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There now, that was what Doug had hoped for. “I appreciate that very much, Mr. Keegan. Looks like that garden of yours might turn out to be a big asset to the neighborhood.” He caught the eye of the Keegans’ neighbors who’d sued. They were whispering viciously.

“Wal-Mart has a sign up that it’s opening tomorrow,” someone shouted. “They don’t have much left to sell, but they said they’d stay open until they ran out of stock.”

Doug glanced at Kay, knowing she was making note of that. It would be a stampede. He hoped they had some kind of control in the place. “Since it’s going to be a madhouse in there, maybe a little organization would be in order. Maybe several families could go in together to get the things they need. There are people who are desperate for diapers and matches and candles—”

“It’s every family for itself,” Whitson said. “We have to look out for our own families. We can’t worry about everybody else.”

Doug started to argue, until he realized that he felt the same way. It
was
every family for itself, and if he could get his own family through the Wal-Mart doors tomorrow, the last thing he’d be worrying about was shopping for someone else.

Later, when the group finally broke up, Doug waited for men to approach Brad about the neighborhood watch, but no one did. He supposed everyone wanted to stay at home and look after their own families. He certainly couldn’t blame them. It was why he hadn’t volunteered. He had hoped the meeting and the exchange of information would make things easier, more hopeful. Instead, he felt the oppressive weight of dread, growing heavier by the minute.

And he wondered if it had only made things worse.

eighteen

Though the meeting was over, business still went on among families who stayed after to talk and trade. Darkness began to fall, and mosquitoes had a field day with the pungent neighbors. That was all they needed, Deni thought. West Nile virus on top of everything else.

She caught sight of her little sister sitting on the pier. Beth looked so pale, and she hugged her skinny knees. Her distant gaze flitted from face to face, as if searching for her teacher’s killer.

Anger stirred in Deni again. The events of the day seemed so surreal, like a montage of worst-case scenarios. She was ready for it to be over.

She’d just go home and curl up on her bed, and write another letter to Craig.

Help me, Craig. I’m drowning here. Why did I ever come home in the first place? I could be with you.

Even if the outage did stretch from here to the Atlantic, tolerating it would be so much easier if she were with Craig. He and Senator Crawford would know of the resources the country had for such an event. They would fix things, and D.C. would be the first place back up and running again.

“Deni, guess what?”

Chris came toward her after working the crowd. She had that high school look of excitement on her face, the same one she’d had when Carl Stevens asked her to the prom.

Deni was so beyond high school.

Chris leaned over and whispered, “I found somebody who’ll let us use his pool if we don’t invite anybody else.”

“Really?” It would be heaven to dive into the cool water, to wash off some of the sweat. “Who?”

“Mark Green’s dad.” Chris pointed to the man sitting in his lawn chair, leaned back on two legs. He reminded Deni of Dean Martin in those old movies her grandparents loved—with black hair and a leathery golf tan.

“That’s not Mark’s dad. I saw his dad today at the Abernathys’.”

“That would’ve been his stepfather. Mark lives with his mom. His dad lives in that big blue Victorian house over on Mercer. He seems really nice.”

He looked up and caught their eyes, waved and winked.

“Why doesn’t he want us to invite anybody else?”

“He said two of his sons and their families are over using their pool, and he doesn’t want a whole crowd. But he heard me asking someone else, and he volunteered.”

“Will Mark be there?”

“He didn’t say, but it doesn’t matter to me. Do you want to come or not?”

Deni found her father in the crowd, then looked for her mother. Chances were, they’d balk at her going to swim in some strange man’s pool. But it wasn’t like he was a
complete
stranger. She knew his son, after all. Mark was a nice guy, so his dad couldn’t be that bad. Besides, she was over twenty-one and almost married. She didn’t need her parents’ permission.

Chris was waiting. “Come on, Deni. I don’t want to go by myself, but I’m dying to swim. He even said we could use a bucket to wash our hair if we wanted.”

That did it. “Okay, I’ll come. Let me go home and get into my bathing suit, and I’ll meet you at your house.”

Chris almost danced with delight. “Great!”

Deni’s gaze drifted to Mr. Green again as he folded up his chair and gathered his things.

“He’s about to head home now,” Chris said. “I’ll go tell him we’re coming.”

Deni watched the girl scurry across the grass, weaving between the people. Chris still looked as cute as she had in high school. If she’d put on the Freshman Fifteen, she’d taken it off in the subsequent three years. She wondered if she’d had to work as hard as Deni to do it. Probably not. Chris had always been pretty, with her shoulder-length silky blonde hair that had the slightest wave. The two of them attracted different kinds of guys. Chris, with her delicate build and her innocent-looking features, always attracted the protectors. Athletes and Eagle Scouts vied for her attention. Deni used to call her a serial dater, because she never committed to anyone.

Deni, on the other hand, attracted the thinkers. The more cerebral guys with brighter futures. Men like Craig. Chris’s goal in college had been to get her MRS degree. The girl would probably wind up married to some has-been high school football star who worked in his daddy’s business, and as long as she had manicure money, she’d be happy as a clam.

Night was just beginning to blacken the sky as Deni walked home. Her suitcase still lay half-packed on her bed, so she riffled through it and found her swimsuit. She put it on, and pulled a pair of shorts and a T-shirt over it. Then she stuffed her twenty-buck-a-bottle shampoo and conditioner into her purse, and got on her bike to ride over to Chris’s house.

