The Witness

have anything to do about it,” she told Brooks with a wide grin. “Weddings flow from the bride.”
    “Fine with me.”
    “I know this wonderful bridal boutique down in Little Rock,” Mya continued.
    “White Wedding,” Seline put it. “It
is
wonderful. I found my dress there.”
    “What we need to do is take a day, all us girls, go down there, check it out, have lunch, brainstorm. I’ll have to check my calendar.” Myadug out her phone, began to swipe screens. “Maybe we can set it up for next week.”
    “Next week,” Abigail managed.
    “You always were a bossypants.” Sunny sat back, sipping a margarita. “That’s one of the things we love about her, Abigail, but it takes some getting used to. Why don’t you give her a few days, Mya, to get settled in to being engaged?”
    “I am bossy.” Mya laughed and tossed back her hair when her husband snorted into his beer. “And when we’re sisters? I’ll be even worse.”
    “She means it,” Sybill said.
    Abigail heard the quiet hum of the vibrating phone in Brooks’s pocket. When she looked down, he eased it out, checked the display. “Sorry, need to take this.” His eyes met hers briefly as he stood up, walked some distance off.
    It seemed surreal. Mya continued to talk about wedding boutiques, flowers, and plated meals or buffets, and all the while Brooks talked to Anson about decisions that would put her life on the line.
    Like the snowball again, she thought, rolling, rolling, growing, picking up weight and mass until it took the mountain with it.
    No stopping it now, she reminded herself. She was committed to pushing through.
    “Are you all right?” Sybill asked her.
    “Yes. Yes, I’m fine. It’s just a little overwhelming.”
    “And it’s just getting started.”
    “It is.” Abigail glanced over at Brooks. “It’s started.”
    Brooks walked back, laid a hand on her shoulder. “Sorry, I have to take care of this.”
    “Go be a cop, then,” Mya advised. “We can drop Abigail home on our way.”
    “Oh.” For an instant, Abigail’s mind went blank. “Thank you, but I really need to get home to some work I left pending.”
    “Then I’ll call you tomorrow, or e-mail you. E-mail might be better, I can send you some links. Just give me your—”
    “Mya.” Sunny arched her eyebrows. “What happened to those few days to settle?”
    “All right, all right. I can’t help it if I was born to plan and organize parties. You e-mail me when you’re settled.” Grabbing a paper napkin, Mya wrote down her e-mail address.
    Abigail had a feeling it would take more than a few days. “I will. Thank you so much for the afternoon.”
    “Abigail.” Sunny crossed to her, hugged her hard, and whispered, “Don’t worry. I’ll run interference with Mya for a week or two.”
    It took some time. Apparently, people didn’t just say good-bye at a barbecue. They hugged, or stretched out a conversation, made future plans, played with the dog. Even called out and waved once you got as far as the car.
    “Before you tell me what Captain Anson said, I want to say your family is …”
    “Loud, pushy?”
    “No. Well, yes, but that’s not what I want to say. Affectionate. Naturally so. I understand you better now, for having spent the afternoon with them. Your mother … Don’t feel sorry for me. I don’t like it.”
    “Okay.”
    “Your mother put her arm around my shoulders. It was just a careless gesture. I doubt she gave it a thought, and has done the same, countless times, to others. But when she did that, to me, I felt—I thought—So this is what a mother does. She touches you, or holds you, just because. For no important reason. And then I thought, If there are children, I want to learn to be the kind of mother who can touch or hold without thinking, and for no important reason. I hope I have the chance to do that.”
    “You will.”
    “Anson talked with the FBI.”
    “For most of the day. His take is, initially, at least, they’d hoped to do an end run around him, get to you. But he stuck with the out-of-left-field contact. They were careful what they passed on to him, but he’s dead sure they’ll be doing some surveillance on Cosgrove and Keegan.”
    “Does he think they believed my story?”
    “You’d laid it out, step-by-step, right down to what John said to you. And now you’ve been this very valuable source over the last couple years. Why would you lie about Cosgrove and Keegan?”
    “It wouldn’t be