“What’s her type?”

“She called him a ‘well-groomed Viking.’ It fit.”

“Oh my…I might like to see a well-groomed Viking.”

“Hey,” Cyrus said.

Paulina laughed her sweetest laugh.

“You know I love you and trust you. If you need this woman’s help, that’s fine. Finding out what happened to Father Ike is top priority.”

“You’re right,” Cyrus said. “You’re always right.”

“You know it,” she said. A long pause. Cyrus tensed. “You worried about something?”

“When am I not?”

“This lady?”

“She’s not bad,” Cyrus said. “But she’s no you.”

Paulina had insisted on counseling once they’d officially decided to be “a thing.” The first thing the counselor told Cyrus was, Tell her everything, even the stuff you don’t want to tell her. Especially the stuff you don’t want to tell her.

“Cyrus, one of these days you’re gonna have to get used to being around women again,” she said. “Women who aren’t me. Dr. Rourke said you should even try to make friends with a woman.”

“You want me to be friends with a dominatrix?”

“You never know who God’s gonna send into your life. The Creator can get real creative sometimes.”

“That’s for sure.”

“Think on it,” she said. “Maybe talk to that lady about it.”

Cyrus looked up as Nora entered the lobby wearing the same black dress and red strappy heels as yesterday. Was she a fine-looking lady? Definitely. But what he felt for her wasn’t attraction really, more like curiosity. He’d never met a woman quite that…what was the word he was looking for? Weird?

“We’ll see,” Cyrus said. “Gotta go, baby. Love you.”

“Love you, too, Daddy. See you tonight.”

Cyrus ended the call and stood up.

“‘Baby,’” Nora said, grinning the way women did when they caught a man in the act of doing something they approved of. “That’s cute.”

He ignored that. “You want to ride with me or me with you?”

She raised an eyebrow. “What’s your ride?”

“Black Honda CR-V. Yours?”

“Red Mustang convertible.”

Cyrus thought about that.

“You drive.”

Cyrus rode shotgun and didn’t mind at all when Nora put the top down. It wasn’t quite eighty yet, but it would hit it any hour now so they might as well enjoy the morning.

She slipped on a pair of black cat-eye sunglasses and headed out of the French Quarter.

“Kingsley first, I guess?” she asked.

“Might as well get it over with,” Cyrus said.

“Don’t worry about King. He’s fine. He’s just tense lately with Juliette about to have the baby.”

“It’s all right. I’m sure I’ll be the same way when it’s me and Paulina’s turn.”

“Paulina, pretty name. You two been together long?”

“Met two years ago, been dating about a year and a half. Engaged since May,” he said. “How about you and your Viking? Søren or whatever his name is?”

“Been together off and on since I was twenty,” she said.

“And you’re not married?”

She grinned as she made a left turn at a stop sign.