“I understand,” she said, squeezing my hand reassuringly.

And then she let go of my hand, and gave me a small smile. We both stopped walking and faced each other. “I guess they must think that Jack is … that you and Jack are …” she said.

I nodded quickly and gave her a regretful smile. “Just like Sheryl does,” I said quietly.

“So I don’t think we should show up in there holding hands, especially since we haven’t had a chance to …” Aerin started to say.

“But I love it when you’re holding my hand the way you’ve been doing, Aerin,” I protested lightly.

“There’s stuff we have to talk about, first, Harley,” Aerin continued gently. “This isn’t as easy to do as you might think. So before we walk around your part of town holding hands like this …”

“But …” I started to protest again.

She pulled my hand up and kissed it quickly, and then laid it down gently by my side.

“Relax, Harley,” she was starting to say as she turned me half around so that we could continue walking, side by side, down the sidewalk. We saw a group of guys walking in the opposite direction who’d stopped their chatter as they neared us. They wheeled around as one after they walked passed us, whistling under their breaths.

Aerin and I exchanged a knowing look and laughed simultaneously, remembering what I’d warned Aerin about in the car when she’d slipped those boots on. The guys looked at us curiously, and I gave them a saucy wink, and then turned as Aerin had already done, to continue walking down the street. “The women here, bro …” I heard one of them exclaim as they walked away.

Aerin and I were still chuckling when we entered the restaurant.

“Here she is, finally!” Annie, the bride-to-be, and a girl who I’d known ever since we’d both been in a private school in New Hampshire, greeted me loudly. Her always loud voice cut through the din of the restaurant, “Fashionably late, and beautiful as ever, of course.” I noted the ever-present sardonic undertone in her voice whenever she talked to me.

Although we weren’t that close in high school, Annie and I had ended up going to the same college, and had joined the same loose circle of friends while there. Just easier that way, I guess.