She heard someone unlock the back door. “Jane?”
It was Skye. She’d arrived before Ava and Sheridan.
Excited to see the person who’d saved her life and then helped her through the darkest period of it, Jane went to the reception area to greet her. Most of the volunteers had already left for the day, but there were two in Sheridan’s office, finishing up a big fundraising mailer. They poked their heads out to say hi, but when they went back to work, Jane and Skye stepped into the conference room for a few minutes alone.
“It’s about time you came back,” Jane said. “It’s so great to see you.”
“It’s good to be here.” After a tight hug, Skye held Jane at arm’s length. “You look fabulous.”
“Stop it,” Jane said, laughing. “It’s only been a couple of weeks since you saw me. I look the same.”
“No, you look better.” She lowered her voice. “You must have your groove back.”
“Hi, everyone.” Ava peered into the conference room before Jane could respond. “Where’s Sheridan?”
“She’s not here yet,” Jane told her.
“Darn. I can’t wait to see the baby.” She turned to speak to the volunteers who’d once again come out to the reception area to say hello, then did a double-take when she focused on Jane again. “Wow, you look great!”
Exasperated, Jane rolled her eyes. “That’s crazy. I don’t know what you guys are talking about.”
Skye leaned close to Ava so the volunteers, who were already returning to work, wouldn’t hear. “Don’t let her fool you. She’s got her groove back.”
“That has to be it,” Ava agreed as she took the chair next to Skye. “I heard about your new man.”
They peppered her with questions until Sheridan arrived, and after that, the baby drew all the attention. Relieved to be out of the spotlight, Jane sat through the meeting, listening but adding little. She didn’t tell them about her case, didn’t mention wanting to take on more. She was reluctant to do anything that would make the meeting last longer. They’d be in tomorrow, and the day after that and the day after that-there’d be plenty of time to discuss everything that had gone on during their absences.
Although she loved seeing them all, she was glad when they left. One volunteer remained behind, a high-school boy named Rick who was trying to finish up the mailer, but he wasn’t planning on staying much longer. Neither was she. She had just one more meeting; her domestic-abuse victim would be in shortly.
Then she could go home to Kate and Sebastian.
Sebastian had come to California to catch a killer-and found a second family. As he sat at the pizza parlor with Kate, listening to her talk about her day and her friends and how badly she wanted a dog, he could hardly believe that so much had changed, and so fast! For the past twelve months, he’d been consumed with the thirst for revenge. In fact, he’d feared that if he ever found Malcolm, he’d become a killer himself. He’d almost welcomed it.
But he didn’t feel like that anymore. He’d do the right thing because that was the only way he could protect Jane and Kate from suffering more than they already had. If he didn’t, he couldn’t be part of their lives.
“Leonard asked me to go out with him today,” Kate said, acting shocked that this boy could have so much audacity.
Sebastian hid a smile. He could see himself back in seventh grade, thinking Kate was cute, maybe even working up the nerve to see if she might like him. He’d never been particularly shy. “Where did he want you to go?” he asked, taking the question literally on purpose.
She shook her head. “No, that just means…you know, that we’d be together.”
He nodded. “Right. You’d go out together. But where?”
“Stop it!” she giggled. “You know, he’d be my boyfriend.”
“Oh! I see. So he won’t be borrowing his folks’ car and taking you to the movies or anything.”
“No, silly.”
“That’s good, because he has to be at least thirteen before I’d ever let you ride with him.” The words were out of his mouth before he realized how fatherly they sounded, but she didn’t seem to mind.
“Thirteen?” she echoed.
“And only if he can grow a mustache by then.”
She continued to laugh. “Boys can’t grow a mustache at thirteen.”
“Then you’d better tell him no.”
“Really? You want me to say no?” She nibbled the crust of her second piece of pizza.
It was hard for him to imagine that any boy could be worthy of her, but he figured he was being overprotective again. “That’d be my initial reaction. But I don’t know him,” he said. “What do you think?”
“He’s kinda cute.”
“Okay. I guess you could say yes-” Sebastian pushed his plate away “-if he’s willing to speak to me about his intentions.”
She giggled again. “You’re funny.”
He sobered as she pushed her plate away, too. “And you’re going to have a whole string of boys who’ll want to go out with you. Unless you really want to say yes, I say, what’s the rush?”
“There is another boy I’d rather go out with.”
“Then give him a chance, okay?” He slid from the booth. “You ready to go?”
“I’m ready.” She took a final sip of her soda.
“That stuff’ll kill ya, you know.”
“I know, I know. My mom tells me that all the time,” she grumbled and started out ahead of him.
Sebastian caught a glimpse of himself in the glass as they walked toward the exit. Damn, he’d let his hair get long. “Hey, you don’t know where I could get my hair trimmed while we wait for your mom, do you?”
She paused at the door. “Mom’s a haircutter. She can do it. She does my hair.”
“And it looks nice, but-” he checked his watch “-it’s only six. She said her appointment would take about half an hour. In the meantime, I thought I might as well get cleaned up.” He winked. “I want her to think I’m handsome, you know.”
The blush that tinged Kate’s cheeks nearly made Sebastian burst out laughing. Kate’s personality was entirely different from Colton’s, but she possessed the same innocent charm. “I bet she already thinks you’re handsome,” she confided.