"And next time you'll listen to the officer in charge," the lieutenant coaxed.

"And next time I'll try to listen to the officer in charge, before doing something on my own," Sean said.

Jack uttered a resigned sigh. "Close enough. I'll speak to the mayor. You can have your medals, but he can forget the parade."

"Was he really talking about a parade?" Hank asked.

Sean frowned at him. "Be grateful we're not sitting on our b.u.t.ts doing nothing for a month."

Hank glanced pointedly at the cast on his ankle. "I'm pretty certain I'm going to be sitting on mine, even though Jack, here, has let us off the hook."

"Yes, but you'll still have a paycheck," Sean pointed out. "If you're smart, you'll talk Ruby into going to some romantic seaside cottage while you recuperate."

"You've got plenty of vacation time coming," the lieutenant pointed out to Sean. "You could take a break, too. I know how you hate working with anyone besides Hank, because the other men actually listen to what I tell them to do."

Sean tried to imagine a week on Cape Cod with Deanna and Kevin. The idea held tremendous appeal, but he doubted he could get her to go for it...unless Hank and Ruby went, as well. Maybe they could convince the women this was a real mission of mercy.

"I'll think about it," he told the lieutenant. "And thanks for letting us off the hook this time."

"Self-preservation," Jack said. "Can you imagine the outcry if two men who'd saved an old man's life ended up suspended?" He patted Hank's shoulder, then shook Sean's hand. "You two try to stay out of trouble, okay?"

"We always do," Hank said solemnly.

The lieutenant shook his head. "If only that were true."

After he'd gone, Sean felt Hank's gaze studying him. "What?"

"You've got something going on in that head of yours. Care to tell me about it?"

"I was thinking about Cape Cod," he admitted. "The five of us out there for a week. I could call a couple of people, see if there's a house available. What do you think?"

Hank's expression grew thoughtful. "I suppose Ruby might go for it, if you guys came along."

"I was thinking the same about Deanna. She'll only say yes if you and Ruby agree and we play the pity card, tell 'em we need to recuperate from our ordeal."

"It won't exactly be a romantic getaway with all of us under one roof," Hank said. "But that's a good thing, right? Keeps things from getting too serious."

"Right," Sean agreed, warming to the idea. "I'm thinking a big house, lots of bedrooms."

Hank grinned. "And if some of them don't happen to get used, well, that's just too bad."

"Hey, watch it," Sean chided. "There will be a kid present."

"I'm injured," Hank said pitifully. "Let me dream."

Sean laughed. "Okay, you dream. I'm going to make some calls. Then we can talk to Ruby and Deanna. You should probably go first. If you can sell Ruby on the idea, she'll help with Deanna."

"Use the kid," Hank recommended. "You talk Kevin into a week at the beach, his mother will never say no."

"That would be sneaky and underhanded," Sean retorted, then sighed. "I'll only use it if I have to."

This trip was going to be perfect. He was going to get a little quality time with Deanna, Kevin was going to get a real vacation at the beach, and Deanna was going to get some much needed R and R. And all of it in the guise of keeping poor, injured Hank company. How n.o.ble and selfless was that?

Deanna listened to Sean's entire pitch with a perfectly straight face. It sounded good, n.o.ble even. A week on Cape Cod keeping Hank from going completely bonkers while his broken ankle began to heal. Ruby had even bought into the scheme.

"But I'll only go if you will," she'd told Deanna not ten seconds ago.

Now Ruby and Sean sat side by side awaiting Deanna's decision.

"And this is all about Hank?" Deanna asked, her gaze on Sean's face.

"Absolutely," he said. "Taking time off is hard on him, especially when he can't get around all that well. Hank's an active guy. Forced immobility will make him impossible to live with."

She grinned. "So you want us around to be a distraction for an incredibly cranky man? Sounds like fun."

"Oh, I think I can guarantee his mood will improve with you ladies underfoot, Ruby especially."

"Charlotte will have a cow if the two of us ask for vacation at the same time," Deanna said to Ruby. "You know she counts on you to fill in for me if I so much as go to the ladies' room."

"She can hire a temp," Ruby countered. "The firm can afford it. Hodges has won two huge settlements in the past week."

"Not to change the subject, but speaking of settlements," Sean said to Deanna, "what's he done for you lately? Has he managed to get you a dime from that irresponsible landlord of yours?"

Deanna thought back to the conversation she'd had with her boss just two days ago. She'd kept the news to herself, because she could hardly believe it was going to happen. "He settled," she confessed. "The check's supposedly in the mail."

Ruby whooped and ran over to give her a hug. "Way to go, Dee! How much?"

"Not a fortune," she said, trying to caution Ruby against getting too excited. "But five thousand dollars will go a long way toward getting Kevin and me a place of our own and a little bit of furniture."

"Is Hodges taking a cut?" Sean asked suspiciously.

She shook her head. "Not a dime. I offered, but he said I deserved a lot more, so he wasn't taking any of it."

"Well, well, well, a lawyer with a conscience. I'm impressed," Sean said.

"Don't be," Ruby said wryly. "All he did was make a couple of threatening phone calls to the guy. He didn't even waste any corporate stationery."

"Well, whatever he did, it worked and I'm grateful," Deanna said. She looked at Sean. "So your timing couldn't be better, actually. I was thinking that Kevin deserved a vacation before summer's completely over, and that I'd use a little of this money to pay for a couple of days at the beach."

