"Almost five now."

"And he doesn't even know you?"

She pressed her lips tight. "It's better that way."

He sighed. "Wouldn't you like to see him, Ang? I mean, not to tell him who you are or anything but just to look at him from a distance, you know? Wouldn't you like that?"

She blinked rapidly because tears welled. "It hurts too much to see him. He's better off without me messing up his life, Vinnie. And seeing him just makes it harder."

He shook his head. "I think you need to see him. I think you're going to." He nodded his head firmly. "Yeah. You're gonna see him. You're gonna do it for me."

She closed her eyes, knowing she would do whatever Vinnie told her to do, but even so, she knew it would be almost too painful to bear.

Vinnie glanced into the back seat, and Ang followed his gaze. She felt sorry for the man who lay back there. Vinnie had wrapped the duct tape awfully tight around his wrists and his ankles and his head so it covered his mouth. She didn't know how Vinnie got him to meet a hundred miles from Big Falls along a deserted stretch of road in the middle of the night, but as Vinnie was constantly telling her, she didn't need to know every little thing. He'd made a phone call, and two hours later the man was there and Vinnie was ordering him around at gunpoint.

He looked miserable back there, face red, hands turning almost blue, eyes watering. "It'll be all right," she told him. "We'll be there soon."

Chapter 5.

Kara had catalogues spread out on the dining room table and was trying very hard to focus on her excitement over her new business. Unfortunately she was failing. Despite the child-size furniture, swing sets, sandboxes and various educational toys and games lining the pages in full vivid color, she couldn't seem to focus on anything but her impending dinner with Jimmy Corona and his adorable son.

She'd been focused on that all day and was still no closer to knowing how she should approach the evening. As a date? It felt more like a nerve-jangling audition.

"I'd rule out that mini trampoline, sis. Too dangerous."

Kara looked up to see Selene looking over her shoulder at the catalogues. She smiled up at her and tried not to let her inner turmoil show too much, though hiding emotions from Selene was next to impossible. "There's this big room on the ground floor with double doors that open into the backyard. That's going to be the main focus. I want to make it almost magical for the kids. But educational and safe, too."

Selene nodded, pushing her silvery blond hair behind her shoulders and crossing the kitchen to the large range. She flipped on a burner, set the teapot on. "I'm making tea. You want a cup?"

"Sure. What kind?"

"Chamomile. You're a nervous wreck." She said it with a quick glance over her shoulder and a wink. "I looked for you in your room. Looks like a fashion show exploded in there."

Kara rolled her eyes. "I was trying to decide what to wear to dinner tonight."

Selene took two china cups from the cupboard, dropped a pair of her homemade teabags into them, then turned to face Kara. "I guess that depends. Is it a date or just a casual thing?"

Kara thinned her lips. "I wish I knew. I mean, I guess it can't really be a date date, since Ty will be there."

"Oh, that doesn't mean much." Selene lowered her head. "Edie said Jimmy kissed you this morning."

Kara stood up, bumping her chair back so the legs scraped noisily over the floor.

"Relax, sis. You know you can't keep a secret in this family. So what kind of kiss was it?"

"What...what kind of kiss?"

"Yeah. You know, was it a peck or a slow, dreamy kiss? Or maybe a hot and hungry one? Was your mouth open a little? Any tongue involved?"

"Good grief, Selene, knock it off." Kara sank back into her chair and pressed her palms to her hot cheeks.

Selene giggled and turned to the now-steaming pot to pour water into their cups. "It sounds to me like tonight's a date."

"Maybe it is, but what I'd like to know is why."

Carrying a cup in each hand, Selene came to the table, set them down and took a seat. "You don't know why he would kiss you?"

"I mean why now? He never gave me a second look in high school."

"Well, you've changed since high school."

"That's just it. I haven't changed. Not at all."

Selene frowned at her. "You know that's not true."

"It is so. I'm the same girl. I look better, that's all. Edie taught me how to dress, gave me hair and makeup tips and endless lectures on posture and grace. But inside I'm the same."

