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breakfast.”
    “You’d better. I doubt you want anyone to know what you’re up to.”
    “Hey, I already got you into the finals. We both have secrets we don’t want exposed.”
    “And I paid you good money for that.”
    Skye heard the door slam and hurried to finish up. She raced out of the restroom, but it was too late; no one was around. As she went back to wash her hands, she wondered who had bought their way into the finals, and which contestant they were so interested in and why.

CHAPTER 3

Read Through Recipe
    S kye and May were caught in the parade of cars driving the three miles between the high school and the Feed Bag. May’s white Oldsmobile sparkled as the sun beat down on its hood. It looked as if it had just rolled off the assembly line, but in reality it was over ten years old. That it accrued less than six thousand miles a year and was rarely driven past the county line probably had something to do with the vehicle’s pristine condition.
    The Olds was sandwiched between Vince’s Jeep and Charlie’s Cadillac Seville. Looking into the side mirror, Skye could see her godfather scowling and shaking his fist. Scumble River did not usually have gridlock, and Charlie clearly wasn’t enjoying the rare experience.
    In contrast, Vince was bopping to whatever music was playing on the radio; or, knowing her brother, Skye wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the beat was only in his head. Vince had been the drummer in local bands since he was fourteen.
    As far as Skye could tell, May’s attitude was somewhere in the middle—still excited to be a part of the contest, but worried she might miss something while she was stuck in traffic.
    “Mom, I have a question for you.” Skye figured that at therate they were going it would take them at least fifteen minutes to get to the restaurant, which meant this was a good time to ask her mother about something that had been bothering Skye for the past few months. She was especially worried after her mom’s performance at the press conference.
    “So, ask it already.”
    “Why are you suddenly so intent on marrying me off?”
    May hadn’t been this determined to get Skye married in a long time. Had Skye’s biological clock started ticking so loudly that even her mother could hear it?
    May twisted the knob on the radio until she found the weather. “I don’t know what you mean by ‘suddenly.’ I’ve always wanted to see you married.”
    “Well, you’ve wanted me to settle down with some nice guy and produce two-point-five grandchildren since I turned twenty-one, but the last few months you’ve ratcheted your efforts up about a hundred percent.”
    “Things have changed.”
    Skye turned off the radio and focused on her mom’s face. “What has changed?”
    “You and Wally.” May’s expression soured. Although she wanted Skye married, she wasn’t keen on her marrying Wally, who was several years older, divorced, and not Catholic.
    “What about Wally and me?” Skye asked.
    “I’m worried that by the time you get Wally out of your system, Simon will have found someone else. I saw that nurse from your school, the one who dated Vince for a while, talking with Simon at church. And that new woman, the one who moved to town last summer with that wild daughter, was flirting with him at the gas station the other day.”
    “Mom, I don’t want him back.” Skye had dated Simon Reid, the funeral home director and county coroner, on and off for the past three or so years. Her mother’s news that other women were flirting with him caused a twinge of jealousy, but Skye pushed it away. “I’m happy with Wally. Not that I necessarily want to marry him.” She didn’t want May to start planning that wedding either.
    “You’re going to be thirty-five this December!” May exploded. “It’s time you settled down. Do you want to go to your kids’ graduation in a wheelchair?”
    “Mother!” Skye blew out an angry puff of air and crossed her arms. “A lot of