Grace, looking rea.s.sured, shrugged. I warned you about that knife. Tox has been sharpening them every time he comes over.

Why doesnt he just move in? Now that youve got your child, and by that I mean me, out of the house? Samantha had recently rented an apartment over the bagel shop. The fact that she got a discount on rent for working the register a couple of mornings a week had sealed the already-sweet deal of the bay-facing one bedroom.

Grace placed a piece of pie on a paper plate and carefully covered it with saran wrap. Samantha knew she probably didnt realize that she was as transparent as the plastic"that piece of pie would be Samanthas piece to take home with her. The rest of the pie would go to the fire station. If Samantha didnt like the big, loud Tox as much as she did, shed probably be sickened by it.

Instead, she found herself wondering what it must be like to have that kind of relationship with someone.

And most disconcertingly, she found herself wondering about Hank.

Grace slipped in front of her, making short work of slicing the lemons and using the hand-press to get the most liquid out. Just sit. Keep me company.

Whats the lemonade for, anyway? Youve never been that into lemonade.

Grace colored prettily and Samantha groaned. Youre taking that to him, too? Martha Stewart, huh? I think you need to add a vanilla bean and a spring of wild rosemary to that, dont forget.

You were just trying to pair us off into the same living arrangement.

Thats different. I want him to live with you and for him to mow your lawn for you.

Dreamily, Grace said, Oh, he mows my lawn, all right Samantha held up her hands. Enough. Thats way more than I needed to know, anyway. Hey, what if I asked Hank Coffee to help out at Darling Defense?

Grace blinked. Really?

To be my attacker when Wally cant be there, she clarified.

Grace shook her head. Are you sure about that? Do you want me to tell you what I really think?

I want your opinion. Of what you think he would be like to work with. Thats all. Samantha took a deep breath. She loved her sister with all her heart, and sometimes she just wished that for once, Grace could not try to manage things.

She watched Grace take a matching breath as she put down the knife. Tox adores him. Wait. Let me correct that. Tox doesnt adore anyone"

Except you.

"okay, but he really trusts Hank. He says hes a good listener.

I remember that about him.

Grace slapped the top of the counter. Right, right, I forgot for a minute. You freaking dated him, when, in junior college?

Samantha nodded. Way back when we were too stupid to figure anything out except how to drop any cla.s.s that started before noon.

And thats why he was all moony after your accident. Thats right. Why are you asking me, then? You know him way better than I ever could. I, for example, never slept with him.

Samantha opened her mouth and then closed it. She hadnt slept with Hank back then. For some reason, that made the memory of him morespecial. It felt stupid, and she wouldnt admit it to her sister, but Hank had been better than just some guy shed randomly hooked up with while drunk at a frat party. Shed really liked Hank, with his lanky limbs and shy brown eyes and that mop of scruffy surfer-boy hair, dark with blond highlights colored by the sun.

And then Vicente had come along, bragging on his arrest record"who else but a rebellious teenager grown into a looking-for-excitement woman would fall for that?"and roaring out on his Harley. Young Samantha, idiotic Samantha, had dumped Hank almost unceremoniously. Shed taken him out, yeah. To a little bar in town, the Wooden Duck, if she remembered right. Shed bought him a beer and had told him that there was someone else. Hed looked upset. She hadnt had enough alcohol yet that night to wipe that out of her mind.

Then Vicente had pushed through the bar doors"because, again, the idiotic Samantha had thought she could get everything done in one place, break up with one guy, meet up with another. Shed left with Vicente that night, wrapping one arm around his waist, waving with the other hand back at Hank.

How would her life have been different if shed jumped off Vicentes motorcycle while it was still in the lot, if shed raced back to be with Hank, instead?

But no. Samantha leaped before she looked. She decided to do things before weighing the consequences. Sometimes that turned out great. Once shed ended up waitressing for six months at a surfer bar in Molokai, sand between her toes.

And once, shed ended up in rehab after an overdose.

They say it took some people a long time to hit rock bottom. Samantha knew shed been lucky. Her bottom had been no place to stay, no job, nowhere to go, her sister finally refusing her calls. Shed come close to dying herself that time, and she didnt want that ever to happen again.

