“Oh, my God, finally!” Desiree said when their exit ramp appeared. “It feels like we’ve been driving for days!”

“We?” her brother scoffed. “All you did was change the radio station, screw with the heat settings, and get chip crumbs all over the upholstery.

Desiree shrugged. “It’s a jeep. Take the top off and let the wind blow the crumbs off.”

He gave her a dirty look, but Desiree simply smiled complacently at him. “So... what’re you gonna tell your girlfriend?”

“Oh, that’s real subtle,” Reese snorted.

“Well, she’s probably not going to be too pleased that you’re suddenly hanging around with a new chick.”

“She’s seen pictures of you,” Reese said thoughtfully. “I think we may have to let her in on the secret.”

“You’re just afraid she’ll be jealous.”

“Look,” he said, “I know this is tough, but we can trust Jenny. She’s going to be a part of this family in six months. I think it’s better if we’re just up front with her.”

“Uh huh,” Desiree said. “I don’t know. I think we should ask mom and dad.”

“Oh, you want to tattle on me now?” he teased.

“This isn’t a joke to me, Reese,” Desiree said. “I’m going to dye my hair, I’m going to change my name, I’m giving up all my friends and everything so that I can start my life over.”

“Just until the trial.”

“They haven’t caught the guy,” she sighed.

“What?” Reese was so surprised he nearly ran a stop sign. They both jerked forward, caught by the seatbelts as he slammed on the brakes. “What do mean? I thought mom said...”

“Nope. No trial on the docket. Nothing at all for me to do but hide. Possibly for a few years,” she said, “Possibly forever.”

“No. Not forever,” Reese said, contemplating. “Forever? Like, seriously?”

“I told you, this whole thing is a total nightmare, Reese,” Desiree said. “Why do you think Mom went to so much trouble to fake my death and get me all new fake IDs?”

“Whoa, Mom got you fake IDs?”

The car behind them honked bringing Reese back to his current position as a driver. He turned right and drove onward toward his apartment, chewing his lip.

“So...” he said after a moment, “what’s your new name going to be?”

“Sarah,” she said. “Sarah Jean Browning.”

“Sarah Jean Browning,” he repeated. “Let me guess, Mom picked the last name?”

“I only picked Sarah,” Desiree said. “’Cause it sounds a little like Desiree. I hope it’ll be easy to remember.”

Reese nodded. “Okay, so then, what should we tell Jenny?”

“I don’t know,” Sarah sighed. “Could we tell her I’m your cousin and you’re helping me find a job?”

“Uh, yeah, that could work,” he said slowly. “I told her I was going to see Mom about a family issue and that I’d explain when I knew all the details. So yeah, we can say you’re my cousin Sarah, and that after my sister died, you wanted to get away because you two were such good friends or something.”

“Hey, yeah, that’s good,” Desiree said enthusiastically.

“And then... yeah... Mom, Mom asked me to take you under my wing,” Reese said as the ideas came to him. “And that you wanted to go to college to become a dental hygienist.”

“What?!” Desiree interrupted. “I do not want to look at people’s nasty teeth all day!”

Reese looked at her with disgust. “You know, Jenny’s a dental hygienist. I don’t think it would hurt you to suck up to her.”

Desiree made a disgruntled noise, but said, “Fine. Okay, I will tell her I’m thinking of going into dental hygiene, but I swear, you better let me change majors after the first semester.”

Reese laughed. “Fine. Whatever. Just make sure you make friends with Jenny, okay? She’s going to be your sister in law. Cousin in law? Whatever. Just be nice.”

“Oh, brother, of course I will be!” she said. “I promise you, Reese, Jenny and I are going to be the best of friends by the time the wedding rolls around.”

“Good,” he said, fixing a serious look on her, “you better, because next to you and Mom, Jenny’s the most important girl in my life.”

“Aw,” Desiree grinned. “Save that sweet talk for your hygienist.”