Pressing her lips tight, Selene shook her head. "You are so wrong. You've changed in a dozen ways, Kara. On the inside, where it counts. You're not so painfully shy anymore. You're more confident, more sure of yourself, more comfortable in your body. You're starting your own business, you're stronger than ever before. You've stopped hiding your light under a bushel, as Mom would say."

Kara thought it over and finally nodded. "Okay, so maybe I've changed a little. But when I'm around him, I revert right back to that babbling, clumsy nerd I was before."

"And yet he likes you anyway."

"Yeah. Because of the changes that don't really matter. The surface stuff. So sue me if I'm a little wary of a guy who notices me just because I learned to embrace my inner Barbie."

"I think it's more than that. The inner changes show, you know, to anyone who cares to notice." Selene shrugged. "But it's easy enough to make sure he sees beyond the glam."

"Yeah? How? I've been racking my brain all day and I haven't come up with the answer to that one."

Selene sipped her tea. "Don't do your hair or makeup. Don't dress for dinner. Wear old jeans and a sweatshirt and a ponytail. Maybe even your glasses from high school. You still have those?"

Kara had worn contacts since eleventh grade. But she still had the oval tortoiseshell glasses that had been the bane of her youth. She hated the idea of going back to them. And yet Selene's suggestion held a lot of appeal. Not so much because it would be a test of the true depth of Jimmy Corona's interest in her, but because it would no doubt end that interest faster than a pail of ice water over his head. He'd been shallow in high school, interested in the pretty girls, the shapely girls, the popular girls, regardless of what they had in their heads. Mostly, air, she thought. No, the appeal of this idea was just exactly that. He'd cool toward her and she would no longer be burdened with this frightening new complication in her life.

It would ease things immensely.

"You're so smart, sometimes I can't believe you're the youngest," she told her kid sister.

"That's cause I got the benefit of all my big sisters'combined wisdom."

Selene pulled a catalogue around and began inspecting playground equipment.

Jim dialed Colby's cell phone a half dozen times, only to get his voice mail. He left messages, told himself there was nothing to be nervous about. Then he phoned Chief Wilcox to check in while Tyler crunched his Count Chocula.

"Good to hear from you, Corona," Wilcox said. "You settling in all right? Everything good?"

"Fine, Chief. Listen, does anyone besides you know where we are?"

"Not to my knowledge. Why? There a problem?"

Jim sighed. "No, I don't think so. Just...C.B. took off last night. Left me a note saying he'd phone in, but he hasn't yet."

"It's still early. You have reason to think there's anything wrong?"

"No reason at all, Chief." And yet he had a niggling feeling all the same. "Anything up with Skinny Vinnie?"

"Nothing unusual. We're keeping tabs, Corona. I don't expect the man to try anything now that you guys are out of town."

"Glad to hear it. Let me know if anything looks off, okay?"

"Sure. Call in when you hear from Benton." The chief paused. "Actually why don't we set up a schedule? Call me on the eights, huh?"

Jim told himself it wasn't necessary, but something in his belly disagreed. "Sure. On eights, beginning tonight."

"Great. I'll give you safe time of an hour. I don't hear from you by the nines a.m. or p.m., I take action. All right?"

"Fine."

"Anything else?" the chief asked.

Jim paused, tipping his head to one side. Then nodded, his decision made. "I'd like a background check on one Kara Brand from here in Big Falls. Can you do it for me?"

"Sure. If you have a reason. Do you?"

"Suspicious behavior," he said.

"Very funny. You know, Corona, having a woman investigated probably isn't the best way to start off a romance."

"Who said anything about romance? Talk to you tonight, Chief."

"Later, Corona."

The chief rang off.

Jim spent the rest of the day wandering the town, renewing old acquaintances and visiting old haunts, asking casual questions about the Brands-one Brand in particular. Yeah, he felt guilty. What he was doing was dishonest, sneaky and not very nice. But if he was going to consider bringing another beautiful woman into his life-into his son's life-he was damn well going to know all there was to know about her. And while it seemed almost unbelievable, he was considering it.

