Chapter Sixteen.

The party at Laser-Mania was a huge success.

Maggie's schoolmates were wide-eyed when they realized that a movie star was one of the guests. They were also astonished at the concept of having the entire huge amus.e.m.e.nt complex to themselves.

But as Jules well knew, those two things went hand in hand.

"I don't know how to thank you," Arlene said to Jules as they stood at the railing in the spectator loft and watched Robin talk to Maggie and the other kids down on the laser battle course below. The large area had recently been redecorated to look like the hulking remains of a decaying s.p.a.cecraft-very science fiction, and not at all reminiscent of Iraq. The laser weapons, too, were very ray gun-otherwise Jules was certain that Maggie would've picked another location for their party. "I can't even begin to imagine how much this cost."

"Not as much as you think," Jules rea.s.sured her. "And definitely less than bringing security in, to try to protect Robin in a Friday night crowd. He's kind of a hot target-that's just something we live with. The studio knows it, too, and they help pick up the cost of protecting him. It's a worthwhile investment for all parties."

She smiled at that, and it softened the angles of her face, making her look much too young to have a daughter Maggie's age. "You're so lucky," she said. "I mean, to have found him."

"I am," Jules agreed, as down beneath them Robin explained the rules to a game that was really called b.a.l.l.s, but that, for today, he was calling by the more PG-13 name Pairs. "He's amazing."

Teams of two attached themselves together with a harness and a three-foot-long bungee cord. They would then compete in a laser tag game with another likewise-attached team. First team to annihilate the other won. You got more points if both team members survived, but one person standing was okay, too.

But once your teammate was "killed," and her laser vest lit up, she had to stop and drop, which was limiting for the survivor, who was now attached to a "dead" body.

It was a fun game, even for beginners. And Jules knew that before the evening ended he'd be dragged into it, and forced to handicap himself by doing something ridiculous. Like taking off his boots and limiting himself to firing his laser ray gun with his toes. Or tying his feet together and firing his weapon with his hands behind his back.

Right now Maggie had teamed up with Robin, while a very pretty Asian American girl named Keisha was giggling as she attached herself to the skinny boy named Jason.

Maggie's smile was a little bit forced, and she kept looking over at the door that led into the gaming area, as if she were waiting for someone to come in.

Dolphina and Will were setting up the room where they'd all have pizza-yeah, right, that's what they were doing, alone in there. Arlene's friend Jack had yet to arrive, so maybe Maggie was waiting for him....

But, no. "Maggie's friend Liz isn't here," Jules realized.

Arlene nodded. "Yeah, they had a big fight. Lizzie's pretty volatile." She sighed. "Mags is really upset, and I feel guilty, because I keep thinking maybe it's for the best."

"Look who I found, lurking out in the parking lot."

Arlene practically did a triple-lutz, she turned around so fast. She lit up with a smile that was so wide Jules had to squint at the extreme wattage. And, sure enough, the voice belonged to Boston Globe reporter Jack Lloyd. He was with a grim-looking boy who was nearly Jack's height, but half his weight. He was almost as skinny as young Jason.

But he was older than Maggie and her friends. Maybe by as much as four years.

He'd clearly made an effort to look nice. His jeans were clean, and he was wearing a b.u.t.ton-down shirt, sleeves rolled to his elbows. His long hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail. But he had the hardened, edgy att.i.tude of a kid who'd often found himself in trouble-and probably not by accident.

Still, Jules had to give the boy credit. He looked Arlene dead in the eye and held out his hand and said, "I'm Mike Milton, Mrs. Bristol."

"Liz's brother," Jack provided, in case they weren't on the same page. He turned to Mike. "And she's Ms. Schroeder. Maggie's name is Bristol, but her mom and dad are no longer married."

"Of course, I knew that, I'm sorry," the kid said. He glanced at Jules, but apparently decided that he didn't need to know who he was, because he turned back to Arlene. "Ms. Schroeder, I came over here tonight because my sister is convinced that you don't want her anywhere near Maggie ever again, and maybe that's the case, but there's really something that you need to know before you make any ultimatums and that's that Liz is the only person Maggie talks to, you know, about your being out there, in danger? And it's really not that Maggie talks to Lizzie, but it's that Liz makes Maggie talk. And I can see it-I can see that it helps her. Mags. And I try to get her to talk about it, too, but ..." He shook his head. "Lizzie's the only one she'll talk to and I know she's not perfect, Lizzie, she's really not even close to perfect, but her friendship with Maggie is ... It's important to both of them and ... I wanted you to know that."

