Reluctant Cinderella

Aunt Megan, I really,reallyneed to go," Olivia whispered anxiously.Bent over to child level as she dumped the dishwasher detergent in the tray, Megan Schumacher snapped the tray shut, straightened to push the start button and shoved the door into lock position. Inside, the whooshing started. She edged the box of detergent onto the crowded kitchen counter and turned to look fondly down at her niece."Powder room." Megan pointed the way. "Quick." Blond curls bounced as the little sweetie shook her head. "Someone's in there." She wrinkled her button nose in childish disgust. "Being sick. And there's someone upstairs inourbathroom, too." She meant the bathroom she shared with her brothers, Anthony and Michael. "Crying."Great. "What about your mom's bathr -- " Olivia cut her off with a snort of wounded frustration. "Anthony's in there. Heyelledat me to go away."Anthony, the oldest of Megan's sister's kids, was nine. He'd developed a bit of an attitude lately. If he wasn't silent and sulky, he was ordering everyone to leave him alone.Olivia rolled her blue eyes. "Aunt Megan. Comeon.I need to useyourbathroom.""Well, sure. Why didn't you just say so?" Olivia let out a pained sigh. "Is itopen?""You bet. Need help?"The little girl drew herself up and spoke with great dignity. "Thank you. No. After all, Iamseven." Then she whirled and took off for the kitchen door that led to the breezeway and the backyard entrance to Megan's apartment over the garage."She's a cutie, that one." Marti Vincente, who lived next door, pulled a tray of stuffed miniature portobello mushrooms from the oven. The neighbors took turns hosting the annual Danbury Way early summer block party, but Marti and her husband always provided most of the food. The stuffed mushrooms looked as delicious as everything else Marti and Ed had brought over to Angela's bright kitchen that day.Slim, stylish and attractive, Marti worked full-time at the restaurant she and Ed owned. She was up close and personal with all that wonderful food on a daily basis -- and she couldn't weigh more than one-ten. How fair was that?Megan looked down at her own baggy orange T-shirt and frayed jeans. Beneath the comfortable old clothes, she was no Marti Vincente. And she probably never would be."Mushroom?" Marti offered. "I've got some that are slightly cooled right here...."Megan needed no more urging. She popped one of the delicious morsels into her mouth and groaned in delight. "Incredible." Through the window over the sink, she could see the neighbors gathered in groups under the shade of the patio cover, chatting and laughing, sipping iced drinks and chowing down on the Vincentes' delicious finger food.Angela was out there, too, weaving in and out among her guests, carrying a trayful of Vincente delicacies. Since her sister was busy, that left Megan to check on Olivia's story of sickness and sobbing in the bathrooms. Resigned, Megan swallowed the last of that to-die-for mushroom, thanked Marti and headed off down the back hall.She found Rebecca Peters hovering by the door to the powder room.Rebecca was subletting the house on the other side of the Vincentes. She wore a skinny, strappy sundress in her trademark black, with the usual four-inch designer heels to match. Rebecca wassonot the suburban type. No one in the neighborhood could understand why she'd moved to Rosewood, which was an hour-and-a-half train ride north of New York City and about as suburban as any town could get.Her worried frown had Megan asking, "What's up?"Rebecca's frown deepened. "I think Molly's in there...."Molly owned the house at 7 Danbury Way. Happily single, she put most of her energy into her mega-successful consulting firm."Is she sick?" Megan asked softly.Rebecca nodded and pitched her voice to a confidential level. "She was fine. We were chatting out on the patio. And then she got thisRimmer, Christine is the author of 'Reluctant Cinderella ', published 2006 under ISBN 9780373247653 and ISBN 0373247656.