Damn it, she was beautiful. And smart and charming and compassionate… Why hadn’t he been aware of that all those years ago? Well, because it was a lot of years ago. They were young, immature. He’d been in love with Reba and hardly aware of any other girl at the time. But he had to question the depth of his love for Reba, now that he realized how seductive the idea of the one who got away could feel with time. Their relationship, his and Reba’s, hadn’t come to a natural end and he’d probably given it more of a place in his heart than it really deserved. Back then, any possibility for him and Shallie never had a chance. His fault.

They arrived at Bailey’s to discover Tina, Mitch and family already there. Carly, too, of course. Brynne had arranged for two long tables to be pushed together to accommodate their group. Tina introduced Shallie to Elspeth and Aaron, the musician, to Caroline and her husband, Peter, and to Susan. Cord introduced her to Brynne, who was looking her usual elegant self, wearing a simple off-white shift, her midlength blond hair straight and glossy.

Eli, J.P. and Trooper sat down with them; the men and Shallie exchanged hugs, promising each other that they’d reconnect and share histories later on. The place was starting to get crowded. Miranda, their server, brought the women wine, while the men all ordered beer.

During their leisurely dinner, which Tina described as “pubbish,” Brynne made her usual point of coming by to bring Trooper his treat and enthusiastic praise, and he responded with equal enthusiasm.

Then she stopped abruptly, staring at Carly. “Oh, my God. You look just like—”

“Reba, yes. My mom.”

“Oh, my God! I knew Reba died, but I didn’t realize she had a daughter. It wasn’t mentioned in the obituary.”

“That’s because her asshole husband wrote it.”

“I’m so sorry about your loss. Our loss, too. Anyway, welcome. Hope we have a chance to talk soon. Catch up on…”

“My mom’s life?”

“Yes, I’d like that. She and I lost touch so long ago, and I happened to find out online that…” Brynne paused. “You must really miss her.”

Carly nodded, and Cord saw her rub her eyes with both hands. Standing up, she moved into Brynne’s waiting hug. Brynne hurried off and Cord found himself repeatedly glancing over at Shallie, who was sitting across from him, between Carly and Susan. He was relieved that she seemed to be enjoying herself as much as everyone else and told himself to stop looking at her. But as much as he tried, he couldn’t resist stealing glances at her.