"I remembered some things we forgot to pack, Val." Oh? Like what?" Well, if I'm going to be there three and a half weeks, I need to take some tampons....(I don't want to hear about it.)"And I thought a deck of playing cards would be a good thing to have so we don't get bored." Sounds good."Dad was at the kitchen sink, filling canteens with bottled water. Canteens had been one of the reasons Bev had wanted a cart and we forgot to pack them. Well, I'm sure we'll be happy to have something to drink. ” Katye cradles her chin. “I am wondering if you could do me a favor.”The boss reaches into the purse on her desk and pulls out a plain, nondescript business card. What could she possibly have in mind?“There’s a wrap party being held in town tonight.” She presses the card into Elena’s hand. “An up and coming author is promoting their next book. The BookExpo is in a couple of weeks, but I’m hoping to poach them from the competition and grab some headlines before then. And you’re the bait.”Elena. There had been nowarning, no letter, no last second message or note of remorse. He'dsimply vanished into some long-forgotten night as if he'd never existed.Angela's Mother had ultimately fared no better. Left alone to pick upthe shattered remains of an already fractured marriage, Mom had drunkherself into oblivion. It was a death spiral, a kamikaze run fueled byvalium and everclear, ending with a spectacularly anti-climatic overdoseon the eve of Angie's entry into middle school. Again, there. Most of these people feel that it is beneath them to cover a school board meeting or a farmer's market opening — conveniently forgetting that news from venues like that is going to have far more effect on the readers' lives than what happens in Washington, D.C., or even the state capital."Carrie was leaning forward with interest during my dissertation. At least I hoped it was interest. She wouldn't have been the first person to fall asleep on me while I discussion my profession."What you're.