The purse dangled over the handlebars as she rode. How absurd that she was relegated to riding a bicycle like some ten-year-old. She felt ridiculous and self-conscious, and that made her angry.

Her friend was sitting on her front lawn, waiting with a towel hanging over her arm. “Just like old times, huh? Remember when we used to have swimming parties at John Frazier’s house? Too bad he moved.”

Deni sighed. “This isn’t a party. I just want to get clean.”

“Oh, I know, but it could be fun.”

“I’m glad you’re enjoying all this.” Deni knew she was being a jerk, but she wasn’t in the mood to temper her words.

Chris’s smile faded. “You’re bummed about not being able to talk to your boyfriend, huh?”

“He’s not my
boyfriend.
He’s my fiancé.”

Chris stood there for a moment, looking hurt, as if Deni had just insulted her somehow. It was just like Chris to make this all about her.

“Where can I put my bike?” Deni asked. “I don’t want to park it at Mr. Green’s, because someone might steal it. As much as I hate riding it, I guess I need the stupid thing.”

“Here, put it in my garage.” Chris slid the door up, waited for Deni to park it, then closed it again. “Boy, you’re really in a mood, aren’t you?” Her voice softened. “Guess I can’t blame you, after you found the Abernathys. It must have been awful.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Okay. Then we can talk about your fiancé. Craig, isn’t it?”

Deni’s mood lifted somewhat as she launched into a description of her beloved. As they walked the few houses down to Vic Green’s, she made sure Chris understood what an important man Craig was.

Chris seemed duly impressed. “He sounds like a catch. I dated a medical student for six months last year. I thought he might be the one. But then he got his residency at Johns Hopkins, and had to move away. It just seemed impossible to keep up a long-distance relationship with him under that kind of stress, so we kind of parted ways.”

Deni hadn’t expected that. Chris dating a doctor at Johns Hopkins? “Do you still talk?”

“Not much. I’ve kind of moved on. I had a really strong feeling that it wasn’t God’s will for us to be together. He wasn’t a Christian, but he was a really great guy.”

“How did you meet him?”

“I worked with him at University Hospital.”

She turned to Chris and gave her a puzzled look. “You worked at a hospital?”

Chris laughed. “Of course I did. Didn’t you know I graduated from nursing school?”

If Deni had known that, she’d forgotten. “No, I had no idea.”

“Yeah. I’m about to start a new job, too, at Children’s Hospital next month. I decided to take a month off to find a place to live and get settled.”

“So you’re staying in the Birmingham area?” Deni asked. “I don’t know how you can stand it.”

“It’s home. I love it here.”

“I don’t. I can’t wait to get out of here.”

They were quiet the rest of the way, and Deni wondered if she’d insulted her friend again. She supposed she should be more careful to keep her thoughts to herself.

They reached the blue Victorian down the street. Vic Green was waiting with the front door open, a little brown Yorkie barking at his heels. “Hello there, young ladies.” His deep voice would have made for a great radio career. “Welcome to the Copa Cabana.”

Deni tried not to roll her eyes.

They stepped into the house, which looked like a decorator’s nightmare. The dog kept barking, so Vic bent down and swept it up. “Hush now, Scrappy. These are our friends.”

The living room was decorated like a tropical beach resort, with a tiki roof over the wet bar, and red Hawaiian prints covering the sofas and chairs. Bamboo beads hung in the doorways, and beige shag rugs covered the mahogany hardwood floors.

It looked like the brainchild of an actor who played a decorator on TV.

“Looks like a party house,” Chris said on a giggle. “Did you decorate it yourself?”

“I got a little help.”

From the frat boys at the local college? Deni wondered. She hoped he hadn’t actually
paid
anyone for this.

Beneath the bamboo shades, Deni saw through the window into the backyard. Three people sat beside the pool drinking beer, and a couple of others splashed in the water. She felt like she was crashing a party.

“Come on out and meet my sons and their families.” He led them out back and, in a bellowing voice, said, “Everybody, meet Deni and Chris. Larry and Jack, remember you’re married.”

One of the sons pulled out of the water, and greeted them, dripping wet. “So how’d my dad get two babes in bikinis over here? Way to go, Dad.”

Deni bristled, and a hint of red tinged Vic’s cheeks. “They’re nice young ladies who wanted to swim. I’m just trying to be neighborly. Now behave so they don’t think you were raised by wolves.”

Larry, the other brother, shook their hands. “Nice to meet you. Don’t mind my brother. He’s a moron.”

“A moron with good taste,” Jack said.

Deni looked beyond him to the woman in the water who was glaring at them as if they’d come here to break up her family.

The angry woman frowned at Jack. “You didn’t tell me Vic was having girls over. I would think you might have told me.”

“Nothing to tell. Don’t be so rude.”

Deni shifted and glanced at Chris. She had that look she used to get when she realized someone didn’t like her. Chris couldn’t stand not being liked. “We’re friends of Mark’s,” she said, as if to calm the woman’s fears. “We’re not staying long. We just wanted to get wet, but if it’s not a good time—”

The woman flipped her hair back. “No, be my guest. Matter of fact, go get all your friends. The more women the better.”

“Don’t be so insecure, Grace.” The woman sitting at the tiki bar with a child in her lap had a slightly friendlier face.

Vic introduced the two women as his sons’ wives, then whispered, “Don’t mind Grace. She’s a newlywed with jealousy issues, but she’s a sweet little gal when you get to know her.”