lily stared at her friend’s earnest face. Sadie was the kind of friend everyone deserved. She was honest, loving, caring, and fiercely loyal. Right now, her piercing blue eyes pleaded with Lily.
    â€œI need to know you’re going to be okay, Lily. This is going to be the first time since we were six years old that we’re going to be separated. Do you think it will work for you, staying here?”
    â€œI suppose it’s all ... doable. Right now I can’t think straight. Maybe I should just move on. Go somewhere new, different, start a new life. What in the hell will I do alone in Natchez, Mississippi?”
    â€œFinish restoring the house. In another few weeks it will be done, and you can move in. Or you can sell it if you want to. You can teach school. Besides your degree in forestry, you also have a degree in education. Use it. Get over this rough patch. Get grounded, then make decisions. Living here year-round, you could very well come to love Natchez. Just because it isn’t for me doesn’t mean it won’t be right for you. In time you’ll adjust to the brutal humidity. We can talk it to death over dinner.”
    Lily’s head whirled. “If . . . if I decide to stay in Natchez, that isn’t like running away, is it, Sadie? That’s what I did the first time. I don’t want to live like that again.”
    â€œNo, Lily. It’s called moving on and getting on with your life. You’re thirty years old. This is supposed to be the best time of your life. It can be, too, if you open up and embrace it. You’re tough, kiddo. Ozzie made us tough. We’re survivors. That means emotional as well as physical. Listen, the guy was a dumb shit to do this to you. It’s his loss. You would have made him a hell of a wife. Now, I have to go downstairs and tell his best man something. Does anything come to mind?”
    Lily peeled off her thigh-highs and headed for the bathroom. “Tell him to go back to wherever it was he came from. Don’t tell him anything else. I’m going to get dressed and drive over to the Emerys to pick up Buzz. If you like, we can get a bite to eat or we can sit here and you can watch me bawl my eyes out. Your choice.”
    Sadie stared at her friend’s retreating back. Pick up Buzz, get a bite to eat. The girl had just been left standing at the altar in front of fifty of Matt Starr’s associates, and she wanted to get a bite to eat. She blinked. “That sounds like a plan. I’ll run downstairs and tell what’s-his-name to . . . to do whatever he wants. I’ll be right back.” She waited for a response and when there was none she wasn’t surprised. She let herself out and walked down the steps to the first