Reflections

by evitascarlett

A companion piece to 'Apologize'. Chronicling the lives and love story of Jim and Johanna Beckett through the years. See Authors Note at the beginning of Chapter One for more details! Cover art by LordofKavaka

24. Chapter 24 - Sassy's Back In Town

Chapter 24 – Sassy's Back In Town

Labor Day afternoon found Johanna sitting on the cushioned wicker sofa on her brother's back porch. Greg was on her lap, looking at the pictures in one of the storybooks she had brought back from her trip for him. Valerie stepped out the back door, carrying a tray that held three cold glasses of lemonade and a bottle of chilled juice for the baby. She handed Johanna the bottle for Greg and then sat the glasses on the stand between the small sofa and the chair she had been occupying.

"Frankie, your drink will be here on the porch when you want it," she called out to her husband. He gave a wave of acknowledgement as he manned the grill. Valerie double checked the baby gate that was blocking off the porch steps and then she returned to her chair.

"I really do love this necklace, Jo," Valerie said as she touched the turquoise pendent that hung around her neck.

"I'm glad," she replied. "I thought of you as soon as I saw it."

Her sister-in-law smiled. "It was nice of you to think of me…although you apparently thought Greg's birthday was today instead of the 24th."

Johanna laughed. "Nope, I didn't make that mistake. I have plenty of things for my little man's birthday," she said, giving Greg a little squeeze. "These are just because presents."

"You're spoiling him," Valerie said good naturedly.

"I'm his aunt, that's my right."

"I suppose it is…after all; neither one of his other aunts spoil him. It's nice for him to have at least one."

"Well then it isn't just my right, it's my duty," Johanna said as Greg wiggled to get down so he could play with his toys. She held on to him as her eyes darted to the baby gate.

"Frankie has it nice and tight," Valerie assured as she followed her gaze. "I doubt Greg will venture that far but if he starts to, I'll be able to grab him."

Satisfied with that answer, Johanna sat Greg down on his feet and he toddled over to the truck she had brought him and plopped down. "You're such a big boy now," she told him. "I can't believe you started walking while I was away."

The little boy smiled at her and then gave his attention to his new toys. "It was nice of your boyfriend to buy Greg a present," Valerie remarked with a knowing gleam in her eyes as Greg pushed his truck into one of the buckets that Jim had bought him and laughed as it toppled over.

"He's not my boyfriend," she declared.

"Mhmm, that's why he took you on vacation and bought your nephew a gift."

"It's not a big deal. I bought gifts for his nieces and nephews too."

"Oh really?" she teased. "My, this is getting serious."

Johanna's cheeks warmed. "It isn't."

"Tell that to your face," the other woman laughed.

"Did you tell Frankie?" she asked in a hushed whisper.

"No, I promised I wouldn't…but he has his suspicions that you went with a man."

"Suspicions I can deal with," she remarked; feeling like it was time for a subject change. "Why aren't Mom and Dad here?"

"One of Frank's colleagues invited them to whatever big to do they were having. Frankie was invited too but he said he'd rather stay home."

"What about your parents?"

Valerie rolled her eyes. "Stuck up Pamela's backside as usual. If she has a get together at her house, she always wins."

"Sisters," Johanna sighed; "They're a pain in the ass."

"They sure are, at least most of them. I don't have any problems with you though, I'm glad to have you around."

"I'm glad to have you too, Val. Speaking of sisters…where's Colleen?"

"With the Westons of course. We invited her but you know…she has to play nice with her mommy-in-law. Frankie said it was just as well, he can't stand listening to the recap of her honeymoon in Spain one more time. We didn't know if you were going to be back in time or not; but we're glad you're here."

"I'm glad to be here too," she replied as she picked up her glass of lemonade and took a sip while Greg examined the buckle on the strap of her sandal.

"If I had known you'd be back in time, I would've told you to invite your friend over."

Johanna's gaze slid back toward Valerie. "It doesn't matter; I'm sure he's busy seeing his own family today since we both go back to work tomorrow."

"Well you can always bring him over for dinner another time."

She laughed. "That's a sweet offer but I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"Because…we're not together like that, Val."

Her sister-in-law shrugged. "So, you could still bring him over…just because you aren't dating right now doesn't mean you won't be sometime soon. I mean seriously, things do seem to be…well…kind of serious between the two of you. Come on, Jo; if you think I believe that the two of you spent two weeks together and nothing happened, you're crazy. I'm not buying that you haven't crossed a few lines. Frankie did tell me about seeing the two of you kissing when he dropped you off the night before Colleen's wedding."

