“And who knows when Rafe will be back, now that he’s got another line on that mole.” Hayley tapped her finger on the big table. They’d come back to the Foxworth building as soon as everyone was ready. Adam found he couldn’t settle, even after the little sleep he’d gotten. He stared out the big window looking out over the meadow, wondering how things were going at home. He’d called this morning, and Nat had assured him things were fine.

“You’re useful, but not indispensable,” his sister had teased. “Do what you have to.”

He turned back now. “Mole?” he asked.

“Long story,” Quinn said, rather grimly. “We’ve been after someone who betrayed us for over two years now. Got Cutter shot.”

“And you,” Hayley said rather pointedly, as Cutter woofed softly as if to say it was nothing.

“That, too,” Quinn allowed in about the same tone as the dog. “Thought we had him a couple of times, but it was never the top guy behind it.”

“Took out a few slimy folks in the process, though,” Hayley said, in a much lighter tone. “And we’ll get him, or her, eventually.”

“You’re awfully cheerful about it,” Amanda said. It was the first time she’d spoken since they’d gotten here.

“Because if that mission had gone any differently, Quinn and I might not be together.”

“There is that,” Quinn said, looking at her, and Adam thought he’d never heard quite that note in a man’s voice before.

He sat down rather heavily, but safely across the table from Amanda. He’d never thought much—or at least tried not to—about whether his future, such as it was, would ever include a woman, marriage, kids maybe. He couldn’t quite make the jump to imagining a woman who would want him, want his life. Not in the way Hayley wanted Quinn and his.

And it was all he could do, when that old familiar thought came into his mind once more, not to look up at Amanda.

She’d been acting rather odd since this morning. Quiet. Almost withdrawn. And more than once he’d caught her watching him. With those green eyes that were so familiar, but this morning reddened, as if she’d had a sleepless night just as he had.

Or as if she’d been crying. And why not? If there was ever a time when she had the right, this was it.