"What about medical treatment?" Bryant argued. "These folks need regular check-ups, right? My mother sees a doctor all the time and she's fit as a fiddle. These folks can't get driven to doctor's offices that regularly, can they? Do they even have the money to pay for health care?"

"I think Medicaid pays for a nurse to come to their homes, but I don't know how often," Savannah said. "I could ask Pearl, the woman who helps me with my errands. Her daughter's a nurse."

"The point is, someone's mighty shady!" Jake exclaimed. "And it's our duty to make sure that no one hurts any more of these folks. I don't wanna hear about another robbery or . . . anything worse. We've got to figure out just who we're workin' with every Sat.u.r.day and sniff out the dirty rat that's hidin' behind a mask of charity."

Most of the Sunrise members nodded in agreement, but Trish looked unhappy. Cooper suspected that the Realtor was concerned that they wouldn't be subtle enough in their investigations and that the reputation of her company might suffer as a result. "They're all lovely people," she said defensively. "We can see that for ourselves."

"But think of Joseph's brothers," Jake calmly replied. "Look what they did because they felt slighted. People haven't changed much since Joseph was betrayed by his own family. What do you think, Savannah?"

Savannah ran a hand over her long, black braid and sighed. "What is happening to those people is certainly unjust. Our elderly should be given all the love, dignity, and respect they deserve."

"But do you believe we should get involved?" Quinton asked timidly.

After a long pause, Savannah nodded. "A line from the fourth chapter of Genesis comes to mind: 'Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.' " She looked intently at her Bible study group. "Someone has opened the door wide and invited sin to step on in. My friends, sin has become this person's master. I believe we have been called to get involved-to find out who this wolf in angel's robes is before someone else falls prey to their poisoned heart."

Cooper hesitated before the entrance to Blythe, a West End boutique featuring delicate lingerie, fine linens, and unusual soaps and body oils.

"Come on." Ashley pushed her sister through the door. "Nothing's going to bite you in there."

The store's interior was a haven to all things feminine. Silk nighties hung from scented fabric hangers, l.u.s.trous cotton robes and towels were draped over iron headboards, sheer panties were fanned out across an exquisitely embroidered coverlet, and bras in all shapes, textures, and hues were tidily arranged along the length of one of the side walls. Candles, bottles of lotion, ma.s.sage oil, and special bath treatments released a mixture of fruit, floral, and musky aromas into the air. Cooper paused to inhale a lavender candle, but Ashley grabbed her by the arm and pulled her over to where the store manager waited by the dressing rooms.

"You have to get measured, Coop." Ashley pointed at the curtained stall. "Get in there and take your top off. And your bra. Whatever you're wearing under that s.h.i.+rt is no good, so there's no sense in seeing what size it is. Sarah here will give you your true size."

Seeing no means of escape, Cooper removed her s.h.i.+rt and white cotton bra. She balled the bra inside her T-s.h.i.+rt, folded the ensemble in half, and placed it on the chair inside the dressing room. Then, crossing her arms over her chest, she reluctantly mumbled, "Ready."

Sarah stepped inside the stall and gently wrapped a sewing tape measure around Cooper's chest. She then brought the end of the tape under Cooper's arm and repeated the process, measuring a few inches higher on Cooper's b.r.e.a.s.t.s than she had before. The moment she dropped the tape, Cooper covered herself with her arms again.

"You're between an A and a B cup," Sarah told her. "Are you looking for a bra that can provide more definition?"

"Yes, she is!" Ashley declared and burst into the dressing room, which now felt rather crowded. She brandished a red and black bra trimmed in lace. "Something like this."

"No way," Cooper interjected. "I'd like a plain color, please. And no lace. It's too itchy." She turned to her sister. "Get out of here, Ashley!"

"Well, since I'm treating, I get final veto power!" Ashley called from the other side of the curtain and then she and Sarah began to confer over which bras to give Cooper to try on. As they whispered and giggled together, Cooper sat on the dressing room chair and hugged her T-s.h.i.+rt to her chest.

After a few moments, Sarah put an arm through the curtain, respecting Cooper's obvious desire for privacy, and offered her a selection of ten bras.

"The green one is a water bra," Sarah explained. "It's very comfortable and will really enhance your natural shape."