Johanna glanced down at Greg who was still fascinated with her sandal as he pulled at the buckle. "It's complicated."

"Complicated? What kind of complicated? Complications that you invent or real ones? Does he have a spouse and kids somewhere?"

"No!"

"Do you?"

"Valerie," she said with an unamused glare.

"Well then what's so complicated about things? Neither one of you are tied down."

She shrugged. "It just is…we're not ready yet."

"So give some gentle nudges; start bringing him around. Have you met any of his family?"

"Yeah…"

"Like who?"

"His parents…and his siblings and his nieces and nephews…and we had dinner with his grandmother," she reluctantly admitted.

Valerie eyed her. "You had dinner with his grandmother but you won't bring him to have dinner with us? What's up with that?"

"Nothing."

"Who has he met in our family?"

"He's met Mom and Colleen and Frankie…and Greg."

"Greg!" Valerie exclaimed. "When did he meet Greg?"

"Mama!" Greg said in response to hearing his name.

"Months ago," Johanna answered as her nephew grabbed hold of her leg and pulled himself up. "It was when you were out of town with Frankie and your parents needed me to watch him for a few hours. Jim took me to pick him up."

"So he's met everyone but me, Frank and Grandma."

"Pretty much," she replied as she picked up the baby.

"I'm sure you aren't eager for him to meet Frank and I don't blame you," Valerie remarked.

"You got that right," Johanna stated as she turned her attention to her nephew allowing him to stand on her thighs. "Did you learn to say my name yet?" she asked him. "Say Johanna."

He grinned at her, his small hands patting her cheeks. "Come on, say it; say Johanna," she coaxed.

"I think that one may be a little too hard for him just yet," Valerie remarked; "And you're avoiding the subject."

"Say it for me, Greg; show Mommy you're a smart boy and can do it. Come on, I know you can. Say Johanna for me."

"Na!" Greg exclaimed; smacking her cheek lightly. "Na!"

She smiled. "Well that's close, we'll work on it."

"Na, Na, Na!" he repeated as she kissed his cheek and settled him on her lap.

Valerie was still eying her. "Now that you've had your language lesson, are you ready to get back to the topic at hand?"

"I might take him to meet Grandma," Johanna replied. "I don't know when but I figure one grandma meeting deserves another."

"Good choice;" her sister-in-law agreed; "And once you see that it goes okay, you can bring him to dinner here."

"Burgers are ready," Frankie called out from the grill.

"Thank God," Johanna remarked as she stood, shifting Greg to her hip.

"Don't go thinking I'm going to forget about this, Jo," Valerie laughed.

"Oh of course not; what kind of sister-in-law would you be if you did that?"

---

"Did you think this was Christmas instead of Labor Day?" Natalie Beckett asked as Jim sat three more gifts bags in front of his eldest niece and two nephews while handing his sister-in-law the bag containing Alicia's gifts. "You gave them plenty already."

"These aren't from me," Jim responded.

"Who are they from, Uncle Jim?" Mikey asked.

"They're from Johanna," he replied, managing to only groan internally when his brother and sister-in-law regarded him with raised brows. His sister gave a small giggle at the announcement.

"I guess now we know why your vacation was such a secret, Jimmy. You didn't want us to know that you we're having company for it," Madelyn teased.

"It wasn't a secret. I just figured that I didn't have to tell any of you my business."

"New truck!" Danny exclaimed happily as he pulled the yellow dump truck from his bag.

"I got a new Barbie!" Angie remarked with a wide smile.

"I got comic books!" Mikey announced; an eager gleam in his eyes.

"There's more in there," Jim prodded; figuring it was best to keep the attention on the children and off of how he had spent his vacation.

Mikey pulled his art set from the bag and examined the contents thoroughly. Jim could see him pondering what he'd draw first as his fingers moved across the rows of crayons and markers, his eyes taking note of the thick stack of drawing paper.

"Blocks!" Danny said excitedly, causing Jim to laugh as the boy demanded that Michael open the package.

"Look, Mommy; a Barbie shirt," Angie squealed as she held up her gift.

"That's very nice," Natalie said as she took the shirt and looked at it. "It'll match your pretty blue eyes."

"Johanna wasn't sure about the size," Jim stated.