Sean's expression brightened. "You're saying yes?"

"Yes," she said, unwilling to think about the prospect of spending several lazy nights in Sean's company on a romantic, moonlit beach. "But we're chipping in for part of the expenses."

"Absolutely not," Sean said, his jaw set stubbornly.

"Absolutely yes," Deanna said just as firmly.

"Can we d.i.c.ker over the finances later?" Ruby begged. "I want to go tell Hank."

"Go," Sean and Deanna said in unison.

Sean chuckled. "I think we can finish this discussion without bloodshed."

Deanna frowned at him. "Don't count on it."

Ruby shook her head. "Can you two play nice, or do I need to send Kevin in here to referee?"

"We're two civilized adults. We'll be fine," Sean rea.s.sured her.

"One of us is civilized. The other one is stubborn as a mule," Deanna countered.

When Ruby had gone, Sean met Deanna's gaze. "I'm glad you said yes."

Her heart flipped over in her chest at the heat that rose in his eyes. "Sean, we're not going to be alone out there."

"I know that, but I imagine we can steal a few minutes to ourselves from time to time."

"To do what?"

He drew her to her feet and into his arms. "This," he murmured, kissing her until her toes curled.

"And no more," she said in a shaky voice.

"And no more," he agreed solemnly, then grinned. "At least not the first night."

Antic.i.p.ation shot through her, tempered only by a stern reminder that this was going to be essentially a family vacation with lots of people under that same roof. Sean would never pressure her into turning it into something else, not with Kevin just down the hall.

But he might tempt her, she thought, glancing into his eyes. They were sparkling with pure mischief. Oh, yes, he was definitely going to tempt her. And she was going to have to draw on an already overtaxed reserve of willpower to resist. Heaven help her! It was going to be a really, really long and dangerous week.

Chapter Eleven.

The house in Truro was covered in soft-gray shingles that had been weathered by countless storms. The shutters were white, and window boxes full of bright flowers hung on the railing around the porch. The house was within sight of the beach dunes, and, with the windows open, a salty breeze wafted through the bright, cheerful rooms. Deanna had never seen such a lovely place. It reminded her of a house her parents had rented years ago at the Jersey sh.o.r.e, but this one was smaller, cozier.

"Hey, what was that look about?" Sean asked, regarding her with concern. "You looked so sad all of a sudden."

She forced a smile. "Just thinking about a time long ago and far away."

"Did it involve Kevin's father?" he asked.

She heard the tension in his voice and quickly rea.s.sured him. "Absolutely not. Frankie and I never went on a vacation."

"Your parents, then?"

She sighed at the accurate guess. "Yes."

"You don't say much about them. Are they dead?"

"To me," she said softly, unable to stop the tears that welled up in her eyes. She'd told herself a thousand times that what had happened years ago didn't matter, but there was an ache in her heart that never seemed to go away.

Sean frowned. "What does that mean?"

"They didn't approve of me marrying Frankie. We haven't spoken since," she said, giving him the short, unemotional version that omitted all of the rage and accusations that had left her feeling raw and anguished on the day she had walked out of their house for the last time. The fact that their concerns had been well-grounded was something she still hated to admit.

Sean regarded her with surprise. "You never told them he'd left you?"

She shook her head. "At first I kept silent because I didn't think I could bear to hear them gloat over having been right about him. Then it became a matter of pride. I didn't want to go to them when I needed help."

"Do they know about Kevin?"

"No."

She saw the war of emotions on Sean's face. "You realize who's hurt most by that, don't you?"

She refused to acknowledge that her son could be hurt by the absence of two people he'd never even known.

"Deanna, you need to contact them," Sean said. "Give them another chance."

She leveled a look straight into his eyes. "The same way you've given your your parents a second chance?" parents a second chance?"

Sean winced at the comparison and his jaw set. "It's not the same thing," he insisted. "I don't even know where my parents are."

"One of these days you will. Ryan's determined to find the whole family, isn't he? What will you do then?"

"We're not discussing my family," he said tightly, "we're talking about yours. Kevin ought to have a chance to know his grandparents and vice versa."

"You're setting a double standard, and you know it," she accused, hurt that he, of all people, didn't understand why she might never want to see her parents again. They'd made the decision to turn their backs on her. She'd asked nothing from them but their love, and they'd withheld it. How was that any better than what his parents had done?

Hurling the one comment guaranteed to infuriate him, she said, "Besides, this is none of your business."

With that she whirled around, shouted for Kevin and headed for the beach at a brisk pace. She wasn't surprised when Sean didn't bother to follow. After all, she'd just slammed a door very firmly right in his face.

Sean had had no idea that he and Deanna had so much in common. Granted the break with her parents had come when she'd been an adult, and she'd made her own choice about it, choosing Frankie Blackwell over her family, but the fact was, they were both facing a future without the people who had given them life. If he wasn't anxious to change that in his own situation, why was he so insistent that Deanna should be? Was it because he wanted for her-for Kevin-what he wasn't willing to fight for for himself?

He heard the thump of Hank's cane hitting the porch, but he refused to turn around. He wasn't sure how much his friend had overheard, but knowing Hank, it had been enough to ensure that he'd have an opinion to offer. Probably one Sean had no desire to hear.