“I won’t. It’s a good thing you told me now, just in case something happens.”

Hannah shivered as she walked back into the dining room with Bill. She hadn’t known Danielle very well before Ron had been killed, but she did now, and she liked her a lot. She wished that she’d been able to do more to protect her, but Danielle was in denial and the system couldn’t work if she wouldn’t let it.

Hannah’s mood improved as they rejoined the group around the table. The conversation was lively and there was a lot of good-natured ribbing. It was one of the best parties they’d ever had, and Hannah wondered if they should always invite some extra guests to their family affairs.

Several times, as they were eating dessert and drinking coffee, Delores winked at her. Hannah winked back. Her favorite old Nikes didn’t seem to be in any danger.

Dating was the furthest thing from Hannah’s mind when she went into the kitchen to fetch the extra pan of bar cookies she’d brought and found Norman already there, waiting for her. “Hi, Norman. Are you sneaking bar cookies behind our backs?”

“No.” Norman looked very serious as he shook his head. “I was waiting for a chance to talk to you alone, Hannah. I wanted to thank you for those loan papers. My mother would thank you, too, if she knew.”

“That’s okay, Norman. I didn’t want anyone else to see them, so I just…uh…”

“Appropriated them?” Norman grinned as he supplied the word.

Hannah grinned back. “That’s right.”

“Will you have dinner with me next Friday night? We could drive to that steak place out by the lake. I really need to talk to you in private, Hannah. It’s about my mother.”

“Sure,” Hannah agreed without a second thought. “That’d be really nice, Norman.”

It wasn’t until Hannah was back in her chair that she realized Delores had won fifty percent of the bet. Norman had asked her to dinner and that counted as a date. She glanced at Mike. There was no way he’d ask her out. Her favorite shoes were secure.

The party broke up about ten. Bill and Mike had to report in at eight and Norman had an early appointment. They walked Delores out to her car, and Hannah lingered to help Andrea toss the paper plates and pizza boxes in the trash. When the cleanup was finished and Bill had set out the garbage cans for pickup the next morning, she slipped into her boots, said good night to her sister and brother-in-law, and walked through the soft white snow to her truck.

“Hannah?”

“Hi, Mike.” Hannah was surprised to see Mike Kingston leaning up against the hood of her truck. “I thought you’d left.”

“Not yet. I wanted to talk to you, Hannah.”

His voice sounded stressed and Hannah began to frown. “Sure. What is it?”

“I like you, Hannah.”

Hannah was confused. What did liking her have to do with anything? “I like you, too, Mike.”