"Oh I'm sure it will fit," Natalie said as she looked at the tag. "If anything it'll be a little loose but that isn't a problem."

Angie was already digging back into the bag and pulling out the hair accessories that Johanna had picked out for her. "Look at my hair things!" she cried happily.

"Miss Jo thought you'd like those for school," Jim told her. "She told me that little girls like to feel extra pretty when they're going to school for the first time."

Angie's blue eyes sparkled as she looked at the items, her attention falling on a white headband that had a pink flower on it. "Mommy, can I wear this tomorrow?"

"I don't see why not; your dress is pink, it'll match nicely," Natalie replied. "What else do you have, Mikey?"

"New Hot Wheels," he answered; his fingers already ripping the packages open.

"I got books," Danny declared with a smile; holding up his new story books.

"Miss Jo must think you're all pretty special," Michael remarked.

"She likes us," Angie confirmed; "Doesn't she, Uncle Jim?"

"Yes, she does."

"Where is Miss Jo?" Mikey asked.

"She's probably visiting her nephew," Jim replied, ignoring that little pang of longing that skittered across his heart as he wished she was there with him.

"Where did all of that stuff come from? Elizabeth Beckett asked as she stepped into the living room. "I thought you had already given them their gifts, Jimmy?"

"He brought us our presents from Miss Jo," Angie announced.

"Miss Jo?" Elizabeth repeated; her nose wrinkling with distaste as Robert moved past her and entered the room, taking up residence in his favorite recliner.

"So Miss Jo sent presents for all of you, did she?" Robert asked warmly. "Wasn't that nice of her?"

"Apparently she and Jimmy went on vacation together," Madelyn supplied; earning a glare from her brother.

Elizabeth's eyes widened. "James Robert; tell me you didn't go on vacation with that woman!"

Her attitude was like a match lighting his temper on fire. Jim looked her in the eye and nodded. "Yes, Mother; I was fortunate enough to have Johanna to join me for my trip."

Disgust colored Elizabeth's haughty features. "Well I never! Back in my day, proper young ladies didn't go off gallivanting with a man that she wasn't married to! That girl isn't anything but trouble, Jimmy. You mark my words. She's a scheming little gold digger."

"Mother; Johanna is not a gold digger. She has her own money, she doesn't need mine or yours if that's what you're so worried about."

"I'm worried about you," she snapped. "I hate seeing you fall in with the wrong kind of people."

"For God's sake, Lizzie," Robert interrupted. "Johanna is a lovely young lady; there's no reason for you to take on so much about her. She's never done a damn thing to you. Jimmy doesn't need your permission to see her."

"It's a shame he doesn't need my permission! I don't like that girl. She might have all of you fooled but she doesn't fool me for a minute. She's scheming; look at how she's trying to wiggle her way into my family! Asking my husband for advice on her stocks and bonds, babysitting and buying gifts for my grandchildren…"

"Oh that's such a horrible crime," Michael said sarcastically. "Natalie came home and found the kids happy, clean, and healthy. The woman is clearly a menace to society."

"You shut up," their mother retorted. "She monopolizes all of your brother's time…"

"She does no such thing," Jim retorted. "If I give her my time, it's because I want to."

"And you just have to give it to her on Sundays when you know I expect you home for dinner with the rest of your siblings?"

"I wasn't aware that I owed you my presence every Sunday; but yes, if she asks me to join her for dinner on Sundays, that's where I'm going to be…you'll just have to get over it."

"Mother; let's not forget that Johanna did us the favor of sitting with Dad one day while he was in the hospital so we could get some rest," Madelyn reminded her.

"I didn't ask her to," Elizabeth snapped. "It was more scheming! She's nothing but a high maintenance, flashy little piece of baggage, looking for a well to do young man to get her hooks into and it will not be my son if I can help it!"

"Don't you ever call her that again!" Jim exclaimed as he got up from his chair and crossed the room to stand before his mother. "Johanna isn't any of the things you paint her to be and if I want to be with her, I will. I'm a grown man, Mother; you don't tell me who I get to see or love. If I want to see Johanna, I will. If I want to take her on ten vacations, I will. If I want to marry her and make her the mother of my children, I will."

"Oh for God's sake, Jimmy; don't you fall into her trap and marry that girl. You can do so much better. If you'd just give Helen Cra…"

"No! I will not give Helen Crawford a chance. I can't stand her and I don't want her. Get that through your head. I will never be with her and you're not going to arrange my life and pick out who I spend it with! I enjoy being with Johanna; and as my mother, the only thing that should matter to you is the fact that she makes me happy."