It was quite the speech, a little wordy in places, sure-and it would have benefited from more traditional punctuation, which also would have allowed the kid the chance to take a breath.

But as far as heartfelt went, it was a perfect ten, in Jules's book. And evidently it got high scores in Arlene's, too, because she was now clearly struggling to find her voice to respond.

Jack gave her the time she needed to compose herself by putting a hand on Mike's shoulder and saying, "You were right-that's really important information for Arlene to know."

"Thank you," Arlene added. "I can tell that you ... care a lot about Maggie."

The boy's att.i.tude shifted into full-on bada.s.s, and he laughed his disgust as his entire face shut down. "Perfect, yeah, I should have expected you to go there. Right. I don't know why I bothered-"

"Yeah, you do." Jack cut him off. "And she didn't go there, but you sure as h.e.l.l just did. So why don't you just confess to Maggie's mother that you're smitten, but you know d.a.m.n well that right now the girl's too young. Cap it off with a little rea.s.surance that you're honorable-"

"I am honorable," Mike countered hotly, his chin high. "Not that I expect you to believe me."

"I'd very much like to believe you," Arlene said evenly. "But I don't really know you. So why don't you go home and pick up Lizzie and both come back here so we can all spend some time getting to know each other."

The boy looked at Arlene as if she'd just spoken to him in Chinese.

"Unless you have someplace you need to be," she continued. "In which case, you and Liz can come over for dinner. Maybe tomorrow ...?"

"Not tomorrow," Jack said quickly. "We're busy tomorrow. Night."

Arlene looked up at him in surprise. "We're ...?"

"Busy. Yes, we are." Jack nodded. For some reason he was unable or unwilling to look at her, his focus on Mike. "How about Sunday. I'll come, too."

The boy was astonished by the invitation, and Jules could tell that he was not the kind of kid who was often astonished. Mike closed his mouth. Opened it again. Closed it again, then cleared his throat. "No," he said. "Well, I mean, yeah. Dinner would, um ... I know Lizzie would like that and, um, I would. Also. But she's ... kinda waiting out in the car. See, I thought there might be a chance that Maggie's mom would be ... at least marginally cool."

Arlene had laced her fingers with Jack's, and she smiled now. "Go and get her. And tell her that Maggie-and I-will be very happy to see her."

Mike nodded. "I can't stay tonight," he said. "I wish I could, but ... I made a promise I have to keep. If you're serious about dinner, just tell Lizzie when, and ... I'll be there."

Arlene nodded. "Sunday."

"Or Monday," Jack interjected.

Arlene laughed as she looked at him. "Or, apparently, Monday."

As Mike headed toward the stairs, Arlene murmured to Jack, "Really?"

Jules turned to look over the rail and to watch the game that had started below. Maggie and Robin were kicking a.s.s as their opponents shrieked and laughed.

"I'm still holding out for Vegas," Jack murmured back, as Jules tried not to listen. He wasn't exactly sure what they were talking about, but it didn't take much imagination to guess. "I'm giving you twenty-four more hours."

She laughed again. "I'm not going to Vegas, Jack. Not after you just tipped your hand."

"I'm a terrible negotiator," he agreed. "But I do believe miracles happen every day, and that I'm due for one." He kissed her and changed the subject as he tugged her over to the railing so that they, too, could look down at the action. "So. Mike Milton. A lot less scary than he looks. But definitely damaged goods. "

"I have boys just like him in my unit," Arlene said. "Just dying for a little respect, and for someone to treat them decently." She looked up at Jack. "And yet ..."

"Good cop, bad cop," he told her. "You can deliver the respect and decency. I will pull him aside and let him know that we have a one-strike policy-and that if he touches Maggie inappropriately, I will not hesitate to cut off his b.a.l.l.s."

The game ended with the sound of a buzzer, and the door to the playing arena opened.

"Lizzie!" Maggie squealed as the other girl launched herself into the room, and they hugged as if they hadn't seen each other in five years, as Robin unhooked himself from the harness.

Mike stepped in through the door, too, and Maggie went running toward him. He glanced up at Jules, Arlene, and Jack.

"Yes, we are watching you, bucko," Arlene said quietly, even though she was smiling down at him.

He was not a stupid kid. He was well aware. He was also carrying something that he held out to Maggie. When she took it, Jules saw that it was a graphic novel. One of the X-Men anthologies.

