“He knew where you were and what you were doing. At one point, he said he was glad you were the one looking for Willie’s killer because if anyone could find the person who did it, you can.”

“I hope I don’t let him down. We’ve got such a mountain to climb with this one. Where do we even begin when so many people were mad at him?”

“I suppose you work it the way you always do and wait for something to pop, as you would say.”

“Yeah, I guess. Hopefully something popped overnight that will give us a direction in the morning.”

He kissed her forehead and caressed her face. “Shut off that brain of yours and get some more sleep while you can.”

“I will, but first tell me about the funny thing that happened earlier with Scotty.”

Nick laughed. “You won’t believe what he asked me about.”

“What?”

“Blow jobs.”

Sam lifted her head off his chest, and he wished the light were on so he could see her expression. “Are you freaking kidding me? Where the hell did he hear about that?”

“School. Where else?”

“I knew we should’ve sent him to the Quakers. I bet they don’t talk about that stuff there.”

“All boys talk about that stuff, no matter what school they go to.”

“He’s too young to be thinking about blow jobs.”

“He’s not too young, but luckily, he’s not thinking about them the way we do. When I told him what it means he was totally grossed out.”

“So you told him the actual truth?”

“Of course I did. He’s too old to be treated like a baby.”

“I suppose that’s true. What exactly did you say?”

“That it’s when a girl kisses you down there.”

“Ack!” She let out a squeak of protest and pressed her face to his chest. “I’m dying. Dying. Dying. Dying!”

His finger combed through her hair. “Don’t do that. I need you too much.”

“So it grossed him out, huh?”

“Yep. He said anyone who likes that has something wrong with him. I said there’s nothing wrong with me.”

“You did not! Oh my God, Nick! Now he’ll know we do that. Or that I do it.”

“So what? It’s part of life. Why should we act like that doesn’t happen between us?”

“God,” she said with a sigh, setting back on his chest. “I’m so not cut out for motherhood.”

“Sure you are,” he said with a chuckle. “The challenge is that we’re going right from the frying pan to the fire of adolescence without years to prepare ourselves. We’ve gotta be ready for this stuff. It’s coming fast and furious, whether we like it or not.”

“I’d like to unsubscribe from the vocabulary conversations.”

“No problem,” he said, smiling. “How about I handle anything in the penis department?”