"Been there, done that. He had no interest in rescuing Daisy's cat from a tree."

"Darn, he is a tough case." Elise flipped the page, scanning the text for gems. "Here's one-'Next time you have a domestic emergency, before you call a plumber or electrician, try the boy next door. If you're lucky, he'll be anxious to show off his manly prowess with power tools. Even if the two of you don't hit it off, you could save yourself an exorbitant repair bill.'"

"Are you forgetting about Bill?" Phoebe said. Bill White was the super at Mesa Blue. He kept the building in top shape.

"You're right. No one would impose on a neighbor when Bill is around. Okay, one more idea. 'Have a party and invite him. If he comes alone, good for you. If he comes with a date, he gracious to them both. They might have eligible male friends. If he doesn't come, you can always make so much noise that he can't resist coming over to join the fun.'"

"That's it!" Phoebe cried. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"I thought you hated parties," Elise said. "You said you'd had enough of them in L.A. to last you a lifetime."

Phoebe wrinkled her nose at the reminder. Those Hollywood parties had seemed exciting when she'd first moved to California. She'd loved the schmoozing-name-brand producers making promises, aging movie stars making passes, other agents trying to steal her away from the one she already had. And all of them telling her how beautiful she was.

About the time she'd landed the part as Vanessa Vance on the nighttime soap opera "Skin Deep," however, the schmoozing got old. Everyone assumed she'd slept with the handsome producer just to get the part.

People would have laughed if she'd told them the real reason she'd gotten involved with Joel Spinner. She'd thought she was in love with him. She hadn't realized what a can of worms she'd opened. Joel had been less than discreet about their affair, and next thing she knew, the studly young star of the show assumed she would sleep with him. And when she didn't, he told everybody she had.