11.1

“Did someone die?”

Hannah turned to find her brother in his big, police-issue SUV, idling at the curb. “No,” Hannah said, sniffling and smiling as she wiped her eyes. “Just . . . sister stuff.” She reached down for Alex’s hand, and squeezed it, felt better when Alex held on just as tightly.

“I’m getting calls,” he said, mildly. “If you guys are going to keep this up, could you at least do it somewhere less . . . public?”

Hannah looked back at the other three, then glanced past them to the gold letters painted on the shop window. They were all still standing outside Linda’s Nail Emporium on High Street. “Oh,” she said, looking back at Logan. “Right.” She gave Alex’s hand a final squeeze, then let go and walked over to the curb.

“Actually,” Kerry called out, “we were just talking about The Lumber Yard. You know, that male strip club in Augusta.”

Logan’s eyebrows did a slow climb as he looked from Kerry to his lovely bride-to-be.

To Kerry’s delight and Hannah’s surprise, Alex simply smil