Maggie was thrilled. As Mike spoke to her, she hugged the book to her chest and hung on his every word.

"Look at how she looks at him," Arlene murmured. "G.o.d help us."

Jack laughed. "Look at how hard he's trying to be cool."

Lizzie came over and tried to pull Maggie away, and Mike laughed. He ruffled his sister's hair, and then did the same to Maggie's before he turned to leave. He looked back, though, right before he went out through the door, and it was clear that he would rather have stayed.

"Gotta love a kid who keeps his promises," Jules pointed out.

"To his fellow gang members?" Arlene wondered aloud. "To his drug dealer? To his pregnant girlfriend?"

Jack laughed again. "We'll ask him at dinner."

"On Monday," she said.

His smile grew broader. "On Monday," he agreed, pulling her close, as Jules escaped downstairs.

Chapter Seventeen.

Maggie's hands were as big as Arlene's.

It shouldn't have been a shock because she was now taller than Arlene, too.

And yet ...

Maggie had gotten a green plastic signet-type ring with the face of a leprechaun imprinted on it out of what looked like a giant bubble-gum dispenser. She had been hoping to get the ring that had the head of the not-very-Johnny-Depp-ish pirate, but immediately announced that this was much better. And it became a whole, big, hilarious thing-whoever was deemed the all-star in the current round of Pairs got to wear the ridiculous ring.

And so it pa.s.sed from hand to hand.

Arlene had had possession of it for a few brief moments before the pizza arrived.

"This actually fits you? On your ring finger?" she asked Maggie as she slipped it on. It fit her perfectly.

Her daughter cheerfully replied, "It's a little tight."

And somehow Jack knew what Arlene was thinking and feeling, because he put his arms around her and gave her a hug, which was comforting and nice.

We. Us. Ours. They'd both been using those words a lot lately, and it didn't feel weird or wrong.

It felt oddly perfect, as if, at long last, the universe had finally been set right.

Even more odd was the fact that Arlene was a little disappointed that Jack had announced his intention to surrender on Sat.u.r.day night. Despite the sheer impracticality, part of her had been seriously considering taking him up on the craziness of a Las Vegas weekend. But not this weekend, because Maggie was part of her school's Playcrafters group, and they were performing a series of ten-minute plays at a local a.s.sisted-living facility on Sunday afternoon. And Arlene wasn't going to miss that.

Not for anything.

As far as her disappointment went, it was very small. Very manageable. It was nicely mixed with her current feeling of breathless antic.i.p.ation.

After this party was over, she was going to do her best to convince Jack that there was no point at all in waiting for tomorrow night.

Right now the conversation was all about a book called The Hunger Games. Will had gotten an early copy from a friend who did a book review blog at the Boston Globe, and Maggie had loved it so much that she shared it with all of her friends.

She'd made sure to get it back so that Arlene could read it, too. The copy was coming unglued, the pages rubberbanded together.

Arlene had finished it in one sitting, while Maggie was at school.

"Foxface," Lizzie was saying. "I would totally be Foxface. I would finally have a good reason to use my mad shoplifting skills."

Maggie looked quickly at Arlene. "She's kidding."

Arlene certainly hoped so. Jack was sitting so that his hand was resting lightly against her back, and she appreciated his solid presence.

"Don't say things like that," Maggie lit into Lizzie. "My mom doesn't know that you're not serious."

"My mother's the shoplifter in the family," Lizzie told Arlene brusquely, with a blunt honesty that was disarming. "She got caught once when my little brother and I were with her and ..." Her sharply featured face twisted. "Believe me when I tell you I'd starve to death before I ever did anything as moronically stupid as that."

Arlene did believe her. "That must've been hard."

"It sucked." Lizzie glanced at Maggie before steadily gazing back into Arlene's eyes. "But there are definitely worse things in life to endure."

"Lizzie," Maggie said, a warning tone in her voice.

"It's okay," Arlene told her daughter, still holding Lizzie's somewhat challenging gaze. "For the record, I liked Foxface a lot." She glanced at Jack who hadn't yet read the book. "I don't want to say more. Spoiler alert."

Jack spoke up. "I guess I gotta read this book."

"Oh, you do," Maggie told him earnestly. "I'll lend it to you."

"I'd love that," Jack said, smiling warmly back at her.

This was weird. This feeling of ... contentment? Satisfaction? Serenity?