Elizabeth shook her head, her lips pressed into a tight thin line. "She'll just break your heart, Jimmy. She's nothing but trouble; it's written all over her from her head down to those ridiculously high heels she wears, with her toes peeking out of them. Those are the shoes of…"

"Don't you say it," Jim warned. "You think every woman besides yourself is a tramp and it's time you got over it."

"Yeah, Mom," Michael stated. "You can't be too against sex, you have five kids…apparently you kept going back for more."

Elizabeth's face took on the look of horror as Robert laughed. "He's got you there, Lizzie."

"I tried very hard to raise this family to be decent and look at how you all turned out!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "My boys are smart mouthed and chase after everything in a skirt, not choosing ideal mates to spend their lives with…"

"Hey," Natalie said; "I take offense at that, Elizabeth."

The older woman sneered. "I don't particularly care what you take offense to, Natalie. I never was crazy about you. Michael was all set to marry Connie before you came along."

"That's news to me," Michael replied. "I wasn't even aware that I was dating her…you just kept inviting her over for dinner. I thought you were mentoring her or something."

"You know you were fond of Connie!"

"The hell I was!"

"Lizzie; the only one fond of Connie and Helen is you," Robert remarked. "Now Michael found himself a fine wife and Natalie loves him and she's a good mother to their children. Jimmy is capable of finding his own wife as well, and if that turns out to be Johanna, then I'd say he's done well. She's smart, she has a career, she's kind and compassionate, warm and funny, she knows how to handle her finances, she's adept at child care and she can cook…and like the boy says, she makes him happy, so let him alone."

"As I was saying," Elizabeth remarked; ignoring her husband's words. "My boys are smart mouthed skirt chasers, with the exception of William, who seems to know better, and I have a daughter who's apparently going to be a spinster, and a husband who thinks everything is funny!"

"Why shouldn't I think everything is funny?" Robert asked. "You do enough griping for all of us."

"Isn't that the truth," Jim said. "You know what I like most about Johanna, Mom?"

"That she isn't much of a challenge for you?"

"That's what you think," he replied sharply. "What I like best about her is that unlike you, she doesn't walk around with her nose in the air, acting like she's better than everyone else. You're my mother and I love you, but you're a damn snob. You could be the poster child for snobbery. Johanna isn't like that, she isn't like any other woman I've ever met and that's very refreshing. She isn't going anywhere, so you may as well get used to it and get over it."

"Fine," she stated. "If you want to chase Johanna McKenzie, you go right ahead…and when it all blows up in your face, don't come crying to me."

"Believe me I won't," Jim answered; "And if she is trouble like you say, it's trouble I don't mind having."

---

The next morning, Johanna rushed to get ready for work. She couldn't remember the last time she had slept through her alarm but it would figure that it would happen on her first day back to work. Jim had said that he'd pick her up but she hadn't heard from him the night before so she wasn't entirely sure that he was still coming…although she couldn't really imagine why he wouldn't, unless he forgot that he had mentioned it of course. She had butterflies in her stomach at the thought of seeing him and she couldn't really understand the feeling. Things had been cozy between them during their trip…extremely cozy if she was being perfectly honest and as always, they had parted amicably when he had brought her home. One day apart shouldn't turn her into a nervous school girl…and yet that was exactly what she felt like.

Maybe it was because she knew things would be back to normal so to speak, or at least things were supposed to be back to their version of normal. That type of normal felt like a step backwards from what they had been for the past two weeks though. She blew out a breath; she had agreed that things were fine for now and she meant that. There was no need to dwell on something feeling like a step backwards. Johanna raked a hand through her hair, she didn't have time for daydreaming and dwelling anyway, she needed to finish getting ready. Being late for work wouldn't get the week off to a good start.

Jim stepped off the elevator and walked slowly down the hallway toward Johanna's door. He wasn't sure why he felt so hesitant about this. It wasn't like he was meeting her for the first time. He had hardly been able to stop thinking of her the day before. He had wanted to call last night when he got home but for some reason, he had refrained. He released a heavy breath; he had thought about her so much the day before that she had crept into his dreams…not that that was unusual.

