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that house until it’s been totally redone. Especially not someone who’s graced the cover of Rolling Stone magazine and sung on the soundtrack of my favorite movie of all time. No way.”
    In LA, it seemed like everybody was somebody, so Ivy didn’t feel that special. Aside from fans and reporters, she wasn’t used to people seeing her that way. Emmett brought their drinks and she took a healthy sip to chase away her anxiety. “I’m just Ivy,” she said. “Forget the whole rock star bit and just think of me as the girl I was before all that.”
    A familiar voice chimed in, “The mousy daughter of the band teacher with hand-me-down clothes who dated her way into superstardom?”
    Ivy didn’t need to turn to know who it was. That voice had haunted her dreams since she was twelve. She slowly spun on her stool to face her school nemesis. “Lydia Whittaker,” Ivy said with a saccharine smile. “I thought I smelled the stench of desperation and peroxide when I came in here. I didn’t realize you were a part of our conversation.”
    “That’s because she wasn’t,” Pepper pointed out.
    Lydia flicked her long blond hair over her shoulder and focused her gaze on Ivy. “Well, I saw you come in and I simply had to come over and welcome you home.”
    Welcome her? Yeah right. More like lob the first new volley of their thirteen-year-old war. She was about to answer when Lydia shifted her attention to Pepper.
    “Oh, bless your heart,” she said with a smug twist of her lips. “I see Pepper glommed on to you the minute you came back to town. Appropriate pairing, I suppose, although with those fancy designer clothes and her new house, I can’t call y’all Thrift Shop and Trailer Park anymore.”
    Ivy cringed at hearing the cruel monikers Lydia had labeled them with in school. Lydia came from a wealthy family that owned two of the local restaurants, Ellen’s Diner and Whittaker’s, as well as a huge horse farm on the edge of town. Her air of superiority stank of old money and privilege, but it hadn’t always been that way. In elementary school, Ivy and Lydia had been best friends. Their parents were friends to this day.
    And then, in middle school, a toxic combination of hormones, boys, and fierce competitiveness changed their dynamic. Lydia started hanging out with Madelyn Chamberlain, who had always been a bit of a brat and thought she was better than everyone else. Overnight, Lydia became the most popular girl in school and Ivy lost her best friend.
    She supposed Lydia needed to feel superior to Ivy and the only thing she had over her back then was money. Things were strained for a few years, but when Lydia’s crush—Blake—asked Ivy out, the gloves came off and the claws came out. Apparently not much had changed while she was in California.
    Ivy’s hand shot out to grab Pepper’s wrist. She’d gone for her purse and Ivy wasn’t sure what was in it, but she knew no matter what, it wouldn’t be good. They needed to just walk away, as much as it pained her.
    “Well, don’t you waste any of your precious few brain cells coming up with new nicknames. We’re good with the ones our mamas gave us. Seeing you again has been . . . yeah . Let’s go play darts, Pepper.” She grabbed her drink in her free hand and kept her grip tightly on her friend’s wrist.
    “See y’all ’round,” Lydia said cheerfully.
    “She’s damn lucky she drives to Birmingham to get her roots done,” Pepper growled under her breath. “I’d love to get my scissors near her head for just two seconds . . .”
    Ivy laughed and put her drink down on the empty table beside the dartboard. “Maybe I shouldn’t give you a sharp metal projectile,” she noted.
    “Nah, I’m good,” Pepper said. “Emmett just refinished these floors and I’d hate to get blood on them. But if you hadn’t stopped me, I’d have gladly hit her with my pepper spray for calling me Trailer Park again. It’s the same strength they give police