“Okay, okay, you don’t have to be defensive. I will be ready just as soon as those rolls are done warming. I’m going to call the Henrys now to make sure they're okay with us coming over in ten minutes.”

Jacque put the rolls on the pan in straight rows. As her mom was stepping out of the room to call the Henrys, she caught the briefest hint of worry coming off of her. It had been a while since she had picked anything up from her mom so it kind of made her take a step back. I wonder what she's worried about?

She headed back upstairs to see if the girls were done getting ready and to let them know the plan was in motion. Man, she felt ridiculous as she thought about how it sounded to have a “plan” to meet a guy, and not meet him like “hey, what’s up,” but meet him like, “hey, are you a weirdo or something?” What was her world coming to? Oh, well. Could be worse. She could be hearing voices...oh wait, she was. Well, crap.

Sally was done with her shower and doing her hair when she got upstairs. Sally could be very efficient when she needed to be, and she wasn’t one to be overly fussy about her looks. Of course, that could've been because she would be pretty even with a paper bag over her head. Her long coffee-colored hair was striking against her mocha-colored skin. She honestly didn’t look like a Sally. Whatever, Jacque thought. I didn’t pick her name.

Jen was still in the shower and Jacque could hear her singing Martina McBride’s “Independence Day.” She was belting it out proudly and tunelessly.

Jacque banged on the door and hollered, “Yeah, yeah, you’re strong, free and independent, we get it. Hurry up! We’re rolling out ten minutes ago!” Jen just sang louder. Jacque rolled her eyes and went back to her room.

“If she’s planning on blow drying that blond mess on her head then we’re leaving her here,” Jacque told Sally, looking over to see her shoving her feet into shoes.

“Well, I’m ready when you are, Sherlock. Let's go check hottie out,” Sally said with a wink.

“How lucky I am to have you, my dear Watson,” Jacque said, smiling.

Jen stepped into Jacque’s room fully clothed, hair up in a French twist.

“What’s taking you guys so long? I’ve been ready for two minutes,” Jen said with fake exasperation.

“Oh, a whole two minutes? How dare us make you wait. Please don’t have us flogged, your majesty,” Jacque retorted.

“It’s about time you realized who the queen is in this outfit,” Jen said, grinning.

“Girls, I’m ready if you all are!” they heard Jacque’s mom yell.

Well, here we go, Jacque thought. She felt in that moment that she was walking into the lion's den. Just what had she gotten herself into?

“I think I am officially going tobe sick,” Jacque said with a slight moan.

“Take slow deep breaths. If you pass out while we’re over there, I once again tell you I will laugh my ass off,” Jen said.

“Man, you're just a ball of warm fuzzies, aren’t you?” Jacque said, glaring at Jen.

“I’m just saying,” Jen laughed.

Turning in a circle with arms out and palms turned up, Jacque said “How do I look? Is this shirt a little much?”

“No, I think it’s perfect. It makes a statement like, 'hey, I’m not scared of your little mind gibberish',” Sally encouraged.

“But I am scared of his mind gibberish. If it is really his mind gibberish and not something else entirely,” Jacque said, sounding forlorn.

“Oh, come on. Pull yourself together, man. He’s just a guy, okay? Nothing more and nothing less,” Jen stated with utter confidence.

The only thing was that Jacque didn’t believe mystery guy was just a guy. No, he was more, much more. She just didn’t know what yet. As they began to descend the stairs, a thought touched her mind, one that was not her own.

“Good morning, my Luna,” Jacque heard.

She stumbled a few steps on the stairs. Jen reached out to steady her. “Are you okay?” she whispered.

“I just heard the voice again,” Jacque said shakily.

“What did it say?” Sally asked.

“'Good morning, my loona',” Jacque answered. “What the stink does that mean?” I can’t believe I thought it was a good idea to go over there, she thought.

Jacque’s mom was standing at the bottom of the stairs, watching them closely. She had that look that Jacque knew all too well – her mom knew something was up. She could feel her emotions strongly and, according to them, Lily Pierce was very concerned.

“Are you girls coming?” her mom asked.

“Lead the way, Ms. Pierce,” Jen said.

Each of the girls carried a dish of food; Jacque’s mom had even made sweet tea. After all, what’s a southern meal without sweet tea?

As they stepped out of the house and onto the walkway, the sun shone brightly down on them. It was ten am and it was already blistering hot.

Although the grass on some of the lawns was still healthy and green, Jacque’s lawn was brown and dead. Of course, that could've been because her mom mowed it way too short last time in hopes she could go longer than a week between mowing. She'd inadvertently killed the grass in the process. Oh well, Jacque thought, it’s not like we're going for first place in the prettiest lawn competition. Goodness knows both she and her mother would rather pull their toenails out than work in the yard in that ridiculous southern Texas heat.