So yeah, jumping off that motorcycle would have earned her some road rash, but might have saved a lot of heartache over the years.

He offered to help with the cla.s.ses. After the ambulance took Jim away.

What did you say?

What could I say? I think hed be perfect, if he can learn to hit a girl.

Grace shuddered. I hate it when you say that.

People hit girls, said Samantha. Its better if women know how to hit back if necessary.

Remember when you were tutoring kids? You helped them write their college essays. Wasnt that a nicer job? More easy on thehands? And body? I hate that youre taking punches. Grace measured the sugar, and Samantha knew she wouldnt ever go over or under the recommended amount, whereas Samantha liked to pour in as much extra sugar as she could, until the liquid wouldnt take any more. Shed learned it from their mother, who loved sweet things, just like Samantha. Their mother had died of cancer before shed been able to do all the things shed wanted to, and Samantha had recovered slower than the aptly-named Grace, so much more like their prosaic, sensible father.

Samantha pulled the paper towel more tightly around her finger. We do the same job, if you think about it.

Huh. Acupuncture as self-defense? Or are you looking at it the other way around?

You punch people with needles to be more healthy. I needle people until they throw punches in order to be more safe. Samantha felt pleased with her turn of phrase, awkward though it was.

That might be a bit over-the-top. How about were both helping people to be better humans?

Okay, Rainshadow Warrior, put your incense and moon crystals down before someone gets hurt. Samantha pulled off a piece of the pie crust and popped it in her mouth.

Grace hit her lightly on the knee. Hes cute, you know.

Samantha frowned. Do you think so? She tried to play dumb but knew it would never fly.

Come on. And I know you do, too.

It was a good point. Samantha did think Hank was cute. Hed grown into those long limbs"no longer lanky, hed filled out with what seemed like all muscle. He was gorgeous, in fact, still with that mop of floppy brown surfer hair, those big dark eyes, those chiseled cheek bones, and his chest so wide it looked like he did push-ups all day. You might be right. I dont think I should give him the job.

Grace closed her eyes. So youre going to change your mind again.

Samantha gritted her teeth. She hated it when Grace said that. Just because Samantha frequently thought about things and decided on new courses of action didnt mean that she was as fickle as her sister thought. It might be weird. With our history and all.

Grace said, Hmm.

And then theres the whole thing that hes Toxs partner One of his coworkers.

They ride in the same fire engine. Every day.

Grace shook her head. Not every day. They get days off. I dont understand why youre changing your mind on this. Give the guy a chance. Look, come with me to the fire station tonight when I go to visit Tox. Bring the lemonade. The guysll love it.

No way. Samantha grabbed her coat"too thin for the cold weather outside"and checked her jeans pocket for her keys. Hey, do me a favor, would you?

No, no, no. Grace held up her hands. Im not telling him youre backing out.

Please? Samantha clapped her hands together, prayer-like. Pretty please? For me?

Im a founding member of your business, right?

The only one I have.

So this member says no. Im not telling him. You tell him you changed your mind.

Gracie. I cant. I dont want to hurt him.

What, you think he hasnt recovered from when you broke up with him a million years ago?

Samantha didnt say anything and just kept her eyes on Graces. If there was any chance that Hank still minded her leaving him in that bar so many years ago, it wasnt fair to hurt him again.

Gah. Fine. What am I supposed to tell him?

That Jim got better.

No.

That I found someone else.

Who?

It doesnt matter. Hank, of all people, couldnt be the attacker for Darling Defense. Why hadnt she thought it through? Hank would probably sign his girlfriend up for the cla.s.s"because a guy like him had to have a beautiful little girlfriend"and then Samantha would have to be friends with her. And that quickly became one of the worst ideas Samantha had ever thought of. Anyone. You. Tox. I dont care.

Grace sighed heavily. Fine, her sister said. Whatever. Ill clean up the mess. Again.

