angled her head and watched me, her eyes sharp. "Who are you looking for?"
"My father."
"Wow," Peach breathed.
"You want me to find the famous Some Guy Named Dave?" Stacy shrugged with mock confidence and snapped her fingers. "Piece of cake."
"His name is Gabriel Ford. I don't know when he was born, or where. All I know is that he went missing ten years ago."
Stacy and Peach exchanged a glance, and Peach said, "Jesus, Liv. You have had a lot going on."
"It gets better. He had a daughter, my sister, Holly, who was three years older than me. They changed their last name to Monroe, and were living somewhere in Tennessee."
"Wow," Peach breathed. "You have a sister?"
"Had. She died a few months ago."
"Oh, honey." Peach touched my shoulder. "I'm so sorry. How crazy is that?"
"Pretty crazy," Stacy said, keeping her eyes on me.
"Can you do it?" I asked.
"I can try," she said. "Can't make any promises, but I'll give it a shot."
"Thanks." I reached out to pat her hand in thanks, but when I touched her, a sharp shock of static electricity zapped us both, and we yanked our hands back as we both cried out in pain.
"Shit," Stacy said, shaking her hand out.
"Ouch. Sorry." I rubbed my fingers together, trying to get rid of the residual sting, then turned to Peach. "And now there's you."
Peach smiled. "You bet, honey. Anything you need, just say the word."
"I need you to cool it with Nick," I said. "Take it down a notch with the wedding planning. Maybe make it secret again, just for a little while."
Peach's smile dropped. "What?"
"It's not for me. It's for Millie." I paused, trying to think of the best way to express that Millie had gone magically insane. "I don't think she's dealing with this particularly well."
"Well, I'm sorry about that, but what you're asking me ... is kinda nuts. We just came out publicly. I'm still trying to win over his crazy mother." Her eyes widened, and she looked at Stacy. "Sorry, Stace."
Stacy waved her hand dismissively. "It ain't slander if it's true."
Peach made a sad face, then turned back to me. "Look, I didn't know how Millie felt about Nick, but even if I did..." She looked from me to Stacy, then back to me. "He chose me. That's not my fault."
"I know," I said, trying to pick my words carefully. "I'm not saying forever, I just think ... maybe tone it down for a little while, until Millie stabilizes."
"Stabilizes? Have you talked to her? What's going on?"
There was a noise in the hallway, and Millie stepped into the living room, cutting all conversation dead. She was wearing a different dress this time, a soft, shimmery thing of that same deep red, with a surplice neckline, ruching at the waist, and a skirt that danced around her legs even when she stopped moving. Her eye makeup was smoky, and it made her look both older and younger at the same time; her mouth was a pouty red, and gave the impression that she'd just come from a lazy afternoon of drinking the blood of innocents.
"Sorry to startle you guys," she said. "The door was open. I came in during the heartfelt please-find-my-father thing, but I didn't want to interrupt."
Peach gave a quick, shocked laugh. "Oh, my god. Millie! You look amazing!"
Millie's smile was wide, but as she looked at Peach, it didn't reach her eyes. "I know."
Stacy, unfazed, held out the box of Pop-Tarts to Millie, who shook her head and said, "No, thanks. I just came by to confess something quickly, and then I have to run. You know, things to do." She locked her focus on Peach again. "I've been a very busy girl."
"Suit yourself," Stacy said, and set the box of tarts back on the coffee table.
"Mill," Peach said, standing up. "I've been trying to call you all week. I think we need to talk."
"Really?" Millie scrunched her nose. "I don't. Well, no, that's not exactly true. I think I need to talk, and you need to listen, Peach. See, here's the thing. Ever since we were kids, you've always been the pretty one, the one who got all the attention. I was the smart one, and that was okay. I knew that someday, someone would see how sharp I was, how efficient, how much I could anticipate his needs and meet them before he even had to ask. I just knew it would happen, if I was patient, if I waited long enough."
"Told