“It is,” Hannah assured her, impressed, as always, with her niece’s vocabulary. “Norman’s around here somewhere, and he’s taking pictures. You should go say hello to him.”

“I will. I like Uncle Norman. How about Uncle Mike?”

“He’ll be here later. He’s taking Shawna Lee Quinn to the airport.”

“In his new yellow Hummer?”

“That’s right.”

“Uncle Mike took Daddy and me for a ride. It bounces a lot, but you probably know that since he takes you out on dates. Which one do you like best? Uncle Norman’s? Or Uncle Mike’s?”

“That depends on how far I’m riding,” Hannah said with a grin.

Tracey had just left to find Norman when Andrea came down the stairs. She looked lovely in a deep purple velvet maternity pantsuit, and Hannah was relieved to see that she was holding tightly to the rail.

“Hi, Hannah. What’s up?”

“Nothing. Martin and his new wife haven’t arrived yet.”

“Maybe they’re not coming. That would be good as far as Shirley’s concerned, but I’m dying to get a good look at her. Do you suppose she’ll wear gold spandex and glitter in her hair?”

“I doubt it. She’s probably perfectly nice.”

“With a name like Brandi Wyen?”

Hannah thought about it for a moment and then she smiled. “Point well taken. Is Bill here?”

“Not yet. If he gets held up, I’m supposed to save him a piece of Jell-O Cake. It’s his favorite thing that I bake.”

“It’s the only thing that you bake.”

“Well … there’s that, too. See you later, Hannah. I’m going to see if I can round up Tracey. She’s probably in the kitchen trying to talk Edna into letting her help.”

“She’d probably do better than some of the help Edna’s had over the years.” Hannah smiled, watching her sister set out for the kitchen. She was just thinking about how pregnant women resembled sailing ships in a high wind, when she heard voices at the top of the stairs.

Hannah put on the best smile she could muster, but since she’d been meeting and greeting for well over thirty minutes, it was beginning to wear a little thin around the edges. Then she caught sight of the couple coming down the staircase and her smile gathered lumens until it was full wattage.

Hannah greeted the mayor and his wife and then dissolved into a burst of spontaneous laughter, despite her effort to keep a straight face. Mayor Bascomb’s tie was splendiferous. It was the old-fashioned wide type and the background was studded in red sequins. A green felt Christmas tree was tacked to the front, and it actually lit up with tiny colored lights that flashed on and off. “Great tie, Mr. Mayor.”

“Steffie found it out at the mall. Runs on one of those little disk batteries they use for cameras.” Mayor Bascomb tucked his wife’s arm through his and patted her hand. “She’s the world’s best shopper, aren’t you, honey?”

Stephanie Bascomb gave a very nice smile, but Hannah noticed that it didn’t reach her eyes. She also pulled her hand away from her husband’s, and Hannah concluded that there was trouble in Lake Eden’s first family. The Bascombs would put on the appearance of connubial bliss for the crowd of constituents that had gathered for the party, but it was all for show.