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The doorbell rang She filed her fantasy away for another time and pointed to the back door “This is your last chance to escape,” she teased “Otherwise, prepare tofamilies of our town Or at least the ones I know”

“I don’t scare easy Lead on”

She walked into the living room and saw that several couples had arrived at once The next few minutes passed in a blur of introductions Madeline was pleased that no one was overly shocked to find Jonny Blaze in her living roo their reaction to themselves

She went back to the kitchen to start piling goodies onto platters There were cookies and brownies and bars of all kinds Shelby came in and walked to the sink where she washed her hands

“So, how’s it going?” her friend asked

Madeline smiled “Fine Did you have a nice dinner?”

“Sure Kipling and Destiny are always fun to hang out with And I adore Starr”

Starr was Destiny’s half sister The teen lived with them

Shelby dried her hands, then started adding more cookies onto platters

“Want to talk about it?”

Madeline widened her eyes, as if confused “Talk about what?”

Shelby put down the brownies and settled her hands on her hips “Jonny Blaze is standing in your living room Last I heard, you had a serious crush on him Serious to the point that you couldn’t even look in his direction, and now he’s here?”

Madeline grinned “I know It’s so strange”

“And?”

Madeline finished filling the plate, then faced her friend “It’s all Mayor Marsha’s fault”

“Most things are”

She quickly explained about the wedding and how she was now spending time with the action star

“Are you freaked?” Shelby asked