swirled a fry in ketchup. “You denying any of that?”
“Yes.”
“Which part?”
“I’m not kind. I’m...oh, I suppose I’m mostly a decent person. I mean, I don’t go out of my way to slap people down. But I don’t go out of my way to extend a helping hand, either.” She glared as if to say, How dare you put that label on me?
Seth didn’t let himself smile. “We’ll see,” was all he said.
Her eyes narrowed, but she abruptly shifted gears. “You said my... Karen was a teacher. Elementary or high school or what?”
“Kindergarten.”
Looking stricken, she breathed, “Oh.”
“You were about to start first grade.”
“How...awful.”
“That’s safe to say.”
He stayed quiet, letting her process what he guessed was a real hit: her first true understanding of what losing her had done to them, the couple she didn’t want to say were her parents.
“And Eve? Do you know what she does?” She tilted her head. “Of course you do, since you had a relationship.”
“Calling what we had a relationship is a stretch.” He tried to sound mild. Easier because he and Eve had never made it to bed. Thank God they hadn’t. He’d known she was willing and, at first, he’d fully intended to take her up on it. And why not?
He had a sharp, unsettling realization. I saw Hope’s face, the woman she would be if she had lived to grow up. That’s why not. God. Eve had had good reason to resent his sudden, obsessive interest in the sister who must have haunted that house. Today, he’d had trouble making himself meet her eyes. He hoped she hadn’t noticed the way he was looking at Bailey.
He grimaced. Yeah, what were the odds of that? Of course she’d noticed.
“What’s that face you’re making?” Bailey looked wary. “You don’t want to tell me what she does for a living. Why?”
“No, I don’t mind telling you. I had a passing thought, that’s all.” An epiphany. “She’s a social worker with DSHS. Washington State Department of Social and Health Services. She oversees kids who are dependents of the court.”
“Foster children,” Bailey said slowly.
“Some of them. Some she supervises in their own homes, making sure the families are showing up for counseling, keeping their kids clean, not abusing them.”
She gave a funny laugh. “I suppose she majored in psychology.”
“I don’t know. She has a master’s degree in social work from UW.”
“And me, I still have another year just to get my BA.”
“Bailey.” He waited until she was looking at him. “She’s a year younger than you, but she had advantages you didn’t. She had parents who put her through college. She didn’t have to earn her own way. She had support.”
After a moment, she nodded.
“You do have something in common. She lived in foster homes for several years before your parents took her in. All I know is that her mother died, but I don’t get the feeling her life was any picnic before that, either.”
“So on that watershed day, the seesaw flipped.” And she sounded flippant when he knew she felt anything but.
“You know it isn’t that simple.”
“Kinda seems that way.”
“It was three more years before your parents took in Eve.”
She scowled. “I wish you’d quit calling them that.”
“Your parents? Why? They are.”
“Were.”
“Ah.”
The scowl morphed into a glower. “What’s that mean?”
He gave into impulse and took her hand again. “It means I get it.”
“Does it mean you’ll quit calling them that?” She tugged to get her hand free, but half-heartedly.
“I’ll try,” he said. “No guarantee.”
“Great,” she muttered.
He smiled, squeezed her hand and let it go. “Hey, you want dessert?”
“Are their pies as good as they look?”
“Why do you think I come here?”
He hadn’t seen many of her smiles yet, but he especially liked this one.
“Of course I want dessert.” She pushed away her plate, only a few fries uneaten. “I don’t suppose you’d like to have breakfast with us tomorrow.”
Despite the tone that said, Of course I’m not serious, he felt a glow of warmth beneath his breastbone. She might deny it, but she wanted him at her side in the morning.
“I wasn’t invited,” he pointed out.
“I noticed.” She sighed. “And I know I have to do this. It’s just...” After a moment she shrugged. “Will you think I’m even more of a coward if I confess I hope your Eve isn’t there?”
“Not my Eve,” he said curtly, then frowned at his own vehemence. Damn, he had to call Eve. “And no, I don’t blame you. I doubt she will be. She’ll understand they want time with you. To get to know you, and...” He hesitated.
“Stare at me?”
His mouth quirked. “Probably. I was going to say, to rejoice.”
“Fine,” she finally said. But then she looked at him, dead serious. “Will you be masterminding the press conference?”
“Yes.”
“Can we, um, talk about it?”
“Yeah.” He waited until they’d both ordered pie and the waitress was walking away before he took her hand again. “Here’s the plan.”
She held on tight.
“I OWE YOU an apology for yesterday. I mean, for bolting the way I did,” Bailey said first thing the next morning, after arriving at the Lawsons’ house.
Kirk looked at her kindly. “We understood.”
He had a good face, craggy
