“Did Curtis ever figure out who was leaving the notes on his car?”

Hannah was caught up watching the guys skate out to center ice and salute their fans after their six-to-two win when the question was asked. It was the last home game for almost three weeks thanks to the break and a pair of road games first up after the break.

Glancing over to Megan, Hannah’s brow furrowed as she tried to figure out what the other woman was talking about. Megan was busy packing up her two kids to run them down to visit their daddy in the locker room. Hannah usually putzed around for a little bit to give Curtis a chance to hit the showers, so she wasn’t in a hurry to get moving.

“I’m sorry. What notes are you talking about?”

Given how many women screamed and cheered his name every game, Hannah wasn’t too worried about some love notes being left for Curtis to find. She should have been for the sheer stalker aspect of it, but the idea that Curtis would leave her for one of his fans had long stopped being an insecurity.

She didn’t let her mind wander to whether the notes were more sinister. If Curtis was getting death threats, he sure as hell should’ve mentioned that to her.

“Oh, you know. Those notes a couple months ago, I think it was. Trevor said Curtis got all bent out of shape about them and tried to get the guys to admit one of them left them.”

Hannah didn’t know, and she briefly wondered why that was. Knowing that two months was about the time Paul showed up in the parking lot, she figured she didn’t have to look any deeper for an explanation about where the notes came from or why Curtis never told her about them. Knowing who might have been involved made her rethink what the nature of the notes was.

She shook her head and added a new reason to want to kill Paul. Thankfully, they hadn’t heard from him and Nina seemed to have disappeared again. For claiming she’d be in touch, she had a funny way of showing it. Not that Hannah was complaining. Life had been running smoothly without the outside interference.

“Yeah, sorry. Those notes. I think he decided it was just someone from high school playing around. They were nothing important.”

Hannah spoke with authority she didn’t have on the subject, but there wasn’t anything else she could do. She wasn’t about to tell the truth and say she had no idea what notes Megan was talking about. She wanted to ask exactly what was in the notes, whether Megan knew for sure or not, but she decided going to the source was a better idea.

“Really? I’m guessing it isn’t someone he’s close to, because it really got under Curtis’ skin. Trevor said he’d never seen him so pissed off.”

Trevor obviously didn’t spend as much time with Curtis as Hannah did. She couldn’t believe Curtis was more pissed off about the notes than he was ever at Nina for screwing around with him or hearing what had happened between her and Paul during high school. If any of his teammates saw him then, they’d skate around him on eggshells.

“No, it was someone trying to get under his skin. It’s all taken care of.”

Hannah hoped she wasn’t lying about that. If Curtis had been getting stalker notes for months and hadn’t told her, he was going to be punished. She didn’t know exactly what that punishment would be, but he would probably rue the day he taught her some self-defense moves after she made it obvious she didn’t even know how to throw a punch.

“Good to hear. Are you guys coming to the party Brady’s hosting next week? He’s being all weird about why everyone should be there, but has pretty much said unless a family member is dying, we have to go. I get the feeling he’d get bent out of shape even if there was a funeral.”

Laughing, Hannah tried to keep the knowledge that she knew something from reaching her eyes. She’d been adamant that Brady didn’t need to throw a party, but he was taking his best man duties seriously. Curtis and she were getting married at a private ceremony in their backyard that day and instead of immediately enjoying married life, they were being forced to celebrate with everyone Brady could think of inviting.

Hannah had been terrified about how big the guest list would get, so she stayed far away from any of the planning. Supposedly, the arena had been rented out for the party, but location and time was all she knew.

“I’ve heard he’s being difficult on that front. I know Curtis and him are close, but as far as I’ve heard, the reason for the party is just Brady wanting to get drunk with every single person he knows.”

Megan chuckled. “That’s pretty much a Friday night for him. If you do hear of any reason for the party, you’ll let me know, right? I’ve never known Brady, or anyone on the team, to pass out physical invitations, and they were weird, right? All black with a red noose on them? I mean, that’s just bizarre. He had to have them custom made or something, and it isn’t Halloween.”

Covering her mouth to keep from bursting out laughing, Hannah took a second to answer. She hadn’t seen or heard about the invitations. It was easy enough to picture them, though. Brady had been trying to get Curtis to rethink things since he’d showed him the ring, which he’d done about a week before he asked Hannah to marry him.

It wasn’t that Brady didn’t like Hannah, at least he didn’t show it if he did. He just didn’t like the idea of marriage in general. For him there were too many women in the world to try to settle down with just one. Hannah understood not everyone looked to married life as an exciting new adventure, but the noose invitations were probably a bit much.

“I think we all know that Brady doesn’t do things halfway,” Hannah said as she tried to guide her way out of the conversation. “I’ll do some digging and see if I can’t get him to reveal the reason he wants everyone there. I still think it’s probably just him enjoying not having to play for a couple weeks.”

“You have my number, text if you find anything. I’m going to get these sleeping guys down to their dad. Game’s over and mommy wants some quiet time for a little bit.”

Megan’s kids were great, but at two and four, they could get a little cranky and needy during the games. It made Hannah wonder what games would be like when she had a stroller to push around and a baby demanding something. Moms like Megan made it look easy, even if they did get a little frazzled. Hannah hoped she had even a tenth of what she saw in the other moms at the arena.

