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hand.
    â€œYou bought her something?” I ask. “You didn’t have to do that.”
    â€œUh, actually I did. Pat had kind of a bad-hair day.” He pulls out Pat the Bunny . The fuzzy parts are gone. He reaches in the bag again and pulls them out.
    Shelby grabs Hannah by the arm and yanks her out of the store. “You bad, bad girl!”
    Cody sweeps up Hannah from behind, dislodging Shelby’s grip. “She didn’t know what she was doing. She’s only three.”
    â€œShe has to learn.” Shelby holds out her arms and narrows her deadly blue eyes at Cody. “You coddling her doesn’t help.”
    I’m right behind them, ready to scoop up Hannah if Cody and Shelby throw down. Instead, Cody says, “I’ll hand her over if you promise not to punish her. It was my fault. I wasn’t watching her closely enough.”
    Shelby snorts. “Yeah, I noticed how much help you are.”
    Cody’s teeth grind, but all he squeezes out is, “Promise.”
    â€œFine, I promise.” She flips her hair over her shoulder. “I shouldn’t have left Hannah with you anyway. You’ve always been completely useless. ” The stress and volume she puts on the last word makes me flinch. Other shoppers eye us carefully.
    Very calmly and slowly, Cody places a clearly upset, lip-quivering Hannah feetfirst on the tile floor. Then he spins on his heel and sprints toward the nearest exit.
    â€œDon’t bother,” Shelby says when she sees I’m about to take off after him. She takes Hannah by the hand and pulls her close. “You’ll never get a real boyfriend carrying that kind of weight around.”
    â€œJust shut up, Shelby.” I push past her, wishing I could say other, more hurtful things. But Hannah’s here and for better or worse, Shelby’s her mom. “We’ll meet you at the food court in two hours.”
    Kait comes out of the store with her bag of books. She looks from Hannah to Shelby to me and says, “What happened?”
    Shelby handles the explanations, because I’m out of there.
    I find Cody outside the Gap outlet, staring at his own reflection in the oversized window. Other shoppers are like ghosts behind him. Even me. I approach cautiously. He sees me in the window. Doesn’t turn.
    â€œI hate your sisters.” His voice is whisper soft, but I hear him loud and clear.
    For some weird reason, I feel defensive of Kait. She’s really trying, buying those books and thinking about the baby before she’s even born. But there’s no excuse for Shelby.
    â€œThanks for sticking up for Hannah.” I stand beside him, cross my arms over my stomach. “You’re the reason I didn’t turn out like them. If Hannah has any kind of chance at being normal, she’s gonna need you, too.”
    He pinches the bridge of his nose and squeezes his eyes shut. “I don’t know.”
    I inch closer to him until our arms are touching. “Well, I know. And the truth is you’re the best. And Shelby’s a bitch.”
    He finally smiles. “Yeah, you’re totally right.”
    Linking my arm through his, I drag him into the store. “Come on, let’s do some damage on that credit card.”
    â€œWa- ay too girly,” Cody says from behind me. “Jackson’ll never wear it.”
    I sling the pink polo I’m holding against his chest. “For me, dork.”
    He takes it from me, holds it up to my face. “Maybe, but I have a better idea.”
    Before I know it, I’m in the dressing room with a pile of clothes. None of which I can afford and only a few of which I picked out myself. Cody assures me his mom won’t notice another fifty bucks on the card as long as we buy some stuff for Jackson here, too. Against my better judgment, I let Cody buy me a little spaghetti-strap sundress, all yellows and blues, with peek-a-boo sandals and a canvas bag. At the