is?â
âSure thing.â
Lee dashed off through the kitchen, while Lucy added her platter of cookies to the others on the table. It was filling up, Lucy saw with satisfaction, surveying the array of homemade baked goods. The women had packed the cookies in sandwich bags, each holding six cookies, and a few had decorated them with bright holiday ribbons and stickers. The table was so crowded, in fact, that Steffieâs little brochures had disappeared from sight.
âSo, whatâs it like to be the proud mother of a genius?â asked Lydia, striking up a conversation with Rachel. âYou must be so proud of Richie.â
âI am,â admitted Rachel. âBut I was proud of him before we got the letter, too.â
âYou donât have to be modest,â said Lydia. âHarvard is the top American college, after all.â
âThere are plenty of other good schools, too,â said Pam, who was growing tired of hearing about other peopleâs kids. âAdam wants to go to Boston University, or maybe Northeastern.â
âMCUâs awfully good, too,â said Andrea. âEspecially if you have a full scholarship like Tim does.â
âAnd a lot of kids canât take the pressure at a place like Harvard,â continued Pam. âThey crash and burn.â
âThatâs right,â added Steffie. âThereâs a lot of alcohol abuse at those fraternities. Was it Harvard? Maybe it was MIT. Iâm not sure which, but I remember reading that a freshman died from alcohol poisoning.â
âThat was MIT,â said Lee, joining the group. âBut I donât think Harvardâs much better. It certainly didnât do much for Steve, I can tell you that.â
There was a sudden commotion as Rachel dropped her coffee cup, shattering the cup and saucer and spilling the coffee on the rug. âOh, Iâm so sorry, Lucy,â she said, dropping to her knees and attempting to clean up the mess with a holiday napkin.
âHere, let me take care of that,â said Lucy. As she knelt beside Rachel, she saw that tears were filling her eyes. âItâs nothingâ¦â began Lucy, reaching for more napkins. âWe spill stuff all the timeâwhy do you think Iâm having this little do by candlelight?â
Rachel giggled, and Lucy gave her a quick hug. She didnât think for a minute that Rachel was crying over spilt coffee; she had been upset by her friendsâ meanness.
âDonât pay any mind,â whispered Lucy, taking the sponge Franny was offering her. âTheyâre just jealous.â
âOh, I know. But Iâve really had to bite my tongue tonight, let me tell you. Especially with Andrea,â hissed Rachel, picking up the broken pieces of china and handing them to Franny. âTo listen to her, youâd never know Tim isnât quite the paragon she wants everyone to think he is.â
âHe isnât?â Lucy was definitely interested.
âNo. He was arrested last week for driving under the influence. Heâs in big trouble.â
âMy goodness,â said Franny.
âHow do you know?â asked Lucy.
âThey hired Bob to defend him.â Bob, Rachelâs husband, was a lawyer.
Rachelâs hand flew to her mouth as she rose to her feet. âDonât tell anybody, okay? Iâm not supposed to know about thisâclient confidentiality and all that.â
âYour secretâs safe with me,â said Lucy, now standing and scanning the table for the brochures. She finally found them under Frannyâs Chinese noodle cookies. Making sure no one was watching, she lifted the plate and scooped up the brochures, wadding them into a ball along with the sodden napkins. Then she turned, intending to throw the whole mess into the kitchen garbage.
âOh my goodness, Lucy,â said Lee, suddenly appearing at her elbow. âWho brought those awful Chinese