"Reese!" Louis scolded. "What's gotten into you?"

"I don't like her." The little girl hid her face in her father's shoulder.

"Of course you do! Anne's your friend! Don't you remember?"

"I wanna go home!" Reese whined.

"That's where we're going, right now," her father told her.

Louis and Anne had just moved into a three-bedroom, two-bath house about fifteen minutes from the Boleyn home. It was made of red brick and had a large front porch with a couple of rockers and a swing. It was surrounded by a white picket fence and also had a picnic table in the back yard.

"So why did you stop liking Anne?" Louis asked his daughter as they rode along.

"You love her more than me!" Reese pouted.

"That's not true at all!" Louis laughed. "I love both of you more than anything in the whole wide world!"

"Why didn't I get to go on your trip, then?"

"A honeymoon is a special time to be shared between just a husband and wife," Louis explained. "When you come visit us again in the summer, we'll all go on a nice trip together. How does that sound?"

"Summer's too far away!" Reese complained.

"It will give you something to look forward to for the second half of pre-K," Louis pointed out. Reese didn't respond.

Louis reached his new home and parked the car in the driveway. He and Anne removed their luggage and purchases and took them into the house. Anne went into the bedroom and took her purchases out of the bag. She found the box of chocolate covered cherries she'd bought for Reese and took them to the little girl.

"Look what I got for you," she said.

Reese's eyes went wide. "Chocolate? Thank you!"

Right away she ripped into the package.

Louis grinned. "I think everything will be OK from now on."

Kitty couldn't find her cell phone and was in a panic. She'd looked everywhere she could think of at least twice and was beginning a third search when Henry limped into the room.

"Looking for this?" he asked, waving the phone at her.

"Yes! Where did you find it?"

"Never mind where I found it!" he roared. "What matters is, I now have incontrovertible proof you and Tom Culpepper are having an affair! I found your text messages to each other!"

"I'm sorry!" Kitty began to sob, her chest heaving up and down. "I don't know how I could have been so stupid! He just came onto me so strong I couldn't refuse! I'll break it off right away, I promise!"

"It's a little late for that." Henry's voice was as cold as ice as he hurled the cell phone against the wall, where it shattered. "I want you out of here, right now!"

"But where will I go?"

"I don't care! Just go!"

"But can't I at least say goodbye to Edward?"

"No!"

Kitty ran to get away from his swinging fist, which was aimed right at her.

It was a dreary, rainy night in February. Louis and Anne were sitting beside their fireplace, talking quietly, when they heard the doorbell ring.

"Who on earth would it be this time of night?" Anne asked as she went to peer out the peephole. What she saw took her breath away. It was Kitty, her wet hair plastered to her head like a helmet.

Anne opened the door, and her cousin stumbled inside, dripping water all over the floor. Louis rose as she entered.

Anne ran to the hall closet, returning seconds later with a big, fluffy towel.

"What on earth happened?" she asked as she began to dry Kitty off.

"H-henry f-found out about m-me and Tom," her cousin stammered. "H-he kicked me out!"

"You should have known better," Anne scolded.

"I know," Kitty sniffled. "But I can't do anything about it now. Can I please stay here? I have nowhere else to go."

Anne sighed. "You can stay in Reese's room for a few days, I guess. You're going back to get your stuff tomorrow, right?"

Kitty shook her head vehemently. "I'm scared to go back there. I'm afraid he might kill me!"

"But what about all your stuff?"

"I guess I'll just have to start all over!"

"Bullshit you will!" Anne's eyes flashed fire. "You and Louis and I are going over there tomorrow to get your stuff, and if Henry doesn't like it, he can go fuck himself!"

Kitty began to giggle in spite of herself. Anne glared at her and shoved her toward the bathroom. "Go in there and take those wet clothes off. I'll bring you some dry ones."

She went to the bedroom and fetched a nightgown and panties. She took them to Kitty in the bathroom and then returned to the living room, where she plopped down onto the sofa.

"Stupid girl!" she fumed.

"I feel hesitant about intruding where I know I'm not wanted," said Louis.

"There's no need to be polite about it," Anne replied. "Kitty does have the right to take her stuff back."

"True," Louis agreed. "I just wish there were some other way to go about it."

"Well, there isn't, so we'll just have to do it this way," said Anne.

"So we just barge in and take the stuff without even knocking first?" asked Louis.

"Kathy Parr's there every day babysitting Edward. We'll just ring the bell and tell her we're there to collect Kitty's stuff. Shouldn't be any problem."

"But he'll be there, too."

"The guy still has a cast on one leg. What's he gonna do about it?"

"Good point."

"Personally, I love the idea of seeing his face red with fury with people he doesn't want in his house there taking stuff that isn't his anyway."

Louis gave a wry smile. "You would."