said the last line with a hint of defiance. There might be hope for her despite her lack of confidence.
“You’re not homely. You’re just young. What grade are you in?”
“Tenth.”
“Have you looked at scholarships? Thought about where you want to go to college?”
“I want to go to Vassar,” the girl said, looking away and twirling a wayward strand of hair around one finger. “Like you did.”
“That C in gym might keep you from being able to do that.” The girl’s face fell, and Sarah hurried to turn the conversation to something positive. “But there are lots of good colleges out there. What do you want to study?”
“Science.” The girl’s voice had dropped almost to a whisper and she glanced around the room as if afraid someone might hear. “Maybe engineering.”
“They have a good program in petroleum engineering at UW.”
“No. I want to go someplace better. Someplace further away.”
Sarah looked into the girl’s glowing face and saw her old, hopeful self, setting off into a world that had proven to be as much of a struggle as life in Two Shot.
The girl straightened self-consciously, clearly forcing herself to be brave. “Don’t tell me I can’t. That’s what everybody says.” She tugged at her hair so hard Sarah winced. “I can do it.”
“I know you can,” Sarah said. “Just don’t forget what matters, okay?”
“Grades?”
Sarah shook her head, smiling. “Home. The people who love you. Don’t leave them too far behind. And don’t ever forget where you came from.”
“I’m from Two Shot,” the girl said scornfully. “What good is that?”
“You might be surprised.” Sarah stifled a smile. “It could come in handy sometime.”
The swinging doors thwapped across the room, revealing Suze with her hands on her big hips, glaring at the waitress. The girl flinched guiltily.
“Emmy?” Suze’s tone was harsh. “What are you doing?”
“Sorry, Suze, it’s my fault,” Sarah said.
“Don’t you be filling her head with your Carrigan crap,” Suze growled.
“I don’t work for Carrigan anymore.”
“Oh? How come?” Suze swung one hip sideways to rest against the table and casually considered her fingernails as if checking her polish. The move was so absurdly feminine and out-of-character that Sarah knew immediately that Lane was right about those phone calls.
Sarah narrowed her eyes as Suze’s glanced flickered up to her face, then back down to her nails. She’d been bold enough to leave anonymous phone calls, but she couldn’t look Sarah in the face.
Sarah thought back to those long conversations she’d had with Suze when she was still living in Two Shot. Suze had always argued passionately for animals, for conservation, for the environment. Sarah should have realized she’d be against the drilling. Why had she assumed it was Lane?
“Apparently, some people in Two Shot don’t want Carrigan here.” She struggled to keep her tone conversational instead of combative.
“Those rigs are ugly,” Suze said. “I like my plains unspoiled. I like to look out and see for miles, the way you can now, without a house or a factory or even a phone pole in the way. There’s hardly anyplace left in the world like this anymore.” She waved toward the window with such an expansive gesture that Sarah looked out and half expected to see Venetian canals or craggy Alps instead of a line of empty storefronts and crumbling garages.
“But people need jobs,” Sarah said. “Do you really think your pretty view trumps making a living?”
Suze glowered at her a moment, then focused on the waitress and twitched her head toward the double doors. “Back to work.”
The girl scurried off, and Suze started to follow. Impulsively, Sarah reached out to stop her. She didn’t really mean to grab the tie of the woman’s apron, but the knot unraveled as the woman whirled to face her.
“Sorry,” Sarah said. “I just wondered if you could sit a minute.”
“Nope.”
“Please. You lost me my job, Suze. I need to know why.”
“Wasn’t just me.”
“Are you saying you didn’t orchestrate the whole thing? I know who holds the power in this town. Just talk to me a minute.”
Suze was the least vain person Sarah had ever met, but the mention of power made her sigh like a beleaguered starlet as she plumped down into the booth across from Sarah. “Okay. What?”
Sarah gazed pointedly around the diner. “Not many people here this morning.”
Suze shrugged. “Some days are busier than others.”
“I noticed that Best’s Store is boarded up.”
Suze shrugged again, her heavy shoulders rising and falling with exaggerated carelessness.
“If something doesn’t change, Two Shot’s going to die,” Sarah said.
“We get by. There’s