DORIS GAPED at her best friend, wide-eyed, and her palm lay right over her ajar mouth. She wasn't breathing. She couldn't breathe.

Evelyn waved her hand at her shell-shocked friend. "Hello in there!"

Even at that, Doris didn't blink an eye. She was finding it difficult to recover from the bombshell Evelyn had dumped on her.

Evelyn exhaled. "Can you say something and stop gawping at me?"

Doris shook her head rapidly as if she was pulling herself to reality. She grabbed a ...