Just when Summer thought her mom not quite in touch, she went ahead and said something so profound it set everything in its place.

“Of course,” her mom added. “It’s one thing to say leap. Another entirely to do it.”

There came a soft knock on the door. They looked up to see Kenny standing in jeans and a polo shirt, looking tall and extremely GQish. No clipboard in sight. “Hi,” he said, eyes on Camille. “Busy?”

“Uh, yes, actually,” Camille said.

“No.” Summer snagged the towering stack of deposit slips from in front of her mom and gathered them into her own pile.

Camille snatched them back.

“Mom.” Summer leaned in and whispered, “Do it. Leap.”

Camille stared at her, then bit her lip as she tipped her head to Kenny. “I guess maybe I’m suddenly not so busy after all.”

Kenny crouched next to her. “I’m off today. Thought maybe we could go have lunch.”

“Lunch?”

“Sure, you remember, where we sit across from each other over food and talk. Smile. Even laugh.”

Camille stared at him in indecision.

Kenny just waited with that endless patience of his.

“This is such a bad idea,” Camille finally said. “It’ll just lead to one thing or another…” She broke off, leaving Summer to wonder what exactly those “things” were, and had her mother and Kenny already done them?

Oh boy. Summer began to get up but Camille put her hand on Summer’s arm. “I thought we agreed not to see each other anymore.”

“No,” Kenny said. “We agreed to let you think about it. Me, I’m done thinking. I want to see you after this investigation, no matter the outcome. I want to see you a lot.”

“When I’m sixty, you’re going to be fifty-three.”

“And when I’m one hundred you’re going to be one hundred and seven. Looks like we both know our math.”

“Oh my God.” Camille looked at Summer, just a little scared and a lot lost.

Leap, Summer mouthed.

Camille looked disconcerted at having her own advice flung back at her. “You should go out with a woman who will marry you and give you children,” she said to Kenny.

“Camille,” he answered with a low laugh. “I’m looking for a sandwich and some conversation. Not a white dress and a white cake and a new set of china.”

Camille hesitated. “Well, I guess under those conditions, I could use a little nutrition.”

He stood and held out his hand for hers.

“Hang on a minute.” Camille pulled Summer aside. “Thanks for lending me some of your endless courage.”

Courage? Is that what her mother thought she had?

“You’re so full of life.” Camille smiled, even as her eyes went misty. “So like your dad.”

Summer’s heart filled. “Mom.”