Lory had gotten a nice new sailing dress just for the occasion. She’d been dreading seeing her Uncle Ben in a boat, the one lone disgraced Ward … but Alice came!

“Alice!” she sang in answer to Christine, shifting her weight to steady the boat as she jumped on. “Chéri! This is Alice,” she nodded enthusiastically to the only other redhead aboard. “She is my smartest-” she tapped her temple and pointed at Alice, “-cousin!”

There was a mischievous smile when Alice introduced herself by her maiden name.