As Cooper pushed on the padded cups of the green bra, which was a lovely shade of pale jade, the material gave way as though it were stuffed with Jell-O. "Weird," she murmured suspiciously, but decided to humor Ashley by trying it on. Surprisingly, Sarah was right. It was exceedingly comfortable and for once, Cooper looked like she had some curves.

"Feel free to try it on under your s.h.i.+rt," Sarah suggested, "so you can see how seamless it is."

Following her recommendation, Cooper unfolded her T-s.h.i.+rt and pulled it on, pivoting sideways in the mirror as she admired her fuller, more rounded b.r.e.a.s.t.s. With her narrow waist and flat stomach, the bra gave her a more marked hourgla.s.s shape. Cooper stared at her enhanced feminine figure, feeling a blush creep up the smooth skin of her chest and neck as she admired her alluring reflection. Stuffing her old bra into her pocket, she pushed the curtain aside and collided into Ashley, who held three more bras in her hand.

"I'll take this one." Cooper turned to Sarah. "Can I just wear it out?"

Sarah nodded and retrieved a pair of scissors. "Certainly. Let me cut the tag off for you."

As Sarah wrapped up a matching pair of pale green panties in tissue paper, Ashley sulked. "No one buys the first bra they try on. You are so not fun to shop with."

Cooper kissed her sister on the cheek. "I know. Thanks for putting up with me." Sarah then announced the total cost of their selections and Cooper's jaw dropped in shock. "Ashley!" she hissed urgently under her breath. "I could get two entire outfits for that amount of money. I can't accept this kind of gift."

"Yes, you can." Ashley handed Sarah her gold card with a flourish. "Just make sure you get some use out of these. And I expect to hear all the juicy details. That's the price of my generosity."

"If there are any, you'd be the only one I'd tell," Cooper said, and then she and Ashley headed back to Gum Creek. Ashley planned to join the Lees for their customary Sunday dinner while Cooper dined with Nathan at Can Can Bra.s.siere, the trendy French restaurant in the heart of Carytown.

"Don't you meet him there, girlie," Grammy advised with a wiggle of her finger. "It's best you leave your truck at his place. That is, if you wanna put that new figure of yours to work." She cackled and pointed at Cooper's chest.

Cooper's neck grew warm. "He asked me to meet at Can Can, so I can't change plans now. It would be kind of pushy."

"So be pushy!" Grammy declared with a smile. "But you don't need to worry, granddaughter. You're lookin' just like a flower this evenin'. He won't be able to let you go home, anyhow."

Stroking her b.u.t.terfly pin, Cooper blushed. "Thanks, Grammy."

"Oh, and you need to take my cardboard cat carrier with you," Grammy ordered as Cooper turned to leave.

"What? Why?"

Grammy shrugged. "I've got one of those feelin's that an animal's lookin' for me. Just take it and set an old lady's heart at ease, would you?"

"Sure, Grammy," Cooper answered and gave her grandmother's withered hand a light pat. "Though I expect all I'll be bringing home in the carrier is a Can Can doggie bag."

Cooper was wrong about the cat carrier. She met Nathan at Can Can's bar, where they shared half a bottle of white wine and an artichoke-and-goat-cheese tartine. Even though it was a Sunday evening, the restaurant was packed. The cafe chairs set around white-clothed tables and all of the tall barstools were occupied. The noise of the boisterous diners echoed loudly throughout the eatery as the sound of laughter, clanking silverware, and raised voices bounced from the mirrored wall behind the bar to the dark wood paneling separating the dining areas, and finally roosting in the high, chandelier-covered ceiling.

"Not really a place for quiet talks, huh?" Nathan shouted.

"Good thing you made a reservation," Cooper yelled in return.

A glamorous young hostess approached the bar and made hand signs indicating that their table was ready. Cooper and Nathan were fortunate to be placed right against the front windows, where they could watch pa.s.sersby whenever they needed a respite from the escalating energy within the restaurant. In turn, those strolling on the sidewalk, enjoying the refres.h.i.+ng late-September air and the pumpkin-glow of a full harvest moon, could pause and gaze at the entrees Nathan and Cooper had ordered. Nathan chose the Sunday special, which consisted of Salmon au Poivre accompanied by roasted root vegetables, pickled beets, and horseradish potato puree.

"You're welcome to my beets," Nathan offered when his artistically displayed entree arrived.

"No thanks. I'm mighty pleased with mine," Cooper said with a smile, observing the beautiful arrangement of her own dinner-grilled lamb chops with beans, roasted red peppers, olives, and garlic sausage.

