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soon?”
    He wasn’t going to let her wiggle out of it. “This weekend. I’ll leave after my last class on Friday,” she promised. “Is there a way you could stop by while I’m there? Perhaps between the two of us we could talk some sense into her.” Fat chance, she thought, but didn’t dare say.
    Father Henry was appeased … for the moment anyway.

    Lyra tried to put the worry about Gigi aside for now and concentrate on the work she needed to get done before she went to bed. This weekend she would surely come up with a solution that would appease both her grandmother and the priest. Until then, she was determined not to think about it.
    She put on a pair of old-fashioned pajamas, then went back into the bathroom to smooth on moisturizer. Her face was sunburned. She blamed it on her afternoon climbing the hill.
    She also blamed it on Dr. Keaton, the professor of her afternoon class. He had insisted on lecturing outside by the commons where there wasn’t a single shade tree. The professor lounged under a huge black umbrella while his students baked in the sun. To be touched by nature, he’d said. The only thing that had touched Lyra was the sun. She’d used sunscreen, of course, but she had started splashing water from her water bottle on her face into the second hour of his lecture and had apparently wiped off the protection.
    Sidney smiled when she saw what Lyra was wearing. “New pj’s?” she asked.
    Lyra nodded. She went to the kitchen and returned with a bottle of water.
    Sidney tilted her head and studied her friend for several seconds.
    Lyra noticed. “What?”
    “How come, even with a sunburn and dressed in 1950s pajamas, you still look stunning?”
    “Okay, what do you want to borrow?”
    “Nothing.”
    “Then why the compliments?”
    “I just think it’s disgusting,” she explained with a grin. “I always feel like the homely stepchild when we go out together.”
    Lyra wasn’t buying it. “Oh, please. I’m ordinary. You’re the one with the strawberry blond hair and gorgeous eyes.”
    “I’m the girl next door. You’re the sexy one. I make men smile. You make them pant.” Lyra laughed. “You’re crazy. Men adore you.”
    Sidney shrugged. “Some do,” she said. “I suppose it’s because I know how to flirt.”
    “Yes, you do. You’ve turned it into an art form.”

    “I am good at it,” she admitted. She pulled out her T-shirt and said, “I’m thinking about implants.”
    Lyra had just taken a drink and nearly choked on the water. “You’re what?”
    “Implants,” she repeated with a straight face. “If I get them, I’m going for gigantic, like Professor Pierson. Perky Pierson.”
    “Those aren’t real?”
    “They’re up around her neck,” Sidney said. “There’s no way they can be real.”
    “You aren’t really thinking about getting implants, are you?”
    “Of course not. You’re so easy to rattle.” Swiftly changing the subject, she asked, “Did your grandmother send you those pajamas?”
    “Yes, she did,” Lyra replied as she sat down across from her friend and picked up a laptop.
    “What was the occasion?”
    “Early birthday gift.”
    “She doesn’t ever get you anything else, does she?”
    “Not for a long, long time.”
    “What about your brothers? Does she get them pajamas, too?” she asked, smiling as she tried to picture Lyra’s brothers wearing them.
    “Watches,” she replied. “Watches or alarm clocks every holiday.”
    “I think your grandmother is a genius. Think about it. She’s eliminated the agony of trying to figure out what everyone wants, and she never has to fight the crowds or worry about costs. Christmas shopping must be a breeze.”
    “You’re right, it is,” Lyra agreed. “You really should meet her. She’s the only member of my dysfunctional family you haven’t met, and I know you’ll like her. Why don’t you drive down to San Diego with me this weekend? I promised Father Henry I’d have another talk with