He gave his head a shake as he tried to dislodge the memory of the dream he'd had the night before which had found them back in that hotel room in North Carolina…and how they had finished what they had started that night she had innocently given him a massage. All he had been able to think about all morning was kissing her. Jim closed his eyes and sighed as he stood in front of her door, it wasn't going to be easy to show restraint when he had gotten so used to acting so freely with her…touching and kissing any time the mood struck. No, it wouldn't be easy to find those boundary lines again, but they would…it might just take a day or two. With that thought in mind, he knocked on the door.

A few moments passed before he heard the tumble of the locks releasing and the door opened. A bright smile spread across Johanna's lips at the sight of him, despite her attempt to act subdued. A smile of his own curved his lips upward as he met her gaze and he was sure that his heart skipped a beat.

"Hey, sweetheart," he said quietly as he stepped across the threshold.

"Good morning," she responded, shifting on her feet as awkwardness filled the air between them.

"Are you ready to go?"

"No…I'm so sorry, Jim. I'm almost ready. I slept through my alarm and I'm running behind. I'll only be a minute; I just have to get my shoes and make sure I have everything. I didn't even have time for breakfast this morning."

She was rambling, Jim thought to himself as she continued on about oversleeping as she hurried around the room, shoving files into her briefcase and grabbing her watch from the coffee table. She always rambled when she was nervous.

"It's alright, Jo," he interrupted. "We still have plenty of time to get to work. I hate the thought of you going without breakfast though."

"I'll be fine; I've done it before. It would just figure that I'd oversleep today."

"I guess it's hard to get back on schedule after being on vacation for two weeks," he replied, shoving his hands into his pockets as he tried not to watch her so intently.

"Yeah…I guess it is," she remarked; wondering if they were talking about more than just a sleep schedule.

"I didn't want to get out of bed either," he commented; leaving out the fact that his dreams had been far more enticing than the thought of sitting behind his desk.

Johanna ran back to her room to grab her shoes and then she returned and set about finding her purse. "Greg liked those buckets and shovels you got him…he enjoyed crashing his toy trucks into the buckets and making them fall over," she told him, desperate to fill the silence as she snatched up her keys from the stand and shoved them in her bag.

"I knew he'd find a use for them. I took the kids their gifts yesterday too. They were all very happy with the things you sent them."

She finally had both purse and briefcase in hand, shoes on her feet and she figured she looked as good as it was going to get for a Tuesday morning. She was a little hungry but she'd have to deal with it. "I'm glad they liked them," she answered as they exited the apartment. "Did I get the right size for the baby's dress and Angie's shirt?"

"Yes; everything was fine."

It grew quiet as they made their way down the hallway and onto the elevator. Johanna wanted to talk but she wasn't sure what to say and her nerves were still bothering her. It felt odd between them and she wasn't sure how to fix it.

Jim kept his gaze on just about everything but her and his hands in his pockets as they rode the elevator. That urge to kiss her still hadn't been squashed, and he kept having little flashes of that dream…and flashes of memories of their trip and the intimacy they had seemed to acquire there. He was sure that she was just as uncomfortable as he was as they stepped off the elevator and exited her building. She murmured a quiet "thank you" when he opened the passenger side door for her but other than that the silence remained in tact and it bothered him.

He settled into the driver's seat and put the key in the ignition but he didn't start the car. "Jo?"

"Yeah," she answered somewhat softly as she turned her head to look at him.

"Why does this feel so weird this morning?"

She dipped her head for a moment as she pondered the best way to answer but she couldn't really come up with anything. She wasn't quite sure herself why things felt so odd. "I don't know, Jim," she finally replied; her eyes meeting his once more. "To tell you the truth, I've been nervous all morning."

"About going back to work? Are you afraid they know that we were together?"

"No," Johanna said with a shake of her head. "I don't really care about that. I'm sure a few people were suspicious but it doesn't really bother me."

"Then what are you nervous about?"

She gave a soft laugh. "It's silly."

Jim shrugged. "Tell me anyway."

There was a moment of hesitation but finally she allowed the words to cross her lips, although she kept her gaze focused on her hands as they rested on her lap. "I was nervous about seeing you."

"Seeing me?" he said in surprise. "Why, sweetheart?"

"I don't know," she admitted honestly. "It's not that I didn't want to see you, I…did, I do…I just had this nervous feeling about it and I can't explain it and I don't understand it and I know it's silly…but I just can't help it."

"It's not silly."

"It's not? Are you nervous too?"

