Becky looked lost in her own thoughts.

“Just yesterday I told Michael something I hadn’t told one other person my whole life. And you know what?” She didn’t wait for Becky to answer. “It felt good.”

“What if your secrets affect other people?”

Karen held her dripping ice cream away from both of them and gave up trying to eat it.

“Well, I guess it depends on the secret. I think if your BFF tells you she likes some guy, or she’s kissing on him or…other things, then it might be a good idea if you kept that secret. But if you knew the BFF’s kissing partner is really bad news, then keeping that secret might not be the best thing to do.”

“But if you tell someone, then that BFF might not be your friend anymore.”

Karen nodded. “That’s the chance you take. But if she was a BFF in the first place, eventually she’ll come around.”

Karen wasn’t sure how they’d gotten sidetracked on a conversation about keeping a best friend’s secrets, but it seemed that Becky was thinking really hard and didn’t look quite as depressed.

“Is there someone you can tell your secrets to?” Karen asked her.

Becky really was a pretty girl when she smiled. “Nolan. He listens to everything.”

“That’s nice.” It made Karen feel better that the boy she was obviously in love with didn’t elicit a flash of pain when Becky talked about him. “Where’s Nolan now?”

“Oh, he’s working. He got an extra job working for your brother-in-law…I mean Zach Gardner.”

Oh, damn…he actually did it. How sweet was that? She needed to remember to thank Zach when she saw him.

“That’s great.”

“Yeah.” Becky picked herself off Millie’s bench and offered a smile. “Well, it was nice talking to you, Karen.”

“You, too, Becky.”

After the teenager walked away, Karen dropped her forgotten cone into the trash and ducked into Petra’s salon.

“Mind if I wash my hands?”

Petra was sweeping hair from the floor. “Not at all.”

Karen soaped up her hands and ran them under the faucet in the bathroom.

“How do you like Hilton?” Petra asked.

Karen stepped from the bathroom with a paper towel. “It’s a little maddening, to tell the truth. I can’t get over how small it is or how everyone knows everybody.”

“That does take some time getting used to.” Using a dustpan, Petra swept the hair up and into the trash. “I saw you talking with Becky.”

“She’s a sweet girl.” Karen remembered Judy’s observation about Petra not gossiping. That didn’t mean the local hairdresser didn’t know exactly what was going on. “Do you know her parents?”

“Her mom comes in a couple times a year. The father keeps to himself. Sees a barber in Monroe.”

Just the facts.

Time to address what they’d both observed. “I wonder how she got those welts.”

Instead of dismissing Karen’s words, she said, “I asked her outright the first time I noticed them. She said she fell. Then she didn’t come in for six months.”

“How long ago was that?”

“Two years ago.”

Long before Nolan.

Karen crossed to Petra’s appointment book and grabbed the pen that was sitting there. “I have a feeling that Becky is going to need a couple of older and wiser women looking out for her very soon. If you see anything, please call me.” She tapped on her phone number. “Day or night.”

“You’re planning on staying in Hilton for a while?”

Karen looked directly into Petra’s eyes. “Some conditions are time sensitive.”

The hairdresser shook her head. “That’s what I thought, too.”

Neither of them had to voice their assumption to know they were on the same page.

Karen abandoned Hannah and Judy to their task of decorating a float worthy of the Rose Parade and took a stroll down Main Street. The patriotism of the town was on display everywhere. Flags with the names of the young men and women who’d dedicated themselves to a branch of the service were flown over every light post. American flags hung from every business, and not one storefront said it would be open on Founder’s Day.

Hilton took their day seriously. Wonder what the Fourth of July is like?

She passed on the other side of the street from Sawyer’s hardware store but didn’t bother stopping in. Remembering Nolan’s new job, Karen removed her cell phone and sent Zach a quick text.

Thanks for giving Nolan a job.

Her phone buzzed in her hand a few seconds later.

He’s a good kid.

“Hey?”

Karen turned to see Michael jogging across the street to catch up with her. “Hey yourself.”

He glanced around them. “I-I went by the house.”

Karen spread her arms wide. “I’m not there.”

The worry on his face started to soften hers. “I’m not good at this part, Karen.”

“Well let me give you a hint. Flowers don’t fix anything.”

“I shouldn’t have sent flowers?”

“I didn’t say that. I said they don’t fix anything.” She noticed a couple walk out of the soda shop and turn to stare at them. Karen started to walk in the opposite direction of the gawking eyes.

“So I should send flowers?” Poor guy was growing more confused by the second.

“Flowers, fancy gifts…jewelry doesn’t suck. But none of that fixes.”

He walked beside her and asked, “What does?”

“Time without a repeat performance.”

“I can tell you that it won’t. But those are just words.”

“Now you’re catching on.”

“My dad advised me to grovel.”

Karen chuckled. “Smart dad.”

“What does groveling look like to you?”

She stopped walking. He took two steps in front of her before he realized she wasn’t beside him. His eyes met hers. “Well?”

Karen rolled her eyes. “Flowers, fancy gifts, and jewelry, helloooo?” It was hard to keep her expression stoic, especially when Michael started to grin.

Karen stepped around him and continued down the street in silence.

He tucked his hands into his pockets. “I’m still sleeping on the couch, aren’t I?”

She patted him on the back. “You know, Mikey Gardner, you’re a real fast learner.”