Well, obviously, there was no way I could go. I felt awful for blowing off the foundation — and this Luke Nicolini person — but I didn’t see how I could possibly call at the eleventh hour and say, Oh, hey, I decided to show up to your little gala after all.
Very bad form, even if none of this was my fault.
Thanks, Janine, I thought sourly, even as I told myself to look on the bright side. It wasn’t as if I had anything to wear to a fancy banquet. And as for a “plus-one”? Yeah, right.
“Knock-knock,” Naomi said right then, sticking her head in past the kitchen door. She must have gotten a good look at my expression, because she added, “What’s wrong?”
“This,” I replied, and held the letter out toward her.
She came inside and closed the door behind her. Frida, done with her dog cookie, ca