"No," he said with quiet chuckle. "To tell you the truth, Jo; you've been on my mind all morning too."

Her gaze met his. "Really?"

Jim nodded. "Yes."

"Why?"

"It's silly," he remarked, borrowing her phrase.

"I told you mine."

He ran a hand through his hair. "I've been thinking about kissing you all morning," he finally admitted.

A shy smile touched her lips, a soft laugh filling the air between them. "You have not."

"I have to…I swear, Jo…ever since I woke up I just wanted to kiss you."

"I don't find that silly at all in that case," she replied quietly.

"You don't?"

"No. Do you think a kiss would clear your mind and make me feel better?"

Jim gave her an easy smile. "I'm willing to give it a try…if you want."

A flirtatious gleam touched her eyes. "It can't hurt."

He leaned closer, hooking a finger under her chin as he captured her lips in a soft kiss. "How's that?" he asked.

"Hmm…well…I think maybe we should try it one more time just to be sure we're cured," Johanna answered.

"I do like the way you think," he replied before kissing her again. "How do you feel now?"

"I think I feel better," she responded.

"You think?"

"I'm pretty sure. How about you?"

"I feel like I might be able to concentrate now," Jim answered.

"Good; I don't want you blaming me for losing your focus at work."

He laughed. "I think I'll be able to keep things under control now…I hope your nervousness has abated."

Johanna nodded. "I think it has…I think we're more like ourselves now."

Jim pondered that comment for a moment. "What made you feel like we weren't?"

"I don't know…I guess it's just…I don't know."

"Skip that last I don't know and back it up to the 'I guess it's just' and fill in that blank. I could see you swallowing the words, Jo."

"Wouldn't you rather just kiss me again and then get going to work?"

Jim started the car and pulled away from the curb. "We can get going, but I'd still like to know what you were thinking."

"I don't know, Jim…I guess it seems like we were in a different place while on vacation and I'm not talking about location wise. I guess it feels like we were different and now we're going back to what things were like before that."

"Are we?" he asked.

"You tell me?"

"I understand what you mean…and we were somewhat unrestricted on vacation…but I think what we're going back to is the way we are at work. I don't necessarily think anything needs to change privately between us. I don't really think we were all that different on vacation than we usually are when we're alone together…we just got to indulge in it more and we didn't worry about anybody knowing it. There's no reason for us to act differently when we're alone…is there?"

"No, of course not."

"And where work is concerned, we're just acting the way we always do at work, right?"

"Yes."

"So then technically, nothing's really changed, has it?"

"I guess not when you put it that way," she answered.

"Then what are we worried about?"

"I guess nothing," she laughed.

"Then let's just relax and be ourselves," Jim said, laying a hand on her knee when he stopped for a light. "Everything's alright."

Johanna leaned toward him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and then settled back against the seat. She felt better…but there was still that little part of her that kept whispering, "But things have changed…it may be small…but it's different." She shook the thought away and focused her thoughts elsewhere, starting up a new conversation about how they had spent the holiday the day before.

---

Once they arrived at the office, Jim and Johanna went their separate ways, only to run into each other minutes later. "We meet again," Jim quipped as she stepped out of her office and into his path.

She laughed. "If I didn't know any better I might start thinking that you're hanging around my door."

"It's too early in the day for that," he replied. "I usually wait until lunch time to hang around your door. I was on my way to the break room to get some coffee."

"Me too," Johanna replied, holding up her mug. "I need that shot of caffeine and I may as well get caught up on the gossip."

"Wasn't Sharon in there waiting for you so that she could fill you in?"

"No; but her purse is there so she's around somewhere…she's probably down here collecting today's gossip."

Jim smiled. "I guess we may as well join them."

"Lead the way."

Jeff was the first one to catch sight of her as she stepped inside the break room. "Sassy's back in town," he called out with a grin.

"Did you miss me?" she asked.

"I cried every day," he answered lightly. "The only one who cried more than me was Sharon."

"What about me, did you miss me?" Jim inquired.

Jeff shook his head. "Not really."

"Good, I didn't miss you either," he laughed.

"Don't listen to him, Jim," Maggie spoke up as she caught his eye. "He had that 'I just lost my best friend' look on his face the majority of the time."

"I can believe that," Johanna remarked.

"It wasn't like that at all," Jeff replied. "Jim wasn't lost...he was just missing for awhile...and so was Sassy...and neither one of them said where they were going. I was merely concerned."

