"You seem to be in a good mood tonight," Andrew remarked as he and Amanda waited outside the Wilton's door.
"I am. I'm tired of being miserable and unhappy and jealous all the time. Tonight I'm really going to try to be happy and think positive."
"That's the spirit, but I'm still not sure what you think you have to be unhappy about."
"Andrew!" she said with a frustrated sigh, but stopped herself from continuing. Instead she took a deep breath and decided to let the subject drop. "I'm not going to go into that now. Not tonight."
"Hi guys, come on in."
Amanda gritted her teeth and forced a smile as Vanessa let them into the apartment. "Oh hi. Alma didn't tell us you would be here tonight," Amanda said, trying to sound as polite as possible.
"Oh, she didn't? I offered to spend the night out and let the four of you have dinner alone, but she and Ed insisted I stay. I hope that's alright."
"What do you mean, 'spend the night out?' Are you living here now?"
"Oh," Vanessa said, realizing too late that she had said too much. "Alma didn't mention that either?"
Amanda pushed past Vanessa and marched over to Alma, who had just walked in from the kitchen. "Why is she living here? What's going on?"
"Sheesh, calm down, Amanda. We haven't said hello yet and already you're getting upset." Alma set the dish on the table and turned to face her sister. "Vanessa's apartment was broken into and she's just staying here while the police investigate."
"Or until I find a new apartment," Vanessa added. "which might be faster, since the police don't seem to be getting anywhere."
"Oh," Amanda said quietly, her face flushing with embarrassment. "I had no idea."
"Don't worry about it, hun," Vanessa said with a dismissive wave. "Alma, why don't you let me take over in the kitchen while the three of you visit?"
When Alma agreed, Amanda breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that Alma had saved her the further embarrassment of being alone in the same room with Vanessa.
"Hey," Zara called out as she walked up to Cassie who was clearing a table at the diner. "What are you doing after work?"
"Working again. I agreed to take a double shift tonight. We need the money since Mom has been cancelling all of her appointments. Why? What's up?"
"I was hoping you could help me move. I have to be out of the house today . . . well, I don't have to go, but I decided the longer I stay, the more miserable I'm going to be."
"What happened?" As soon as the question left her mouth, Cassie knew what had happened. "It was Thomas wasn't it?"
"Yeah, but it's a long story, I'll fill you in later."
"I'm sorry I can't help, but when you get home I'll help you unpack. You'll probably have to take Dad and Vanessa's old room, since Mom is still sleeping in your bedroom."
"That's fine with me. I'd even take the couch if I had to, anything to get away from my former so-called friends. Actually, I think getting away from that whole crowd will do me some good."
"I'm sure it will. And honestly, I'll be glad to have you back home to help me keep an eye on Mom. I still think something's not right with her."
"I'll stop by the house and talk to her before I start moving my stuff." Zara paused when she noticed Cassie staring at the door. She turned to see Blaine enter the diner and figured their conversation was over. "Ok then, I guess I'll see you at home tonight."
Amanda pushed the food around on her plate before taking another bite. She still felt stupid for blowing up about Vanessa living with Alma and Edward, but for that brief moment she felt like Vanessa was trying to take her place somehow and she didn't like it.
At least Vanessa had been nice about the whole thing. She had been nothing but nice and friendly all through dinner, as if the outburst had never happened, and that almost made Amanda feel even worse about acting the way she did.
Amanda looked up at Edward who seemed to be doing most of the talking that evening, while Alma was more quiet than usual. She nodded and tried to smile as he talked on and on about the groundbreaking, the housing addition, and what their new home was going to be like when it was completed.
"Are you and Amanda still house hunting, Andrew?" Edward asked, finally turning the topic to someone else.
"We've been looking, but haven't found anything we really like in our price range, yet."
"You should move to Arrendale Heights with us. Construction is just starting, so you could practically have your home custom designed and built."
"Really?" Andrew said with interest. "What would the cost be, approximately?"
"It varies, depending-"
"No," Amanda said firmly, interrupting Ed's sentence. "I am not living in a place called Arrendale Heights." She looked at Vanessa, but held her tongue. "I just won't do it."
Andrew rolled his eyes. "Nevermind. I guess that's not an option after all."
"That's a shame. It would have been nice to be neighbors, to have our children grow up living so close to each other." He looked fondly at Alma, oblivious to her sudden look of alarm.
"That would be nice," Amanda admitted wistfully.
"Well, even if you don't live next door, I hope you all will be a big part of our child's life."
"Your child? What are you talking about?" Amanda asked, her eyes darting from a beaming Edward to a more sheepish looking Alma. Somehow she didn't think they were speaking only in hypotheticals any longer.
"That is the other big news we wanted you to celebrate with us," Edward said, rising from the table to make the announcement. "Alma and I are going to have a baby."
Andrew stood up to shake Edward's hand. "Congratulations."
"Yes, congratulations," Vanessa spoke up, her tone more subdued than earlier. "That's great news."
Alma looked over at Amanda who was glaring down at her plate. She tried to think of something appropriate to say, but she couldn't come up with anything that seemed at all helpful. She decided to speak up before Edward started to babble on excitedly about the other new addition. "Does anyone want something to drink?"
"Excellent idea," Edward agreed. "I think this news calls for a toast. What is everyone having?"
Without a word, Amanda stood up and stormed out of the room.
"Is something wrong?" Edward asked.
"Oh, don't worry about her. She's a little high-strung sometimes, but she'll be ok once she's had some time to herself," Andrew said. "Now, what's this about drinks?"
Vanessa looked around her, shocked by the indifference she saw. "Shouldn't one of us go after her and make sure she's alright? Alma?"
"She does this all the time," Alma replied. "Andrew's right, just leave her alone. She'll be fine."
Vanessa hesitated. Andrew and Alma were probably the two people in the world who knew Amanda best, but just ignoring her when she was obviously upset didn't seem right to her. She knew she was probably one of the last people Amanda wanted to talk to about anything, but she couldn't just sit here, pretending nothing had happened. "I'm just going to check on her. Excuse me," she said before walking out after Amanda.
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