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Gretchen. Bonnie drank several pots of coffee every day, which accounted for the caffeine-induced tremors.
    "I'm not going anywhere with Steve," Gretchen answered carefully, aware that the club's president was also the club's biggest gossip. "Phoenix is my home now."
    "Good for you," April shouted, and the group applauded. "I feel sorry for him, though. He sounds devastated."
    "How do you know?" Gretchen said.
    "He called me." April bent forward, huffing.
    "Me, too," Bonnie said.
    "But he doesn't even know either of you," Gretchen said. "How did he get your names and numbers?"
    Gretchen noticed Nina was exceptionally quiet. "You're helping him, aren't you, Nina? How else would he know about April and Bonnie?"
    "I'm not helping him. I'm on your side."
    "I'd hate to have you on the other side."
    "He asked for their numbers. How could I refuse?"
    "By saying no."
    "He just wanted to bend my ear," April said. "He needs someone to talk to."
    "He's pathetic, all right," Gretchen said. Trying to get to me through my friends.
    "I hear you were at Chiggy's auction the other day,"
    Bonnie said, switching subjects.
    Gretchen nodded. "I wish I had skipped it."
    "Howie's totally distraught," Bonnie said. "How are you holding up?"
    "Much better than Howie, I'm sure. And the poor woman who hit Brett." Gretchen finished at a machine. "At the end, they practically gave away the remaining dolls."
    "I could have told you you'd be wasting your time,"
    April said. "Chiggy had me over last week to appraise her dolls. Worthless."
    "I bought twelve Ginny dolls," Gretchen said. "They seemed okay."
    "You're a chip off your mother's block," April said, puffing hard. "They were the only dolls worth anything."
    Gretchen told them about the exchange. "Anyone ever hear of Duanne Wilson?" she asked.
    No one had. Gretchen's suspicion that she'd been conned increased.
    "I don't remember seeing any Kewpie dolls when I was at Chiggy's," April said.
    "Maybe she planned on throwing them out," Gretchen said. "They're pretty banged up."
    "Chiggy never threw out a thing," April said.
    "Did you see Brett get hit?" Bonnie asked.
    "No, and I'm glad I didn't."
    "Has anyone met that bunch from Boston yet?" Nina said, stopping on a platform to rest, not one bead of perspiration anywhere on her body. Bonnie scrunched her nose. "I greeted some of them at the airport. I held one of those little signs up so they'd know who I was." She looked around the group. "Four of them came in together. When did your Steve arrive, Gretchen?"
    Gretchen sensed Nina looking at her as if expecting her to challenge the possessive pronoun.
    "I don't know."
    Gretchen threw more energy into the hydraulic machines.
    "What are the club members like?" April asked Bonnie.
    "Oh, they're very friendly."
    "Then why did you scrunch your nose when I asked about them?" April wanted to know.
    "They talk funny, is all. I couldn't understand a word any of them said. I could have used a translator." Bonnie looked over at Gretchen and said, "I extended an invitation to them for cocktails at my place after the doll show wraps up. They leave on Wednesday morning after a little sightseeing. Everybody's invited over. You, too, Gretchen."
    "Gretchen's part of everybody ," April said. "Why are you singling her out?"
    Bonnie gave a weak little laugh. "I invited Steve to the party when he called me. He sounded so sad."
    "Don't worry about Gretchen," said Nina of the questionable loyalty. "She couldn't care less if he's there."
    Gretchen almost waved at Nina to remind her that she was in the room.
    "I'd much rather see her hitched up with Matty," Bonnie said over Gretchen's head.
    Just great.
    Gretchen imagined herself as a gray mare hitched to a wagon and Matt slapping the reins across her wide rump. She shook her head to clear the image.
    Bonnie bent forward and tried to touch her toes. "We've been talking about her and Matty," she said when she straightened up. "Haven't we, girls?"
    Everyone muttered assent, confirming