Chapter Nine
Despite herself, Sarah still couldn't quite get the idea of that Steven out of her mind. Certainly her dear Nikki gave her no real cause for jealousy, but the nagging thought remained that there just might be something amiss. The canceling of lunch that time was understandable, for example, yet it also could be interpreted in a more sinister way. Nikki was pretty and flirty, Sarah knew too well— what boy would not be attracted to her? And if now and then there were times that Nikki came home late with some explanation that was ever so slightly evasive without really being conclusively suspicious, how could Sarah not feel a strange chill?
She tried to tell herself that her thoughts were just an overreaction. After all, despite Sarah's occasional little fears, the
