“Oh?”

“Yeah,” I said, smiling, “I, uh, wrote an article about her almost a year ago, and we became pretty good friends.” This was not quite a lie; I am convinced that Kit Porter and I could have been great friends, had she not gone off to rehab and all that.

Sunny nodded, but didn’t say anything.

Oh, *****. She was making me do it. “And… well, I’m a recovering alcoholic, too.” The lie was effortless. One day I’ll be punished for all this. “So, Kit and I really sort of get each other.”

“Oh!” Sunny’s face crumpled into that annoying pouty look again. “How long has it been for you?”

“Two years,” I said promptly. I should not be this good at lying.

“You are strong!” She patted my cheek. I made a face. “Well, then you’ll probably understand what Kit was going through when she showed up that night.”

“I might,” I said, leaning forward. “Tell me.”

“Well, like I said, Bette’s father goes off to bed and then Kit shows up, drunk as a skunk and shouting that she knew their father was in town and she had come to make amends.”

I nodded. “How did Bette react?”

“Well, I don’t want to say vitriolic, but really, that’s the word for it! I mean, you know how she gets when she’s angry! They had this big argument and apparently, their father hasn’t spoken to Kit for going on six years.”

I did not know this, but it did not surprise me, considering what I did know about Kit’s relationship with her family. “Did they say why?”

“Oh, not in so many words, but I think I got the general idea that Kit is just… well, a bit of a,” she lowered her voice, “bad seed, you know?”

I frowned. I didn’t particularly think this was a fair assessment, but I couldn’t help but like Kit. In fact, it made me sad to think of Kit getting drunk and coming by Bette’s, especially considering this couldn’t have been too long after she’d gotten out of rehab. I frowned. “When did this happen, Sunny?”

“You know,” Sunny said thoughtfully, “that’s funny, because I was just thinking that if you had moved out a week later, you would have seen this whole thing.”