"Teresa?" I look up from my keyboard. Kim is standing at my desk holding two sodas.

"I was going to take a break in my office, want to join me?"

"Sure," I say and follow her to her glassed-in space.

She takes the seat behind her desk. I take the visitor's chair.

She slides a cold Diet Coke and a bag of Hershey's Kisses my way.

We crack open our sodas in unison and for a few moments the only noise is fizz and the crinkle of foil.

But all is not well at snack time. Kim's drinking that Coke way too fast and she's barely peeling the Kisses before tossing them in her mouth.

She smiles a nervous smile.

"This is about Jane, Teresa."

Of course it is. He gave her a rough time on that last case.

"That's just Jane being Jane, Kim. I wouldn't take the fact that he ditched you in Texas personally. I mean who hasn't he left hanging?"

She nods gratefully. She rolls the foil wrappers into little balls.

I continue, "And at least you had your phone."

Kim says, "He left you with no phone?"

My mind goes back to that sunset at the beach when Jane hugged me and tricked me and left me. I didn't mean to compare notes with Kim.

I wave the subject away. "Oh, he gets up to all sorts of crazy stuff."

Kim smiles wide. "He's really very clever. Always alert. His brain going a million miles an hour."

I say, "He's clever alright. The cleverer he gets, the more trouble he'll get you in."

She nods.

"Was he ever a dancer?" she asks.

What a strange question.

I say, "Jane, was a showman on the carny circuit but no, I don't think he ever danced in any professional sense."

My mind goes to the time I danced with him at that high school. He led me across the floor with such confidence and he smelled so good. But I don't want to share that with Kim either.

Kim continues, "Because, I don't know if you've ever noticed but he's very graceful. He just moves well."

I laugh. "Yeah, I guess sneaky and graceful are kissing cousins."

So she's studying Jane, watching him move. How many years have I done that?

She giggles. "He is sneaky alright. But he can be very sweet."

I shake my head. "He can be but he doesn't usually choose to be."

"I thought the wand was a wonderful gift." Her eyes are shining.

My mind goes to Jane opening the door of my office and the little pony being there. Another thing I don't need to tell Kim.

"A wonderful gift," Kim sighs. "Turns out being understood is an underrated pleasure."

"Being understood is a what?" I say.

"Just something he once said to me," Kim replies.

She tosses little balls of foil one by one into her trashcan.

I finish my Coke.

"You two were definitely never involved, right?" She says this without looking at me.

I bean her with a ball of foil. "Don't be silly, Kim, we've been through this."

I keep my tone light. I don't want this to turn into some interrogation about why Jane and I were never together. Kim and I have been there, done that.

"Good. Because I need your help." Kim stands and tidies up my pile of foil and my soda can.

"I'm in love with him."