Sarah Webber woke up, not sure where she was for a second, then realizing she was in the hotel in Detroit. She sat up, looked over at Duane, and smiled. She wondered if he would always sleep longer than she did. He had the time he had spent the night at her apartment.
She pulled on her red silk robe and called room service.
When he woke up, she was already drinking coffee.
"Hey," she said. "I didn't wake you up, did I?"
"I don't know," he said. "But I don't care if you did."
She handed him a cup of coffee.
"Thank you," he said.
His phone rang. He looked at it and answered it. "Hi, Yvonne," he said. "I'm fine. I got stuck in Detroit. This deposition started Thursday and it has to go over to Monday." He was quiet awhile. "Thanks," he said. He smiled. "OK," he said. "Did you find it? Maybe the garage? OK, honey." He hung up.
Sarah leaned back. She was torn between curiosity and not wanting to seem nosy.
"Yvonne went home for her old CD player," he said. "She noticed I was missing."
"Where does she live?"
"In a dorm at PCU. She lives with me officially, you know, how you lived with your parents on holidays and in summers in college? I think Valerie lives with me too, on that basis."
"Yes, I know of that. Though my parents lived in Bosnia."
"Did you ever go there?"
"Yes. I'll tell you about it sometime. So the girls live with you, not their mother?"
"I would say so. They were grown up, so it was their choice. I think to them it is easier to come to my place where it's just me than to go to theirs where they have to deal with her husband. Not that they hate him. They just don't have to deal with that at my place. They're not home that much, though."
"Yvonne didn't wonder where you were when you stayed with me?"
"She didn't notice I wasn't home."
She leaned against him. He put his cup down and put his arms around her. "Amusing," he said. "How it's my kids, not my parents, who might wonder where I am."
"Your kids didn't establish a curfew for you."
He smiled. "Not so far."
"You want to be around in case they need you."
"Sure, but they can call."
He sensed some anxiety in her. "How often did you call your parents when you were in college?" he asked.
"Not that much," she answered.
"See?" he smiled. He bent his head and kissed her, until she forgot all about how on this one issue, he had more in common with her parents than with her.
"I'm glad I had all this time with you," she said later, hours later, when it was time for her to go the airport. "Thank you."
"Thank you for coming," he said.
When they got to the passenger lounge, he wasn't touching her again. But then suddenly, he took her in his arms.
He realized that he was going to miss her. It seemed very strange to him. He wondered if what she had said about spending time with him meant she wasn't going to spend any more with him.
"I'll miss you," he said.
She looked up at him and then kissed him passionately. His doubts resolved a little.
Jackson Delaney, looking for his passenger in the lounge, saw them. He saw her, kissing Duane Edwards.
Jackson was shocked at first. He hadn't thought of that. Wasn't Duane Edwards married? No, he was divorced. Jackson thought maybe he had heard that. But Dr. Webber was so young. Then again, she was a doctor.
As they flew back and Jackson talked to Sarah some more, he revised his opinion. Sarah was so smart, he realized, guys her age would just bore her to death. She was a match for Duane Edwards, all right.
He told his older brother Jim about it, next time he saw him. Jim was an orthopedic surgeon at Mercy Hospital. Jim and Duane were good friends. They had met years ago when Jim had testified on one of Duane's cases.
"I wouldn't have thought of Duane as likely to do that," Jim said. "Go for a younger woman. But you're right. If she's smart, she's his type, now. I think after Allison he'd value smart, and professional. So her youth may not be a barrier."
"If he hadn't mentioned her to you, though, maybe he's doubtful."
"So far."
"Yes," Jackson said. "Did I tell you about how we kidnapped a girl by accident? Amanda Friel's sister came with us on our last Zander trip, and the sister hadn't told the father where she was going." Jackson explained the situation to his brother.
"Crazy," Jim said. "But nowadays, I don't blame the father for panicking."
