Connections (Part One)

By: DesertVixen NOTE: Follows "Bringing Down the Barriers" by about 2-3 weeks. As noted in that story, 3 years have passed since the SuperMystery timeframe.

Thanks, of course, to my fabulous beta AmyKay, who keeps me from inflicting the same word on you three times in a paragraph!

DISCLAIMER: I obviously do not own the characters, because if I did, we'd have ditched Ned a long time ago. My books all say Archway or Grosset and Dunlap, and of course we can't forget the Stratemeyer Syndicate. I'm just borrowing them for awhile to have fun.

---- ---- ----

Spending the summer in River Heights was pretty sweet, Nancy decided as she hit the lock button on her key chain, and headed towards the brand-new restaurant. Granted, she was kept busy inside doing basic research for her father's law office, but some of it was quite fascinating. It had its perks, and today those perks included a long lunch before spending the afternoon acting as a courier for her father. Nancy got along great with his office administrator Eleanor, who had worked for him since Nancy was in middle school, and the others in the office weren't bad either – two associates and a law student who didn't mind Nancy picking his brain about law school. She hadn't absolutely decided on it yet, but she was definitely thinking about it hard.

Right now, though, she let go of thoughts of work, and prepared herself for lunch with her two best friends. The three of them had all been busy, but Nancy knew she had a bombshell to drop on them. She was also looking forward to catching up on what they were up to. She had known Bess Marvin and George Fayne since the three of them were in kindergarten, and there were only a few people she felt a closer bond with.

The two cousins were great friends with each other, despite being very different from each other. Bess was the romantic, the one who was more into shopping and guys than any other activity. George was the athlete, the one who was happiest in shorts and a tank top, riding a bike or running a race. Nancy couldn't imagine being without either one of them.

George was waiting for her outside the restaurant, looking cool and comfortable in a cherry-red t-shirt and denim skirt, practical sandals on her feet. Her short dark hair fell in waves just above her shoulders, sunglasses perched on top of her head.

"Nancy!" George sprang forward, grabbed her up in a hug that Nancy eagerly returned. "It's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you, too," Nancy said. "Nice outfit."

"Thanks. I know you're going to laugh, but I am so sick of wearing nothing but camp shorts and the camp shirt." George was not known for her interest in fashion, at least in comparison with her cousin. "Yours looks pretty good, too."

Nancy looked down at the short dark blue skirt, paired with a fitted turquoise short-sleeved blouse. "Well, you know, working for the law firm, I have to look professional. I left the jacket in the car, though."

They walked inside. George had picked the place after eating at one of the chain's restaurants in Chicago. She had described it to Nancy as perfect for the three of them, and Nancy had to agree she was right. Sweet Tomatoes had a salad bar to die for, not to mention soups and pasta. Bess, despite her constant claims of dieting, would be happy with the muffins and brownies at the bakery bar.

When they reached the end of the line and paid, Nancy scanned the restaurant, looking for Bess. She had called her cell phone, and Bess had said she was already inside, holding down a table.

George turned as she heard Bess call her name, then stopped and stared. "Bess!" She tugged on Nancy's arm. "Nan, check that out."

Nancy turned and saw a young woman with pale blonde hair cut in a sleek, face-framing, short style, standing at the table. She had to look for another moment before she realized that it was Bess Marvin.

"What do you think?" Bess asked as they set their trays on the table and sat down. She turned her head right and left. Where once her long blonde hair had brushed the middle of her back, now it barely covered the back of her neck.

"I think it looks great," Nancy said after a moment of studying her. "It makes your eyes really stand out." Bess's cornflower blue eyes had always been one of her best features, but now they dominated her face.

"It just might take some getting used to," George said slowly. "What did Aunt Anna say?"

"Mom went with me. I wanted someone along to make sure I didn't chicken out after deciding on it," Bess answered as she picked up her drink. "You wouldn't believe how much time I save, now that I don't have to figure out what to do with my hair."

George laughed. "I could, actually. So, do you actually save time or just spend more time doing your makeup now?" she teased.

Bess stuck out her tongue.

Nancy giggled. Some things never changed, and the cousins' friendly bickering was one of them.

But some things did change. Finding time to spend with each other was becoming more difficult, when they had to factor work, study, and guys in. Nancy found herself missing the days when they had walked home from school together, or spent entire weekends just lazing around one of their houses.

Now, George was working for a youth offenders program that emphasized outdoors activities, after two summers of working at a traditional youth camp. It fit well with her studies at the university in criminal justice. The only drawback was that the camp was an hour and a half away.

Bess found herself working a lot of Saturdays, especially with the summer wedding season. She had surprised everyone who knew her by thriving on working sixty-hour weeks, although Bess laughed it off as getting paid to go to parties. It sounded a little frivolous, but in addition to her skill for coordinating outfits and parties, Bess had a knack for putting people at ease. It was an invaluable talent for a wedding coordinator.

Nancy had her own job eating into her free time, not to mention the one summer class she was doing online. She was also looking at law schools and the requirements, and finding some time to get some exercise. She had become used to running and working out with her roommate, Reese, and she didn't want to fall behind.

So when they did get together lately, it was always time to play catch-up on all the important things – work, their dating lives, and plans. They had been chatting for a few minutes when the subject turned to Nancy's weekend trip.

"So, Nancy, how was your vacation?" Bess asked.

"Pretty good, actually. Dad brought his girlfriend along to introduce to everyone."

"Everyone?" George said curiously.

"The Hardy family. My Aunt Eloise. It was a pretty cozy weekend."

"How's Joe doing?" Bess had something of a soft spot for the younger Hardy brother. They were two of a kind – blonde and charming, solidly loyal and quick-thinking, good at improvisation and distraction. The two of them had never really seriously hooked up, but they had definitely flirted with the idea.

"Good. Single again, working on a nice tan."

"How's Frank doing?" George asked after a moment.

"Good." Nancy leaned back in her chair, deciding to drop her bombshell. "Working on his tan, but not single," she replied with a smile.

There was a moment of perfect silence at their table. Bess was frozen in place, a statue of a young woman preparing to drink her diet soda. George stared at her for a moment before a smile broke out over her face.

Nancy calmly speared a piece of chicken from her salad, popped it in her mouth.

"So, spill the details. What happened?" Bess said.

"We had a long talk while we were there. I knew he'd broken things off with Callie, but I hadn't told him about breaking up with Ned. We were trying to have the talk the first night, but Joe interrupted us just as Frank was about to kiss me." Nancy paused to take another bite of salad.

"It's about time," Bess muttered.

"So… you're dating?" George asked.

"Long distance," Nancy said with a nod.

"Sooo," Bess said with a sly smile," On a scale from one to ten…"

"Definitely a ten," Nancy replied with a warm smile, thinking of their goodbye kiss and the feeling of his arms around her.

"You don't even know what I was going to ask," Bess said with a giggle.

"Oh yes, we do," George teased. She turned to Nancy. "So when are you going to see him again?"

"Three weeks," Nancy answered. "We're going to meet in Chicago for the weekend."

Bess grinned. "Now, George," she said as she turned to her cousin, "there must be some cute counselors at this camp…"

---- ---- ----