Standard disclaimers apply. Characters are owned by Penguin/ Random House. I make no money off my stories but some days are lonely and I need to brush the cobwebs off old friends and bring them out to play. I hope you enjoy this short, emotional tale.

Part 1

"Are you listening to me, Trixie?" Honey said, tilting her sunglasses into her hair to take a better look at her friend. She took a healthy swallow from her water bottle and reapplied a generous coating of sunscreen to her neck and shoulders. "Are we making any dent in our tan lines? Leave it to Di to plan an end of summer wedding with strapless bridesmaid gowns."

"Hmm? Oh, sorry, Honey. Guess I was woolgathering," Trixie replied. Her gaze returned again and again to Ten Acres. "You'll look beautiful no matter what. And I thought you had some wonder product that will help even out our skin?"

"Oh, I do. This was just an excuse to have a day to myself," Honey said with a giggle.

Trixie picked up her bottle of water and check her own tan lines in the strapless bikini she wore. She really wasn't built for bikinis, strapless or otherwise, but Honey had insisted it was the only way to even out the tan lines left by her usual one piece.

Honey rolled her hazel eyes at her best friend for the last decade. "He won't come out," she said softly. "At least not for me. Have you tried?"

Trixie ran her fingers through her shoulder length sandy curls. "No. Haven't even tried. I think having him turn me away would break my heart. He meant so much to me, Honey. And yeah, I was hurt when he got married right out of boot camp, but I figured, you know, if he's happy. You know?"

Honey closed her eyes, remembering getting the news of her brother's impending marriage. "She was a cold piece of work. She married him for the paycheck and the benefits, not dealing with his injuries when he came home."

Trixie rolled her eyes. "I don't think that's the only reason they got married," she said, bitterly remembering how they had been all over each other on his first visit home to introduce his wife to his family.

"She was a stripper," Honey said, as thought that explained everything. And maybe it did. She had exuded an easy sexuality that put had pulled men into her thrall. "And yeah, I am fairly sure even Jim knew he'd made a mistake by the time the ink was dry on the marriage certificate."

"But he still did it," Trixie pointed out.

"For a while, but yeah, he had already talked to me about a divorce before he left on his last deployment."

That was news to Trixie.

"And then the explosion. The injury." Trixie closed her eyes, remembering the early images Honey had described.

Honey shrugged. "If it helps, I don't think it destroyed him losing her. It was obviously embarrassing when the tabloids got a hold of the story but she wound up much worse in the PR battle."

"And she got a hefty settlement," Trixie said, looking down at her thighs.

"You marry for money, you earn every penny," Honey said.

Trixie's eyes returned to the looming construction that was the rebuilt Ten Acres.

"I'm sure he looks much better now," Honey said. "But Miss Trask turns me away every time I go up to visit."

"At least he has Miss Trask," Trixie said.

"And his work," Honey commented.

"How is the Frayne Holding Company doing these days?"

"According to the New York papers, very well. I believe the last headline was something like 'Disfigured Heir to the Wheeler Fortune cuts Own Path on Wall Street.'"

"I thought you were the heir," Trixie asked, refusing to dignify their insult to Jim.

Honey smiled at her. "I'm pretty sure Daddy has it split. The question is who will run Wheeler/ Hart when and if he retires."

"You don't want it?"

Honey shook her head. "I am very comfortable reviewing the legal aspects and doing due diligence. Jim is better with real estate deals, even though he does everything via phone. I keep hoping one day they'll merge companies and I can head up the legal department but so far, Jim has been resistant."

"Resistant? You mean stubborn, right?"

Honey shrugged and smiled. "I've heard he has a temper, too."

Trixie snorted and turned around to give some color to her back. "Another half hour and we'll head in. Di will kill us if we burn."

"How's work going?" Honey asked.

"Did I ever tell you how happy I was you insisted we take that course in criminal psychology? I've been interning with a forensic psychologist at the prison and I think he's going to recommend me for a job. It's been fascinating, learning how the criminal mind works, if they're rehabilitated enough for release. I love it but I was also glad to take these two weeks off to relax and spend time with the Bob-Whites."

"All the Bob-Whites but one," Di said, coming around the back of Crabapple Farms and joining her best friends. "Jim isn't going to come to the wedding," she wailed, thrusting an RSVP card at Trixie. "How can I possibly get married if the Bob-Whites aren't all together? Even Hallie is flying in from Idaho and she was only an honorary Bob-White!" Trixie smiled with the memory of making Hallie an honorary member of the Bob-Whites of the Glen, the semi-secret club she and her friends had created as teenagers.

"Did you hear from Ned, the Hubbells, and Dot Murray?"

"Yes," Di hissed, going into full bridezilla mode. "But your brother is going to absolutely mess up everything! I have an entire table of honor for the Bob-Whites and he simply has to come! I'll just die if we don't have all six of us there!"

"Okay, calm down," Trixie said, standing up and taking off her sunglasses.

"Calm down!" Di shouted. "When in the history of being angry has that phrase ever worked? On anyone? Ever? Don't you dare tell me to calm down, Beatrix Belden! My wedding is going to be ruined because her brother," Di pointed to Honey, "is a jerk!"

To Trixie's amazement, Honey burst into tears.

"Oh, Di, I'm so sorry. How can I ever make this up to you?"

"I don't think you can," Di said, evenly. "In fact, maybe it would be best if you joined your brother in exile. "

"Wait. What? You can't mean that! Okay. Let me think," Trixie said, stepping between her two best friends before they came to blows. "Okay. Honey. You said Jim is home, right?"

Between tears, Honey nodded. "Miss Trask said he had a physical therapy appointment at noon today," she said with a hiccough.

Trixie paced a moment before slipping into her flip flops. "Let me see if I can make this right." She hugged Di. "Let me go talk to him, okay? Di? Please?" Trixie shot a worried look at Honey. "Are you two going to be okay? Seriously, no fighting. The wedding is in a week. No black eyes, okay?"

Di sniffed and looked away from her.

Defeated, Trixie grabbed the large shirt she had been using as a cover up and began the hike up to Ten Acres.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Di sat down and applied sunscreen to her legs. "And Mart says my acting lessons were a waste of money."

Honey snorted with laughter and handed her a bottle of water as they waited to see what magic Trixie could concoct as she unraveled the mystery of why Jim had secluded himself in the house on the hill.