Seth sat at The Blue Suede Shoe, a popular bar in town, with his brothers, Gavin and Eli. They’d come over to play pool. Earlier, Eli’s wife, Cora, had been to a Christmas Tea with a group of teachers from New Horizons and had decided not to come. She was getting the kids to bed and relaxing at home. But Aiyana had agreed to babysit for Gavin’s wife so that Savanna could join them after she returned from a shopping trip. She was running late because she was fighting traffic, trying to get back from LA.

“So... Eli told me that Tia Beckett is in town,” Gavin said as they drank a beer while watching a program that showed one video snippet after another of hilarious skateboarding, bicycling or other accidents.

“He what?” Seth turned to glare at Eli. “What part of Don’t tell anyone don’t you understand?”

“I haven’t told anyone,” Eli said, instantly defensive.

“No? You mean other than Cora and Mom and Gavin—”

“They’re family,” he interrupted. “That doesn’t count.”

Seth rolled his eyes before leaning in and lowering his voice. “She’s terrified the paparazzi will find her and start hounding her again. This town might feel safe to us, because we’ve never experienced anything like having people camp outside our homes, hoping to get a picture they could sell, but to her, it’s a serious threat.”

“No one in our family’s going to tell anyone,” Eli assured him.

Gavin cast him a sheepish look. “Except...I’ve already told Savanna.”

“Oh, hell,” Seth said.

Eli and Gavin laughed, but Seth didn’t think it was funny. He glowered at them both until they quit.

“Come on. Our wives won’t tell anyone. You trust every person who knows,” Eli said.

Seth couldn’t argue with that. But still.

“What’s she like?” Gavin asked. “Is she as gorgeous in real life as she is on the big screen?”

He hesitated before saying, “The accident did some damage.”

Eli seemed surprised. “I saw a few bandages on her face, but she wasn’t paralyzed or anything. And most wounds heal. Hers will, too, won’t they?”

They would heal, but the scars they left behind would never go away. It’d been a month since the accident, and from what he’d seen, there couldn’t have been much improvement. But he supposed anything was possible. It was early yet. “Maybe,” he replied.

“Savanna and I liked her movie,” Gavin said. “It was funny but poignant and sort of real.”

“She’s got some talent.” Eli grinned. “And no one’s as pretty as Cora, but Tia’s got gorgeous eyes.”

“They’re incredible,” Seth agreed. “That hasn’t changed.”

A stir over by the bar caught their attention. Several people were talking at once, and whatever they were discussing seemed to be generating more and more interest, because a crowd was forming.