"I love a woman who drinks wine and eats red meat." Nathan raised his wine gla.s.s in her honor.

Nathan talked about how time-consuming his project involving Big Man Products had become and admitted that he had seriously been considering bowing out of his Sat.u.r.day volunteering.

"But after this morning, I know I've got to be there," he said, laying his fork onto his plate, which had been completely cleaned with the exception of the pickled beets. "We need to get to know the other volunteers and quickly."

An idea came to Cooper. "Maybe we should host some kind of party and invite all of them. We don't really have enough time to talk to one another on Sat.u.r.days."

"That's a great plan! What kind of party? A potluck or something?"

"I'll ask my sister for suggestions. She's the queen of organizingsocial events."

As the waiter removed their plates, Nathan gestured to the dessert menu. "Want to split one?"

Cooper nodded. Although she was stuffed from her dinner as well as multiple gla.s.ses of wine, she didn't want the evening to end. "You pick, though. I like all sweets."

Nathan deliberated over his choices for several moments. "How about the apple split with maple ice cream and praline sauce?"

The dessert was smooth and rich and Cooper enjoyed every sugar-laden mouthful. Finally, their decaf coffees were drained, their table was cleared, and Nathan insisted on picking up the check. The noise level in the restaurant had dropped several decibels as though in tune with the deepening darkness beyond the front window.

"Guess we should roll our full bellies out of here," Nathan said and held Cooper's chair for her as she rose.

Outside, he took her hand in his. "There's something different about you tonight," Nathan whispered as they walked through the parking lot. "You've got this glow."

Throughout the meal, Cooper had been keenly aware of the silky material of her new lingerie against her skin. Every time she moved and her arm brushed against the swell of her rounder breast, she blushed, wondering whether Nathan had noticed her plumper cleavage. Wearing only a simple black dress and Grammy's b.u.t.terfly pin, Cooper had tried to sit up straight and carry herself as gracefully as possible all evening. It had been a long time since she had set out to seduce someone, but she was determined to claim Nathan Dexter as her own.

Fortunately for her, Nathan seemed eager to take over the role of seducer. For when they reached her car, his hand suddenly grew tighter around her own. "I don't want you to go," he said, his voice thick with unspoken desire.

Cooper turned and wordlessly pressed her body against his. Immediately, his arms encircled her back to pull her in even closer, and she released her breath into his open mouth. Their kiss was strong and filled with hunger. It bore no resemblance to the tender, hesitant kisses they had shared up to this point. Before Cooper knew what was happening, her hands buried themselves into Nathan's thick hair and his lips began to travel down the side of her neck. She moaned softly.

"Get a room!" someone yelled from the sidewalk across the street and Cooper sprang away from Nathan, her face flushed. When she realized that the voice belonged to one of two teenage boys on skateboards, she began to laugh.

"I felt younger than those kids for a moment there," she said as Nathan's baritone laughter mingled with hers.

"Why don't you leave your truck here?" he asked her, growing immediately serious. "This lot is patrolled regularly but my car's in a dark parking area behind the shopping center. I can always bring you back . . ." he trailed off and began to fidget with his keys.

"In the morning?" Cooper whispered and was pleased by her own forwardness. It must have been the empty canvas of night sky, the crackle of the autumn air, and the way her blood was warmed by wine and Nathan's touch that allowed her to speak with such confidence.

Silently reclaiming her hand, Nathan led Cooper to a narrow alley behind the restaurant. A sense of awkwardness settled between them as they pa.s.sed the rear entrances to stores and several groupings of parked cars.

Being caught in the moment is one thing, Cooper thought. Postponing it until we can resume it in privacy feels mighty different.

Suddenly, a dark, four-legged shape darted in front of Nathan. The animal tried to scamper up the nearest tree, but it couldn't hold onto the bark and slid down to the bottom. Blinking at the pair of humans with frightened yellow eyes, the black kitten mewled and then slunk into the shadows created by a tower of cardboard boxes. Unable to help herself, Cooper pulled her hand free from Nathan's and followed the kitten.

The frightened feline had run into one of the overturned boxes. Cooper slowly knelt on the ground and peered inside the recesses of the damp box. She noticed two pairs of wide eyes staring frightfully at her from within the dark shelter.

"Will you get the cat carrier from my truck?" Cooper laid the keys gently into his palm.

