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She went downstairs in her nightgown, realizing from the light slanting in the windows that she must
have slept in very late. Aunt Judith and Margaret were in the living room.
"Good morning, Aunt Judith." She gave her surprised aunt a long, hard hug. "And good morning,
pumpkin." She swept Margaret off her feet and waltzed around the room with her. "And – oh! Good
morning, Robert." A little embarrassed at her exuberance and her state of undress, she put Margaret
down and hurried into the kitchen.
Aunt Judith came in. Though there were dark circles under her eyes, she was smiling. "You seem in
good spirits this morning."
"Oh, I am." Elena gave her another hug, to apologize for the dark circles.
"You know we have to go back to the sheriff's to talk to them about Tyler."
"Yes." Elena got juice out of the refrigerator and poured herself a glass. "But can I go over to Vickie
Bennett's house first? I know she must be upset, especially since it sounds like not everybody
believes her."
"Do you believe her, Elena?"
"Yes," she said slowly, "I do believe her. And, Aunt Judith," she added, coming to a decision,
"something happened to me in the church, too. I thought – "
"Elena! Bonnie and Meredith are here to see you." Robert's voice sounded from the hallway.
The mood of confidence was broken. "Oh… send them in," Elena called, and took a sip of orange
juice. "I'll tell you about it later," she promised Aunt Judith, as footsteps approached the kitchen.
Bonnie and Meredith stopped in the doorway, standing with unaccustomed formality.
Elena herself felt awkward, and waited until her aunt left the room again to speak.
Then she cleared her throat, her eyes fixed on a worn tile in the linoleum. She sneaked a quick
glance up and saw that both Bonnie and Meredith were staring at that same tile.
She burst into laughter, and at the sound they both looked up.
"I'm too happy to even be defensive," Elena said, holding out her arms to them. "And I know I ought
to be sorry about what I said, and I am sorry, but I just can't be all pathetic about it. I was terrible and
I deserve to be executed, and now can we just pretend it never happened?"
"You ought to be sorry, running off on us like that," Bonnie scolded as the three of them joined in a
tangled embrace.
"And with Tyler Smallwood, of all people," said Meredith.
"Well, I learned my lesson on that score," Elena said, and for a moment her mood darkened. Then
Bonnie trilled laughter.
"And you scored the big one yourself – Stefan Salvatore! Talk about dramatic entrances. When you
came in the door with him, I thought I was hallucinating. How did you do it?"
"I didn't. He just showed up, like the cavalry in one of those old movies."
"Defending your honor," said Bonnie. "What could be more thrilling?"
"I can think of one or two things," said Meredith. "But then, maybe Elena's got those covered, too."
"I'll tell you all about it," Elena said, releasing them and stepping back. "But first will you come
over to Vickie's house with me? I want to talk to her."
"You can talk to us while you're dressing, and while we're walking, and while you're brushing your
teeth for that matter," said Bonnie firmly. "And if you leave out one tiny detail, you're going to be
facing the Spanish Inquisition."
"You see," said Meredith archly, "all Mr. Tanner's work has paid off. Bonnie now knows the