It wasn't hard. And it wasn't his only area of interest today. He also dug into the reputation of the physical therapy facility where he had made an appointment for Tyler. It had come with glowing recommendations from his doctor back home, but there was nothing like hearing it from the locals-patients past and present. He couldn't be too careful where Tyler was concerned.

He and Ty picked up groceries and supplies for their stay, had a fast-food lunch and spent some time in the library. The air held a definite chill, but compared to what it was probably like in Chicago about then, it was downright balmy. He still made Tyler keep his jacket on.

Everywhere they went, with everyone they met, Jim made sure to take time to engage in conversation, reminiscing about his childhood in this town, his parents, the PT center in Tucker Lake and his dear friends, the Brands. Gently, carefully, he extracted bits of information about Kara Brand, never letting on that was what he was doing.

Or that was what he thought, anyway, until as he and Ty were heading back to their pickup late that afternoon, a man walked up beside him and slung a friendly arm around his shoulders. The sun was sinking, temperature already dropping.

He looked up to see Wade Armstrong, Edie's husband, walking beside him, and the look in his eyes gave the lie to his friendly smile. "Afternoon, Jim."

"Hello, Wade." He tightened his grip on Tyler's hand. "Something I can do for you?"

"Yep. Join me for a cup of coffee. Caleb and me, that is. Right, Cal?"

"That's right."

The voice came from the right, and Jim realized that Caleb, Maya's husband, had come up on his other side, beyond Tyler.

He smiled down at the boy. "And maybe a slice of warm apple pie for you, huh, Ty?"

Tyler grinned and shot a look up at his dad. "Can we?"

"Sure we can." Jim had no doubt what was going on. The two were onto him. He drew a breath and lifted his chin. "Where we headin', fellas?"

"Right over here." Wade nodded toward a festive-looking cafe on the corner, where red and yellow jalapeno peppers formed a conga line across the big glass window. It hadn't been there when Jim had left town. He followed the other men through the front door and saw that Julia's Place sported several small tables, a coffee bar, a sign that read Seat Yourself and a coin-operated racehorse that drew Tyler's attention.

He didn't even have to ask. Just shot his dad a look with his big blue eyes, and that was all it took. Jim scooped Tyler up and set him on the horse, inserted a quarter and took a seat at the table closest to it.

The other men sat, too, and came to the point as soon as a teenage waiter had taken their order.

"So what's up with you and Kara?"

Wade was the one who asked the question. But Caleb was watching Jim's face as he thought about how to answer. He wasn't used to being on the receiving end of an interrogation, but he did know the drill. So he relaxed, didn't let himself tense up or become defensive. He leaned back in his chair, glad Tyler was out of earshot, and sighed. "I know what you're asking me, guys. I'm just not sure how to answer. I mean, I hadn't seen her in ten years until I got back into town."

"But you liked what you saw when you did," Caleb said.

"Sure. What's not to like?"

Caleb and Wade exchanged a look. Wade said, "You've been asking questions about her around town."

He lowered his head quickly, surprised at the speed of the Big Falls grapevine. "A few, yeah." He glanced sideways at his son. "Look, we've been through a lot, Tyler and I. You can't blame me for being...cautious."

Caleb nodded slowly. "I think maybe you've been a cop too long."

Jim allowed a self-deprecating smile. "You could be right."

"Kara's exactly what she seems, Jim," Wade said. "She's not hiding a thing. Been right here in Big Falls her whole life. And she's the most selfless person I've ever met."

"Utterly," Caleb added with a firm nod. "She'd give her last dollar away if she thought someone needed it."

"That's the impression I always had of her. But...she's changed so much."

"Not as much as you think," Wade said. "I mean, yeah, she's learned how to put herself together, largely thanks to coaching from my wife. But the rest was just genuine growing up. Growing into herself, I think."

Caleb nodded. "If it's Ty you're worried about, let me put your mind at ease. Maya and I love all her sisters more than life itself, but we've both agreed that should something awful happen, Kara would be named our kids' guardian."