“I’ve got nothing going on tonight. I’m happy to stay here. Don’t worry about us. We’re just fine.”

Sam nearly sagged with the overwhelming relief of having someone she trusted to help with Scotty. “I really appreciate it. I hope you know that.”

“Of course I do. It’s my pleasure to spend time with him. I suspect I love him almost as much as you do.”

“He’s pretty easy to love. Could I talk to him?”

“Sure, let me see if he’s out of the shower yet. He talked me into pizza for dinner in exchange for taking his shower earlier than usual.”

“You’re a shrewd negotiator.”

“I’m learning. Scotty, Sam is on the phone and wants to talk to you. Here he is.”

“Hi, Sam, did you catch the bad guy yet?”

“Not quite yet, but we think we know who it is. I’ll tell you all about it when I see you in the morning.”

“I still get to go with Mrs. L tomorrow right?”

“Absolutely.”

“She called tonight to see if I might like to have a sleepover at the house so I could see the kids. I told her I’d ask you and let her know tomorrow.”

“That sounds like fun. If you want to stay, I can’t see any reason why not.”

“Will Nick mind if he gets home and I’m not here?”

“I bet he’ll be so tired that all he’ll want to do is sleep when he first gets home.”

“That’s probably true.”

“How about you go with Mrs. L tomorrow, sleep over with the kids and we’ll come get you Sunday afternoon? Maybe we can even stop at the farm and have dinner with the O’Connors on the way home.” They had a standing invite to Sunday dinner that they rarely had time to accept.

“Could I ride the horses?”

“I’m sure that could be arranged.”

“That would be the best weekend ever.”

Sam smiled, delighted by his endless enthusiasm. “Shelby said things went okay with Nathan and the other kids today?”

“Yep. He didn’t even look at me. I don’t know what you said to his mom, but whatever it was, it worked.”

“And the other kids didn’t treat you any differently?”

“Nope.”

“That’s cuz they know your mom is a badass cop.”

“Sam...”

“I know, I know,” she said, holding back a laugh. The kid was too damned much.

“We need a swear jar in our house.”

“What the heck is that?”

“We had one in Richmond. Every time you swear, you have to put in a quarter that I get to keep. I’ll be rich living with you.”

“Very funny! I need a full list of what counts as a swear if I’m going to have to pay for them.”

“You know what counts.”