Chapter 2

I took a deep breath, forcing the tremor out of my hands. My gaze shifted from Molly' s treacherous smile back to Debra' s desperate face. The clipboard she held out felt like a weapon.

"No," I said.

The word was quiet, but it landed in the space between us with the force of a gunshot.

Debra flinched, her eyes widening in disbelief. "Oh. I... I see."

Molly' s smile faltered for a fraction of a second. "Gabi, what are you saying? Of course you' ll help. It' s for a sick child." She set the box down and walked towards me, her hand reaching for my arm in a gesture of friendly persuasion.

I stepped back, out of her reach. Her hand dropped, and a flicker of irritation crossed her face before she masked it again with concern.

"I can' t," I said, keeping my voice firm and level. I looked directly at Debra. "I' m sorry for your son, I truly am. But I can' t take on that kind of liability. A child with a terminal illness, a compromised immune system... I don' t know his allergies, his dietary restrictions. I can' t risk being responsible if something goes wrong."

The excuse was logical, airtight. It was also something the old, naive Gabrielle would never have thought of.

Debra just stared, lost and confused. But Molly... Molly understood immediately. This wasn' t part of her script.

I turned my head and looked straight at her. "But Molly is the one who' s so passionate about this," I said, a cool, sweet smile of my own spreading across my face. "She' s been telling me all about what a wonderful, tight-knit community this is. I' m sure she' d love to be the first to sign up."

I watched the shock on Molly' s face curdle into fury. Her bubbly facade cracked, and for a moment, I saw the venomous creature underneath. She was trapped. In front of the grieving neighbor, she couldn' t refuse.

Her jaw tightened. "Of course," she bit out, snatching the clipboard from Debra' s hand. "I' d be happy to."

She scribbled her name down with a furious, jerky motion. Debra, too lost in her own pain to notice the tension, gave a watery smile. "Thank you, Molly. Thank you so much."

She turned and walked away, her shoulders slumped. The moment Debra was off the porch, Molly spun on me, her eyes blazing.

"What the hell was that, Gabi?" she hissed, her voice low and dangerous. "Liability? Are you kidding me? You made us both look like monsters!"

"I didn' t make you look like anything," I replied calmly, stepping back inside and closing the door until only a crack remained. "I just didn' t want to cook for them. You did. Now you can."

I shut the door in her face, the click of the lock echoing the final, satisfying snap of the trap I had just reversed.