Melissa laughed. “Chest-thumping. That’s a good one. I’m going to get something cold to drink. Do you want anything? I have Coke or Mountain Dew, and of course sweet tea.”

“I’ll have sweet tea. Yours is really good.”

“Thanks. I won’t be long. Keep track of Josh for me. He’s looking for the tomb of the Snake King. It’s ancient Mayan stuff.”

She got up and kissed his cheek.

Sully smiled. “What’s that for?”

“You make me happy. That’s all,” she said, then left the room.

“You make me happy, too,” Sully said softly. Then his cell phone rang. He dug it out of his pocket. “This is Sully Raines.”

“Mr. Raines, this is Elliot Graham. I understand you’d like to talk with me.”

“Yes, sir, very much so.”

“Excellent. Do you know where I live?”

“No, sir, but Melissa Dean does. I’ll ask her.”

“Would tomorrow morning, say around ten, be a good time for you?”

“Yes, it would be perfect. Thank you.”

“See you then,” Elliot said, and disconnected.

Sully was still smiling when Melissa came back with their glasses.

“I heard your phone. Was it Elliot?”

Sully took the glass she handed him. “Yes. I see him tomorrow morning at ten. Can you tell me how to get there?”

She nodded as she sat down beside him. “I’ll look up his address tomorrow, and then you can use the GPS in your phone.”

“Perfect!” Sully lifted his glass. “A toast to psychics and all they know.”

“And to finding your birth mother,” Melissa added.

“I’ll drink to that,” Sully said. “And you haven’t missed a thing on the show. Josh Gates is still traipsing through the jungle.”

They watched for a while, until Sully noticed Melissa was nodding off.

“Honey, wake up. I think it’s bedtime.”

She blinked. “What?”

He smiled. “You were asleep. I think you’ve had enough of this day.”

She yawned. “I think you’re right,” she said.

Sully turned off the television while Melissa set the security alarm, then gave him the code to disarm it. She gave him her extra door key that she kept in a basket on a table in the entry.

“We won’t always be coming and going at the same time,” she said as she laid the key in his hand.

His fingers curled around it. “Thank you for this…for making my search all the easier and for offering me a place to stay.”

“I am blessed you came back in my life, whatever the capacity,” she said.

“The capacity is creating an ‘us’ from the ‘we’ we used to be,” he said, and took her hand. They went upstairs together, then paused in the hall. Sully kissed her forehead. “Rest well, love. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“You too. See you then,” she said, and went into her bedroom and closed the door, then sighed. You did it, girl. You kept your cool all evening, as if you invited men into your house all the time. If only Sully knew how much reluctance you had to let go to make this happen.