The Miami sun was just as brutal and unforgiving as the sun in Nevada, Nick discovered, especially when you were stuck wearing a monkey suit and had to remain seated and motionless for the better part of two and a half hours. He'd tried all manners of things to try and ease his discomfort but to no avail. Beside him, Greg was less successful in his attempts to conceal his uneasiness: the younger man was twitchy as a frog in a science experiment as he jiggled his foot and tugged simultaeneously on his collar.
"Holy hell," he muttered to Nick at the corner of his mouth, "How much longer is this old windbag going to talk? There are only twenty people in the program."
"At least if he keels over, we can process the crime scene. It'll give us something to do. Do you know if she made a decision about moving yet?"
"No, not yet. Your guess is as good as mine."
"Hey," Nadine hissed pointing at the two men, "It's your sister and your girlfriend who's graduating, show some respect."
Greg would have sneered back at her playfully had it not been for the fact that his mother was sitting on the opposite side of Nadine. Sonja Sanders was not one to be trifled with at a simple church service, never mind her precious baby girl receiving her doctorate in psychology at the age of twenty-four. Then when they called the graduates, and they saw Renee standing at the side of the stage, both men forgot their restlessness. As she crossed the stage, they all stood up and clapped loudly for her, though no one cheered for her like Nick.
After the pomp of the ceremony was finished, and Sonja had taken nearly three rolls of pictures, Renee was more than a little thankful when her father ushered her mom away to the coffee service table.
"Renee, we'll meet you back at the hotel for dinner around seven thirty."
"Oh, just one more picture of my little girl in her cap and gown," Sonja pleaded, fussing at Renee's hair and making her daughter roll her eyes while Greg smothered a chuckle.
"Come on, dear, let's let our doctor have some time with her people," Oliver Sanders said gently tugging on his wife's elbow. The mild tone and easy smile on his fair-skinned face belied the fact that he was a highly successful businessman, but Greg knew better, especially when he was getting a verbal walloping at home as a teenager.
Alone now with her brother, his girlfriend and her boyfriend, Renee grinned broadly. Her mother and daddy had been to see her graduate, as had Nadine whom Renee had grown especially close to, and of course Greg and Nick were there. She could have sworn when she was up there, she heard Greg call her Gizmo but her good mood would not permit her to ream him out for it. "I have a surprise for you, Nick."
She pulled out a piece of paper from the folds of her gown, handed it to Nick.
"Twelve-thirty-three Cheyenne Street, building C room one twenty-five," he read, then handed it to Greg to study.
"Clues to a treasure hunt?"
"No, directions to my new office…with the Las Vegas Police Department."
Nick looked at her, blinked. "What?"
"I just found out this morning." Relishing the moment, as it was not often she got to surprise her sexy investigator, Renee grinned widely. "I got the counselling job. I'm moving to Vegas baby!"
Her voice rose in excitement with each word, as Nick scooped her up in a bear hug, swing her around. "I won't start until the beginning of September, and I'll have one last month in Miami helping to run the new cheerleading training camps at the end of August with the girl taking over my job," she continued, laughing as she hugged Greg, then Nadine, "but you can bet the bank, the last day of tryouts, my stuff is going in that U-Haul and I'm making my home address four-fifty-five West Desert Drive."
Renee turned back to Nick, who was swiping at the corners of his eyes. "Honey, you okay?"
Nick nodded, then planted a whooping kiss on Renee's mouth, not really caring that it made her turn red as a tomato. "I love you."
"Right back at you, handsome. Wanna go home?"
Nick grinned now too. "With you I'm always home."