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Jan sputtered "Oh, no You just got here an hour ago"

Arabbed her keys "I’ll be back"

"I said no" Steaot a roory people"

Aut that Riley needed her more "Sorry" She headed out the back door as Jan let out a furious oath

There was no Riley waiting at hoh the clothes Aone Unhappy, Amy left Riley a sticky note in case she ca the door every time someone came in

But Riley never showed

At the end of Amy’s shift, Mallory and Grace arrived Arabbed the plate of brownies she’d been saving as well as the charity jar from the counter, and joined thehed out a very long breath

"Long day?" Mallory asked sy to"

Mallory winced, guilt all over her face, clearly knowing A to the Matt-to-the-rescue episode

Amy popped the lid off the money jar and pulled out a wad of cash, 100 percent of which would go directly to the teen center at the local health services clinic that Mallory ran "Two hundred and fifty bucks Even if I ae," Mallory said sweetly, taking the uys," Grace said, picking out a brownie "I’ht, and I need a thrill I plan to live vicariously through you two"

"Ask Mallory here to set you up," A the jab, "there’re plenty of single guys around here My brother’s newly single Again"

"Yes but he’s a serial dater," Amy said "Even I know to stay away from serial daters"

"Even you?" Mallory asked

"I don’t date" But she did, apparently, lust after sexy forest rangers who shared their tents and last Dr Pepper

"Why?"

Aain," Mallory said "Why?"

"I don’t know I guess because I haven’t had ?" Mallory repeated "Honey, every woo round"

"No, that’s chocolate And of course you think love ht with Ty"

Mallory grinned "True" Her smile faded "TellMatt to the forest?"

"Yes!" Grace whooped and pumped her fist When Amy and Mallory stared at her, she winced "Sorry It’s just that we’re really going to dissect Amy’s life instead of mine" Happy, she stuffed a brownie in her ave in with a sigh "It’s not your fault," she ade brownie "I’ot lost on the mountain Matt helped me out And then, because of a stupid tree, we ended up caht, Grace in horror "With no electricity?"

Mallory laughed "They spent the night together and that’s what you want to know? About the lack of electricity?"

"Hey," Grace said, "a woh with electricity"

"We didn’t sleep together," Ari to find a place to pee in private, sprained o, and had to be rescued again" She waved her bandaged wrist for their viewing pleasure

Mallory’s eyes ide "You fell down a ravine going to pee, and he rescued you? Were your pants still around your ankles? Because that’s not a good look for anyone"

"No," Amy said "My pants were not around " She kicked Mallory, as snorting with laughter "And hoould that have been funny?"

"Oh, trust me, it would have been Come on, this is the stuff that chick flicks are made of--the classic meet-cute, you know? And a story for your kids someday"

"There will be no kids!"

Mallory licked a brownie cruirl lesson nu a first date, but the truth is I can’t really talk in that regard since I slept with Ty on our first date"

"Actually," Amy said, "technically, you slept with Ty before your first date And fine, if you ht have coasped in delighted tandeutter," A, and he had to doctor me up"

"Of course," Grace said dryly, and then leaned forward, brownie forgotten "What kind of undies were you wearing, a thong or granny panties?"

"What does that matter?"

"Oh, it matters," Mallory said

"I can’t remember," Amy lied

From the next booth over, a face popped up It was Lucille, local art gallery owner and all-around gossip extraordinaire She exited her booth and stood in front of the Chocoholics, a sreen sweats today with Skechers tennis shoes that gave her four-foot-nine-inch fraave her a few more She shoved a twenty into A her dentures around soer Hot Buns?"

Both Mallory and Grace pointed at Aes

Good friends