Chapter 33

Emma sighed. “All right, I’ll stay. But if it’s okay with you guys, I’m going to avoid the office from now on.” She offered a smile, the first he’d seen since before Rina’s visit. “That open door policy you’ve got is killer.”

Jesse returned her smile. “That’s fine. Most days, I want to avoid the office, too.” He directed her toward the table. “Now let’s eat the lunch you made before it gets cold, and then we’ll figure out what we’re going to do.”11

“Have you come to your senses yet?” Michelle greeted after the second ring. It was her standard response when she saw his name on the caller-id these days, always delivered with a mixture of curiosity and resignation.

“No, not yet.” He doodled on a scrap of paper, making intricate loops and swirls across the sheet. Emma and Gideon had only been gone ten minutes, and he was happy for the excuse to call Michelle and distract himself from thinking about their errand. “How are you?”