The stands cleared out pretty quickly after the stars of the game were announced. They’d announced them during her talk with Megan, so Hannah missed them. She didn’t think Curtis was on the list, judging by the game she watched. It wasn’t that he played badly or anything. He hadn’t scored a goal, though, and stars usually went to those people.

Hannah stood and picked up her purse from the floor. It’d been a long day, and she was ready to go home and see if Curtis would believe she needed a full body massage. He could probably use one after the sixty-minute game, but she was carrying his child, even if no one knew it, and she thought that deserved a little attention.

Her left hand drifted to her stomach. She had to remind herself all the time in public that they weren’t ready to tell people. They weren’t even two months along, so there were a lot of days left before she could carefreely walk around rubbing her belly. It was torture, and Curtis was no help. His exuberance about becoming a father was terrifying at times.

When they went out to eat, he’d ask the baby what she wanted to eat. He was so sure it was going to be a girl, which sounded crazy to Hannah. She was the only girl in a family of five kids and he was an only child, with six male cousins. The numbers seemed to be leaning towards the male gender in Hannah’s mind. No matter how many times she told him that, and submitted articles she found on the internet to back her up, he wouldn’t listen.

“I’m sorry to ambush you like this, but I was wondering if we could talk for a few minutes. I figure a public place is better than showing up at your house. I’m pretty sure Curtis would unleash your neighbors’ hounds on me if I got too close.”

The voice along with the word sorry made Hannah think she was dreaming. As soon as she heard the voice, her guard immediately went up as she spun around to face the intruder. It was a public space, so intruder wasn’t exactly right, but for Nina to be within a mile of Hannah felt like an intrusion.

Hannah quickly looked around, trying to gauge where other people were and if they would be any help. Since Hannah had been the one to get violent the last time they’d been around each other, the help part could be questioned by some people, but she hadn’t been pregnant the last time they’d met.

Being pregnant raised up even more red flags at Nina’s presence. Once Curtis had found out about the baby, their self-defense lessons had morphed a little into baby protection lessons. His key advice was to run and find help, instead of engaging.

“I need to go find Curtis. If I’m not downstairs waiting for him within ten minutes of the game ending, he worries.”

Nina raised an eyebrow and tilted her head to the side. Hannah tried to read what she wanted from her general appearance, but as usual, didn’t get anything. Nina wore a pair of tight jeans with a tan, distressed-looking sweater layered over a purple tank top. Hannah had never understood the idea of wearing holey or ratty clothes, but Nina seemed to think it was fashion. Her makeup was a little understated, but she looked as beautiful as ever. It was too bad what made up the insides of her weren’t as pretty.

“I know he’s got to go through media and the showers before you two meet up, so don’t lie to me, Hannah. I think over the years there’s been enough of that going on between us, don’t you? I know it’s been from my part, but let’s at least commit to being truthful from now on.”

It was probably the first time Hannah had ever lied to Nina, so the scales as far as that went were still weighted in Nina’s favor. Hannah looked behind her. Nina blocked the road out closest to her, but it looked like the path the other direction was clear. If push came to shove, Hannah was pretty sure she could navigate up or down a row or two of chairs and make a run for it.

“I’ll admit that it’s totally my fault for all the lies over the years, but you were the only friend I ever had, Hannah, and I really wanted to protect you. I almost failed you once. I couldn’t bear to do it again.”

Hannah had thought she was hearing things, but Nina’s voice did sound different. Aside from being able to actually utter the word sorry, some of the annoyance was missing and it almost sounded like there was sadness in her words. Hannah scanned her memory for a time she remembered Nina being legitimately sad, and she came up empty.

Turning to look at her once friend, Hannah’s eyes narrowed as she scrutinized her. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for, but settled on trying to figure out if the Nina in front of her was some kind of clone. She wouldn’t put it past the real Nina to find someone who looked like her and force them to pretend to be her.

“Why are you here, Nina? Wasn’t our Christmas reunion enough for you to figure out that I still don’t want anything to do with you?”

Nina smiled and shook her head. Most of her fair-colored hair was up in a twist on her head, but two curled tendrils hung next to her face. They bounced as her head moved.

“I told you then that I was seeing someone to help get my life sorted. It had just started that week, which is why it probably felt like I was lying then too. I wasn’t. Dr. Barnes has helped me understand my actions hurt other people and that if I’m ever going to move forward and be a better person, I have to try to make amends. I was hoping maybe you and Curtis would be willing to have dinner with me this weekend as an olive branch.”

The words hung between them and Hannah worked to try to comprehend them. Nina was actually trying to be a better person? The concept seemed like something out of a fantasy novel. It was about as realistic as a unicorn.

“I can tell by the look on your face that you don’t believe me. I can’t say I blame you. Therapists aren’t supposed to show reactions to what patients say, but I saw the look of disbelief when we talked through some of the things I’ve done. I am trying to be a good person, because that’s the only way I can see you coming back into my life.”

Hannah remained too shocked to say anything. She couldn’t figure out if it was some kind of new game or if Nina was being serious. Curtis had once said Hannah was nothing more than Nina’s shadow, and the statement wasn’t without merits.

“You don’t have to answer now, or even have to take up my offer this weekend. It’s always there. I just wanted to fill you in and let you know that I do miss you. I was the protector and you were the glue for so many years. It doesn’t have to be the same, since you have a new protector, but I would like to get my glue back.”

Nina’s lips curled up in what had to be one of the only sincere-looking smiles she’d ever given. Before saying anything else, she turned and walked away, leaving Hannah to try to figure out what in the world had just happened.