“Wel , I can’t,” I pointed out.

“You can, Jet. These are your friends. Do you think they’re out here for thril s?”

I looked back over Eddie’s shoulder and took in Al y and Tex. Al y and the black guy were leaning on the Mustang and talking. Tex was obviously impatient and scowling back and forth between Indy and Lee and Eddie and me like he was watching an annoying tennis match.

My heart clenched and I got that strange pleasant feeling, like the one that kept coming at me during my Eddie Date.

“I think they’re partially out here for thril s,” I tried to cover up how moved I was by this show of support.

When I looked at Eddie again I saw the dimple was out.

“I expect you’d be right about that.”

I decided to change the subject. “Who’s the black guy?”

“Mi otro hermano. Darius. We al grew up together.”

“He doesn’t come into Fortnum’s. Is he a cop too?” Everyone in Eddie, Lee and Indy’s circle were cops, private investigators or crazy people. Darius didn’t look crazy so I took a wild guess.

“Drug dealer,” Eddie said like he would say “shoe salesman”.

I stared at him.

“Real y?” I breathed.

He nodded.

“Why don’t you bust him?” I asked.

The dimple was back, this time with a ful -fledged smile.

“I don’t bust him because he’s my brother.” Eddie’s arms tightened around me and his head dipped down, “It’s a long story. I’l tel you sometime when we’re not yel in’ at each other, sleepin’ or fending off our nutcase families.” My bel y curled.

“Okay,” was al I could think to say.

He watched me for a beat. “Can I trust you not to go after your Dad?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Does that nod mean I can trust you or you’d rather not lie out loud?”

I couldn’t help it, he figured me out, so I smiled at him.

His eyes warmed.

“I could fal in love with that smile,” he murmured as if he was talking to himself and I wasn’t even there.

My entire body froze.

He felt it, his lips turned up at the corners, then he touched them to mine.

Then he said, “One thing at a time.”

“How did your date go with Eddie?”

Mom had heard the key in the lock and was standing in the middle of the hal way waiting for me after Duke brought me home.

“It was a little… weird,” I said and walked by her and into the house. “I met his Mom.”

“You met his Mom! Oh… my… God. That’s great!” I dropped my purse on the couch and decided to change the subject and not tel her I’d also met most of his family too. She’d start cal ing florists and churches.

“What are you doing out of your chair?” I asked.

She walked in, her left arm dangling useless, her gait unsteady but she looked al right, even though it was getting late in the day.

“I’m feelin’ good. I also did two loads of laundry and cleared the dishwasher.”

I smiled. I couldn’t help it. This was great news.

She smiled back. She knew it was great news.

“Did the mechanic cal about my car?”

“Nope, but you would not believe what happened last night. We had some excitement. The police cal ed up and said there was a flasher in the building. They wanted to know if Trixie and I saw him. We didn’t but we sure as hel went lookin’ for him.”

I started laughing, knowing this was the buzz-up that Eddie arranged and I began to feel a little less stressed out.

I had nearly a thousand dol ars in my purse from tips, Smithie’s generosity and Lavonne’s check. Not to mention, it was payday from both Smithie’s and Fortnum’s. Mom was getting around better and I had friends looking out for me. Eddie was going to figure out what to do about Dad and I’d had some good sleep this week. I was beginning to feel I could take on the world. Or, at least the next week.

Usual y, I was barely able to cope with the next hour.

I laid down for awhile, took a shower and Lenny phoned tel ing me he was my ride.

I swung into Smithie’s on time for the second time in a week.

“Once is a miracle, twice means pigs are flyin’,” Smithie said when he saw me, “You got your shit sorted out?” he asked, putting my apron on the bar with another envelope of tips.

“Not yet but I’m working on it,” I gave him my coat and purse.

Smithie looked at Lenny.

“She’s not five feet away from you the whole night. Got me?”

Lenny nodded.

“Good, now get to work.”

It was Friday and Fridays were always packed at Smithie’s seeing as they were payday. Payday also meant the boys felt generous, which meant decent tips. With two good nights this week and a shift on Saturday, if my car didn’t cost me a fortune to fix, I might even be getting ahead.

Half an hour before closing, I felt a hand on my shoulder and then Lenny materialized by my side.

“No hands, big man,” Lenny said.

I heard Tex’s booming laugh and turned around, dislodging the beefy hand. “He thinks he can take me.” Tex’s voice was amused.

“It’s okay, Lenny. He’s a friend.” Lenny drifted away, his eyes stil on us and I turned to Tex, “What’re you doin’

here?”

“I’m gonna be speakin’ to Indy, get you girls some uniforms just like that for Fortnum’s. We’d al retire in a year.”

Wonderful. At this rate, everyone was going to see me in my Smithie’s uniform.

I pretended I was going to bat him with the tray and he pretended to cower. Then he answered me.

“Chavez cal ed. He’s caught up in something that sounds like jen-you-ine police work. He asked me to pick you up.

Said he’d see you tomorrow.”

I felt an immediate sense of disappointment. Then I felt the need to pretend I didn’t feel disappointed. I smiled brightly at Tex.

“It’l be awhile,” I told him.

“Not like there’s nothin’ to do,” he said and wandered toward the bar, his eyes on the stage.

I worked the end of the shift and helped set up for the next day. I didn’t realize how relieved I was that nothing happened until I handed my cashed out apron to Smithie.

“I must be goin’ fuckin’ crazy. I’m actual y disappointed that my joint didn’t descend into pandemonium because of your shit,” Smithie said to me.