She hugged him then, hoping she could somehow make up for what she was feeling. “I think you work too hard, honey. Why can’t people do their taxes on time? All those extensions you have to file! I don’t know how you do it. You don’t charge nearly enough, Arnie.”

“I charge what’s fair, honey. I don’t want to get rich at the expense of other people. We’re doing just fine. The kids have college funds, we have everything we need and then some. We take three vacations a year. I don’t think it gets any better than that.”

Amy snuggled closer. “I don’t deserve you.”

“Let’s not go there again, Amy. I love you. You love me. We both love our family. We all deserve each other.”

“What would you do if you found out or someone told you I did something really terrible? Would you still love me?”

“Amy, what’s wrong? Is it Andy and Jill? First of all, you aren’t the type to do anything wrong. I would still love you no matter what. Does that make you feel better? Besides, we told each other everything. There are no secrets between us. We talked it all to death before we got married so that no surprises would ever pop up along the way. Our lives were open books. Now, if I ever found out you lied to me, that would be something different. You know how I feel about liars and people who try to cheat the government.

“You know what I would really like right now? A pizza with everything on it. Everything. And a nice cold beer. What do you say, Mrs. Chambers?”

Amy’s heart thumped in her chest. “I think that’s a sterling idea, Mr. Chambers. We’ll worry about our diets tomorrow.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Arnie said, patting his protruding belly.

“I’ll call in the order. You stay here and unwind. I’ll bring the beer after I make the call.”

“What would I do without you?”

What indeed?

4

Cady yawned when she looked at the small digital clock on the desk. She’d slept through the night on the library floor. How could it possibly be five o’clock in the morning? She yawned again before she started to roll her shoulders, then stretched out her legs.

“It’s still dark out, Atlas, but if you want to go out, I’m game. Let’s do it,” she said, scrambling up off the floor. “I think this is probably going to be one of those delicious spring mornings where the world and everything in it is beautiful.” She opened the door for the shepherd. He turned around to make sure she was following him.

Atlas lifted his leg on two trees and four bushes before he nosed her leg to let her know he was ready to go inside. “Good boy,” she said, patting him on the head. “Now, let’s see about getting some breakfast before we go upstairs. I’ll bet you’d like some sausage and eggs.”