Hank clamped one hand down on Luis's shoulder as they walked into the townhouse. "So this is it, buddy? Your first real home as a married man?"

"That it is, Hank." Luis's eyes lit up as he looked over toward the stairs. "I bet Sheridan's in the nursery."

"Well, let's go find her then."

"There's no need to come find me," Sheridan's voice sounded as she started down the steps. "I heard you both come in."

Hank's breath caught in his throat as Gwen stepped down next to Sheridan.

"Hank?"

"Gwen?"

"I . . . I didn't know you were coming here." Gwen clutched her purse.

Hank dug his hands into his pockets. "I . . . I didn't know you were already here."

Hank's eyes flew to Luis and Sheridan. "Did you two set this up?"

Sheridan twisted her lips. Luis blushed and hung his head. "We might have," Luis admitted, slipping his arm around Sheridan's waist. "Come on, Sher—let's give them some space."

Sheridan smiled softly at Luis and snuggled up to him. "I was thinking the same thing."

Gwen and Hank locked eyes; both of them swallowed hard.

The cell phone in Hank's pocket buzzed.

Gwen's eyes flew to Hank's pocket. "Are you going to answer that?"

Hank glanced at the phone and shoved it back into his pocket. "No—it's just Sam. But, hey, why don't you and I go for a walk?"

Luis's phone started buzzing, as well.

"This is Sam, too." Luis's brow furrowed. "I hope nothing's wrong."

Sheridan held on to Luis's arm as he flipped open his phone.

"Sam, what's up?" Luis dug his hand into his pocket and frowned as Sam answered. "What? Are you sure? Well, when's the last time anyone saw her? Yeah . . . yeah . . . I'm on it. I'll cover the north side of town. Hank's here with me, too. I'll let him know." Luis nodded his head. "Of course, Sam—we'll call you the second we know anything."

"What's going on?" Hank asked.

"It's Kay," Luis sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Sam told me that she and Grace had another fight, and then Kay ran away."

Sheridan gasped and cupped her belly; Luis slipped his arm back around her.

Hank frowned and rubbed his chin. "Luis, are you sure?"

Gwen stepped down next to Hank and squeezed his arm; Hank smiled gratefully at her.

"I'm sure." Luis swallowed hard and curled his fingers around Sheridan's belly. "Sam's been in touch with a lot of Kay's friends, but not even Simone or Miguel have any idea where she is. Sam's getting really worried—he's starting a town-wide search right now."

"Well, count me in." Hank turned to Gwen. "I'm sorry, Gwen, but I think our walk will have to wait."

"Don't think another second about it, Hank—I'll help you look."

Hank raised his brows. "Gwen, are you sure about that? After the way Kay treated you at Thanksgiving, no one will blame you if you don't want to help."

Gwen glanced down at the floor and then back up at Hank. "I want to help, Hank." Gwen bit down on her lip. "Kay must have been really hurting when she said what she did."

Hank smiled softly and stroked her cheek. "Do you know what an extraordinary woman you are, Gwen?"

Gwen smiled shyly and blushed.

Luis touched his free hand to Hank's shoulder. "Sheridan and I are going to start searching. Why don't you two catch up to us when you're ready?"

Hank intertwined his fingers through Gwen's and squeezed her hand. "We're right behind you, Luis."


Julian tightened his arms around Eve and kissed her shoulder. "Eve, why on earth would you think that? Of course you can trust yourself."

"No, I can't." Eve sobbed harder. "I've made a mess of my life so many times. And now I've lost the only person who's kept me from falling flat on my face—who, even when I screwed up big time—made me feel like I had something safe to hold on to."

"But, Eve, all this time, you've been saving yourself," Julian insisted. "TC didn't know a thing about our past—or how it continued to haunt you in the present—until very recently."

"That's true," Eve said. "But at times, he still made me feel like I might actually be okay as I was just by seeing the good in me."

Julian leaned back and looked at her. "But don't you see that, too? Just look at all of the lives you've made better through your work at the hospital and the community clinic."

"But I've also screwed up a lot, too." Eve choked on her tears. "I feel like every time I take a tiny step forward, I ultimately take forty steps back."

"Well, then maybe it's time you started seeing yourself more clearly—started focusing on those steps forward instead of on your mistakes." Julian kissed the top of her head. "You've course corrected more times than I can count; you've got a good heart—you've got to have more faith in yourself, Eve."