I turned away from him and put my bowl in the sink.
“Women talk! Ha!” I said. “You boys are the biggest gossips I’ve ever met.”
Vance jumped off the counter and leaned into me to put his bowl next to mine. “You ever do a shift in the surveil ance room, you’l understand. Gotta have something to break the monotony.”
I turned to him. “Wel , break it with something else. I don’t want to make an enemy of Lee.”
His arms slid around me. “That’s not gonna happen.” His face came close to mine. “The cherry poppin’ conversation in your living room was the topic of conversation for days.
Mace taped it and played it for the whole team.” I was back to staring at him with my mouth open and I think my heart stopped beating. “Look at this as your way of getting even,” he finished.
“That’s it!” I declared. “No cookies for Mace. I don’t care if he did beat someone up for me.”
I felt Vance’s body move against mine with laughter. Stil laughing, he touched my lips with his own and said, “Gotta go.”
“Fine,” I grumbled.
He grinned, ignoring my grumble. “I get done in time, I’l make dinner.”
“Fine,” I was stil not over the fact that the cherry popping conversation was taped and used for the Nightingale Investigation Team’s amusement. Then another thought struck me. “If Dawn ever sees that tape –” The laughter went out of his eyes. “Dawn is never gonna see that tape.”
At that, I smiled.
Vance smiled back, grabbed the cookies and then he was gone.
Then I remembered something and, probably too late, I yel ed, “Don’t forget! No cookies for Mace!” I heard the backdoor slam.
*
That afternoon stil with no sign of my monthly visitor, who always came on time and was never late, I cal ed Vance (though, not to give him a progress report on my monthly visitor). “Yeah?” he answered.
“Hey,” I said.
“I was just gonna cal you,” he told me.
“You making dinner?” I asked.
“Don’t think so, I’m in New Mexico.” My body went stil and Vance kept talking. “I’m after a skip.” I didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t often that you were standing in your kitchen in Denver with someone, calmly eating Cream of Wheat in the morning and in the afternoon, without warning, they were in New Mexico.
“Jules?”
“I… okay,” I said.
“You al right with this?”
“Um, sure,” I lied. I was freaking out; do not ask me why I just was.
“Trail’s hot. It won’t take long.”
I didn’t want to sound like a clingy, stalker, psycho bitch-from-hel but I didn’t know what to say at that moment that wouldn’t sound like a clingy, stalker, psycho bitch-from-hel .
So I stayed silent.
“I’m off tomorrow. Do you want to spend the night at the cabin? I’l meet you there.”
I shook my head and said, “No, I think I’l cal the girls, see if they want to go out after I talk with Heavy, Zip and Frank.”
“I’l come to your place when I’m done with this.” That at least made me feel better.
“Okay.”
It was Vance’s turn to be silent.
“Vance?”
“You’re not okay with this,” he said.
“It’s what you do,” I told him as if he didn’t know.
“Yeah.”
“I’l get used to it.”
Silence.
“You just surprised me.”
More silence.
“New Mexico is only one state away. It isn’t like you’re al of a sudden in New Zealand.”
More silence.
“Though, I’ve always wanted to go to New Zealand. I’ve heard it’s beautiful there and the people are nice.” More silence.
“I should probably take Roam to a beach during my next vacation so he can learn how to surf.”
“Jules?” Vance final y spoke.
“Yeah?”
“Shut up.”
I smiled.
*
I’d spent some time in the rec room with the kids and was walking down the hal on my way back to the office when I turned my head and looked in the window to the blue room. With the tutor Stu, sat Roam, Sniff and Clarice. I kept walking a few paces and then stopped dead. Then I walked backwards and looked into the room.
My eyes were not deceiving me, sitting in the room with Roam, Sniff and the tutor was Clarice.
Before they could see me, I kept walking.
Clarice had never gone to a tutoring session. Andy was working with her but she was a no-go. Tough-as-nails and out on the street nearly as long as Roam had been. I thought she only came to the Shelter to watch television, get a decent meal and brag about her shoplifting escapades.
Now she was working with Stu.
That was a mini-miracle. And the mini-miracle worker was Daisy.
When I got to my desk, I flipped open my phone and cal ed Daisy.
“Hey Sugar, what’s up?” Daisy answered.
“Vance is after a skip,” I told her. “He’s in New Mexico.
Thought maybe, if you’re not busy, you might want to go out and get some drinks, maybe dinner.”
“I’l have to check with my husband.”