Stevie phoned Carla and then Tony to thank them and let them both know everything was fine. Debbie called Margie to let her know she was safe and on the way back. Then satisfied and completely relaxed, the girl settled into the backseat and fell asleep. And in the quiet dark of the car, Stevie was too overwhelmed with her new realization to even talk to the man beside her. What could she say? Thanks for saving my sister, and by the way, I love you? No. God, it sounded like a badly written play. Besides, she couldn’t love Paul. That way led to disaster. The Candellanos rose up in her mind. One after the other, their faces swam before her tired eyes, and each of them looked disapproving. Big surprise. God, what had she gotten herself into? How had this happened? How had she allowed herself to fall in love with her best friend? And how in the hell was she going to get out of this unscathed? Answer: She wasn’t. No matter what she did, how she handled this, there was going to be pain. If she stopped seeing him altogether, there would be the misery of losing not only her best friend, but also the man she loved.
