He escorted her to his car and held the passenger door for her, closing it when she was settled. As he walked around the front of the car, she thought about her own car and wanted to ask if it would be okay in the lot overnight, but that would take energy she couldn’t muster at the moment.

Determined to stay awake until she got home and could fall face-first on her bed, Sam tipped her head back against the cushioned headrest. That was a mistake, because the next thing she knew, Hill was opening the car door and acting like he was going to lift her out of the passenger seat.

“Hands off,” she said, smacking at him. “I can walk.”

“Fine.”

“Yes, I am fine. Thanks for the ride.”

“Do you want me to pick you up in the morning?”

“No, I do not want you to pick me up in the morning. Go away. You were supposed to go away.”

“I’m sorry if my promotion has inconvenienced you.”

“It has inconvenienced me, now get the hell out of here before my husband comes home and thinks you’re moving in on his territory—again.”

“Honestly, Sam, we’re all adults here. I’m not moving in on anything.”

“Try telling him that.” Sam told herself to stop talking, to walk away and into the house before she could make an uncomfortable situation worse than it already was.

The front door to her house opened, and Shelby came out wearing one of her litany of pink tracksuits and sparkly pink running shoes. She came down the ramp to the sidewalk.

“Agent Hill,” she said, smiling brightly. “Nice to see you again.”

“You too.”

“Are you okay, Sam?” Shelby asked, taking a close look at her.

“I will be when I get some sleep. Later.” Sam dragged herself up the ramp and into the house, leaving the door propped open for Shelby. She trudged upstairs and headed for the shower.

Before she hit the sack, she called Nick, anxious to hear how his talk with Scotty had gone.

“Hey, babe. We’re on our way home. Where are you?”

“Home with about two minutes of consciousness left in me. How’s the boy?”

“He’s been better, but we had a good talk. Not that anything I say can make sense of it for him.”

“I’m sure you were great with him. My dad wanted to see him. Would you mind dropping by there when you get home?”

“Sure, no problem. You wouldn’t believe what else we talked about.”

“What?”

“I’ll save that for when you’re wide-awake,” he said with a laugh, letting her know it was nothing serious.

“I’ll look forward to hearing all about it. Tell him I’m sorry I won’t see him tonight. I can’t stay awake.”

“That’s okay. Go to sleep. Love you, babe.”