Samantha hated with all her heart that that was exactly what Grace was doing. But she couldnt hurt Hank again, not even one tiny little mosquitos worth of hurt, and heck. She was used to her sister being disappointed in her.

CHAPTER FIVE.

HANK HAD NEVER noticed the apartment over the bagel shop, even though he stopped for coffee there at least once a week. The staircase that led up from the back parking lot was rickety, the handhold loose. The small back porch trembled as he stood on it, and he noticed that there wasnt even a bulb screwed in to the porch fixture.

He knocked on the gla.s.s panel in the door. Calm down. He was being ridiculous, but the nervousness hed woken up with hadnt gone away"in fact, hed had to leave his coffee half-drunk on the counter at home.

Jeez. He wasnt picking her up for a date, after all. This was a business thing. All business.

Sure, all business, but hed dreamed of her mouth last night. The way her body had felt against his"that wasnt business at all. That had just been so hot it had hurt to roll over.

The fact that she hadnt opened the door yet, though, was weird.

He knocked again, and the gla.s.s panes clattered in the door. They were loose enough he bet he could slip one pane out without even breaking it. If there was one thing he and his firefighter brethren were good at, it was breaking into peoples homes. Most older people left their doors unlocked in case they needed help, and Darling Bay was safe enough for it to be okay most of the time. But younger residents still fell in their bathrooms or had sudden asthma attacks. Medical problems often rendered healthy people unable to unlock a door in a timely fashion. And when every second counted, firefighters broke down doors, bashed in windows, tore off locked screens, and lifted sliding gla.s.s doors off their rails.

Curiosity got the better of him. Hank fit the flat of his palm to the pane and jiggling it lightly, used an upward pressure. Sure enough, the gla.s.s lifted enough in its small frame that he was able to get his thumb under it. He slid it out, toward him. Great. Now hed have to make sure it was fixed before he left, but it should be easy enough to slip it back in.

Samantha wasnt safe, after all. Hed just proved that. Anyone could do this, any two-bit burglar with a small slice of imagination. The real question remained: could he reach down to unlock the door?

Hank peeked in the now open hole, and still seeing no motion, convinced himself that by now, it was really his moral duty to check on her. She was expecting him"she should have answered the door by now.

He put his arm in and down, reaching toward the latch.

His hand was slapped so hard he shouted. Holy c.r.a.p! Its Hank! He jerked his hand back out and almost dropped the pane.

The door was yanked open. On the other side, Samantha was wrapped in nothing but black plastic-framed gla.s.ses and a thin pink towel. The towel looked fantastic, actually. Samantha would probably look good in PPEs, but in a short piece of fabric, still dripping, she looked beyond amazing.

She also looked good when she was mad. That was a new revelation, but not a surprising one.

What?

I just said it was me. Sorry. I like your gla.s.ses. Hank rubbed the back of his hand. What did you hit me with?

She brandished her weapon.

Fly swatter. Nicely played. Hank wondered for a moment what would have happened if he had gained access to her apartment and Samantha was just fine? How much damage could she have done to him? The thought was sobering, and while kind of hot, not something he wanted to find out.

Im sorry. He held up the piece of rounded gla.s.s. But this was loose. Anyone could get in.

I forget my keys in the house sometimes. I like it like that. What are you doing here?

Honest confusion filled Hank. Had he gotten the date wrong? No, shed clearly said the words tomorrow and my apartment. I thought we said Samantha grimaced. Grace.

What about her?

Did she come by the station last night?

Even more confused now that this was something about her sister, Hank said, I think she did? We were out on a call, but there was pie on the counter when we got back and Tox said it was his favorite.

Oh, man.

Whats wrong? Are you okay? She looked okay. Good grief, she looked so d.a.m.n okay I have to put on some clothes.

No, you dont, darlin. The words were almost spoken before he shut his mouth again. Something about Samantha Rowe scrambled Hanks brain like eggs in hot b.u.t.ter. Sure, sure. Hank was pretty certain his initial response showed on his face, though. He didnt actually mind that much.

Samantha spun on her heel, heading for the far door in the small room. She shut it quietly behind her.

So this had something to do with Grace? And a pie?