“Yes, it was. It was for Jordan too, although mostly he’s concerned about Evan.”

“Sure, right.” Curt had been relieved that both Evan and Courtney were negotiating plea deals to a whole list of charges, since circumstances had shown that they had voluntarily and completely renounced their participation in the conspiracy.

“School is just now getting back to normal.”

“Did you ever get a new job?”

“Actually, yes. I start at ValleyCo as an administrative assistant next week.”

“That’s wonderful!” Curt thought he heard a softening in her voice, or maybe he imagined it. “Well, I was wondering if you ever wanted to have dinner with me.”

“Why would I do that?” Heather asked coldly, which gave him his answer. It had been a terrible idea, calling her. He had lost her, as he feared. But he couldn’t ignore his feelings for her. He’d been thinking about her all the time and he wanted to give it his best shot.

“Heather, I really liked meeting you and getting to know you, and I have more of a normal life now.”

“I have to think about it,” Heather interrupted. “I’m not sure that’s something I want to do.”

“I understand,” Curt said, disappointed, and the sad part was, he really did understand, completely.

“Now, excuse me, I have to go. I have something on the stove.”

“Sure, but can I give you a call again in a few days?”

“Try a month,” Heather said, hanging up.

Curt hung up, defeated.

Luckily, he had a Plan B.

Chapter Sixty-three

Curt waited a month to put Plan B into action, wanting to show Heather that he respected her wishes. He put the time to good use, hammering out his job description with a ridiculous number of bureaucrats and filling out a ton of paperwork, and serving as the de facto assistant to the new head of Philadelphia Field Division, the Rabbi himself, David Levitz. Curt couldn’t have been happier that the Rabbi had finally received the promotion he deserved, and they were both delighted that Alek had gotten kicked upstairs to JTTF, never to be heard from again. At least until the next terrorist attack, which gave them an ulterior motive to keep the country safe.

Curt couldn’t look out the window since the shades were down. Central Valley was finally returning to normal, and the story had just begun to fade from the headlines. He turned down the requests for interviews, as well as offers of movie and book deals. Evan and Courtney had begun serving their sentences—Courtney for twelve years, and Evan for five.

Curt had spoken with Raz, who was doing better than ever, taking over Evan’s position as catcher for Jordan, who was pitching a winning season for the Musketeers. Curt had even gone to a game, and Coach Hardwick had greeted him with a completely unexpected bear hug, thanking Curt for his service and inviting him to come to practice anytime he wanted—even if he had to come late. Curt and Jordan texted each other all the time, and Jordan had helped arrange this date tonight. Or at least, what Curt had hoped would be a date.

“Mr. Abbott, can I get you anything besides the water?” the waitress asked, hovering over him with a smile.

“No, thank you.” Curt smiled back, having gotten used to being sociable, as a matter of necessity. He’d met more people in the past month than he’d met in his entire life. He couldn’t remember the last drink he’d bought himself and he wasn’t complaining. Everywhere he went, people shook his hand, thanked him, and wanted a selfie with him. It was forcing him to come out of his shell, and Curt was learning that he actually liked the people he had sworn to protect.

In fact, his fame was one of the reasons that he’d been granted this favor tonight. He’d asked the restaurant to close to everyone except him and Heather, because he knew that if the regular crowd were here, they wouldn’t get a private moment. He’d offered to pay for shutting down the place, but they’d done it as a personal favor, living up to their name.

Friendly’s.

Curt checked his watch. It was 6:30, and according to Jordan, this was the exact time that Heather would be coming home from her new job and heading into the kitchen to start dinner. He couldn’t look out the window so he didn’t know if she was coming. They’d closed the shades so no one would see that he was inside, and he kept them closed. He had asked Friendly’s to take down the usual promotion on their sign in favor of something special, and he wondered if Heather had read it yet:

H, PLEASE MEET ME HERE FOR DINNER TONIGHT? CURT

Curt checked the table to make sure everything was in place. He’d brought a bag of Chips Ahoy, two bottles of water, and two nice glasses. He’d also bought a bouquet of a dozen long-stemmed red roses in a clear glass vase, but when he’d gotten here, he realized that the color of the flowers inadvertently matched Friendly’s logo. He’d messed that up, but okay. He was new at romance, and it wasn’t easy. On the contrary, it was easier to hang upside down from a helo.

Curt sipped his water, trying not to be nervous, a new sensation for him. He’d met a lot of nice, smart, and attractive women in the past month, and he’d gotten plenty of fan mail, emails, and photos from them. He was red-blooded enough to look at the photos, but none of the women appealed to him like Heather. She was nice, smart, and attractive in a way that felt real to him, and he couldn’t explain it any better than that. If she felt the same way, she would be walking through the door in the next few minutes.

So far, no luck.

Curt felt his heart beat faster, giving him a tingle that he’d never experienced before. He never thought he could get a tingle from anything but his job, but that was about adrenaline. This time, it was about emotion. About feelings that went to the core of who he was, flowing to and from his heart, like the very blood that gave him life. He was only just now finding out who he really was, meeting new people and trying a new job, but he wanted to go deeper than that. He wanted to be the man he was meant to be, for himself, and for Heather and Jordan. Maybe he could be a husband and father. Maybe he could have a family, with an overweight dog of his own.

Curt looked up, and his mouth went dry when he saw the door opening and Heather walking in with a surprised smile. She looked adorable with her hair down, wearing a blue dress, and when she met his gaze, her eyes smiled at him, too. With real happiness.