Nathan sprinted off, returning less than a minute later with the carrier. "Do you always carry this around with you?" He stooped down next to her, breathing hard.

"No," Cooper whispered. "My grammy said I'd need it. She was right again." She opened the carrier and noted that Grammy had lined the bottom with the unused grocery store circulars from the Sunday paper. "She says that all women who have widow's peaks, which are kind of V-shaped hairlines, possess a generous helping of intuition."

"I take it she's got a widow's peak. Do you?" He peered at her in the dim orange light cast from the streetlamp at the edge of the parking lot.

Cooper pulled back her bangs. "Guilty. Now, hold this open and get ready to close it up again quick. I think these kittens will freak out when I touch them, so I'm going to try to move as fast as I can."

She was right about the kittens being less than receptive about being handled. As she grabbed one by the scruff of its neck and prepared to hoist it into the air, the second one tried to shoot past her, sticking close to the side of the box. Using her free hand, Cooper pinned it down, feeling guilty about the cries of terror emitting from the tiny creatures.

Just as she raised them over the open carrier, a man walking an enormous dog pa.s.sed within a few feet of the pile of cardboard boxes. The dog spied the kittens, began to bark, and stretched his retractable leash to the limit. The kittens squirmed and jerked in Cooper's hands and she accidentally kicked the carrier out from under them. Panic seemed to grant the tiny cats the slippery skin of a jellyfish, and they writhed and bucked in her hands, their claws bursting from their paws and raking whatever surface they encountered. As they flailed wildly in the air, Cooper found that the only way she could avoid dropping them was to press their little bodies against her chest. Finally, the dog's owner dragged his reluctant canine away and Cooper was able to push the kittens safely into the carrier.

Nathan quickly closed the top and then they both sat back on their heels as the agitated meowing of the kittens echoed down the alley.

"Are you okay?" Nathan inquired hesitantly.

Cooper examined the scratches on her forearms and shrugged. "Yeah, thanks."

Nathan stared at her chest dubiously and then met her eyes, looking utterly dumbfounded. Cooper glanced down at her dress, which had been punctured by claw marks in about thirty places. Suddenly, she realized why Nathan wore an expression of complete puzzlement.

To her horror, the contents of her water bra, which, according to its label, contained forty-five percent water and fifty-five percent body oil, was draining out over the surface of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and staining her dress with a shadow of slimy moisture.

"Um." Nathan averted his eyes and then stated the painfully obvious. "I think you're leaking."

7.

If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor,

he too will cry out and not be answered.

Proverbs 21:13 (NIV) When Cooper opened her locker at Make It Work! the following Tuesday, she was surprised to see a gift-wrapped box sitting on the top shelf. She picked up the package, taking note of the leopard-print tissue paper, the clumsy wrapping job that utilized unnecessary amounts of tape, and the handwritten note that read: For Cooper, my wildflower.

She stared at the unfamiliar handwriting, heat p.r.i.c.kling her neck, and then hesitantly tore the tissue paper. Examining the cellophane-covered fuchsia box, which contained a fluid ounce of Wild Orchid Musk Perfume, Cooper shook her head. Was this a surprise from Nathan? She didn't think so, for she had seen Nathan's handwriting in his Bible study workbooks and it was not nearly as serpentine as the messy script on the gift tag.

"What ya got there?" Ben asked as he hung his jacket in his locker.

Startled, Cooper attempted to shove the perfume out of sight, but Ben's arm shot out and grabbed the pink box from her hand.

He took a quick glance at the perfume and then smiled. "Never saw you as the Wild Orchid type," he teased.

Cooper blushed. "I'm not."

"Never thought of you as the perfume type at all," Ben added with a smirk and Cooper couldn't tell whether he was being playful or not.

"And why not?" Cooper grew irritated. "Just because I don't bathe in it doesn't mean I don't wear it sometimes. You wear a lot of cologne for a gym addict, by the way. Maybe you should shower more often."

Ben's eyes grew dark with anger and Cooper took an uncertain step backward. She immediately regretted having uttered such a nasty retort. After all, she was the one who suspected that Ben's wife was battling alcoholism and now, instead of being sensitive to what he was going through, she had offended him.

"Don't ever use that word in a sentence about me!" he snarled and Cooper knew that he was referring to the word "addict."

"I'm sorry." Cooper did her best to infuse her voice with apology.