Johanna laughed as she avoided making eye contact with Jim. "Do you want me to get my mom to write me a note, Jeff?"

He smirked at her. "I think vacation agreed with you, Sassy."

"How could it not?" Jim asked. "She had a break from looking at your face every day."

"What about your face?" Jeff asked slyly; a conspiring look in Maggie's eyes.

"My face is probably more pleasing to her than yours," he answered.

Johanna saw this was headed into dangerous waters and she jumped back into the conversation to keep their trip from being the gossip fodder for the entire office. God only knew who might walk into the room. "Where's Sharon?" she asked.

"I'm right here," the secretary announced as she entered the room, Phil following behind her. Sharon made a beeline for her friend and hugged her. "I'm so glad you're back!"

"I'm glad to see you too," she answered as she returned her friend's embrace.

"Look at you," Sharon remarked as she took a step back and looked her friend over. "You look gorgeous; you're all tan and relaxed; it looks like you're back to your normal weight."

"Thanks, Mom," Johanna replied lightly as she brushed a wrinkle from the skirt of her pink sleeveless dress.

"You do look great, Jo," Maggie commented.

"Did I look that bad before I left?" Johanna inquired.

"No," they all said hurriedly.

"You were just lacking some of your usual sparkle," Jeff added.

"And you looked a little tired and it was obvious you had lost some weight," Sharon stated; "But it doesn't matter now; all that matters is that you got this great tan...looks like Jim has a tan too."

"Funny how that happens on a vacation," Jim replied; offering nothing more about where he had been or how he spent his time.

"So what's been going on here while I've been gone?" Johanna asked.

"Sharon and Phil have reunited," Jeff announced. "There's peace in the valley once again...or the office, but valley sounds more idyllic and less like work."

"That was my news to tell, Jeff!" Sharon exclaimed.

"Sorry, bossy. Sassy, pretend to be surprised when Sharon tells you the news about her and Phil."

"That'll be hard to do since I expected it would come to that all along," she replied. "But I am glad to hear it. Does this mean you're not going to be a jackass anymore, Phil?"

"I'll do my best," he replied. "It might be easier though if I'm not banned from the cupcakes the next time you bring some in."

Johanna nodded. "Okay, that's a fair trade; you can have cupcakes in return for not being a jackass. I'd hate to have to help Sharon plot your demise."

"Oh I just bet you would hate it," he teased.

"Don't make me change my mind."

"I'm shutting up," Phil laughed.

"Any other news?" Jim asked.

"Just the usual," Maggie answered; "Nothing too exciting. Mostly we've all been sitting around wondering what the two of you were doing that we could be envious of."

Johanna smiled. "Oh I was just doing the normal vacation things."

"Summer fling?" Maggie asked, trying to infuse innocence into the statement.

They knew, Johanna thought to herself and she desperately wanted to glance at Jim but she didn't dare. "Jo, do you want me to fix your coffee?" Jim asked, taking the mug from her hand.

"Yeah, that would be great," she smiled; her eyes meeting his, reading his silent message to play it anyway she wanted.

"Well? Did you have a summer fling, Jo?"

She licked her lips. "I'm not confirming nor denying that."

Maggie gave a nod. "Okay, be coy."

"Thank you, I will."

"What about you, Jim?" Phil asked. "How many women did you pick up?"

Jim laughed but kept his focus on the coffee he was preparing. "I think I'll keep that to myself."

"Wow, no one's giving up information," Jeff remarked. "We may as well work."

"We probably should," Johanna commented, accepting her cup of coffee from Jim, her fingers subtly caressing his. "Come on, Sharon; let's get to work. I'm sure I have a full day."

"Right behind you," the secretary replied.

They said their goodbyes and left the room. "I better be going too; I have some things to review before court," Phil remarked. "I'm glad you're back, Jim."

"I'm glad you pulled your ass out of the fire," Jim replied. "I have a feeling Sharon and Johanna could really make you pay dearly if it suited them."

Phil chuckled. "Yeah, I have that feeling too. See you guys later."

Maggie departed next, leaving Jim and Jeff alone in the break room. Jeff moved across the room to make his own cup of coffee and his friend remained standing at the counter. "So, you want to come over and watch the game tonight?" Jeff asked.

"Yeah, that sounds good. I missed the last couple games."

"I'll fill you in on the highlights," his friend offered; "And you can fill me in on your vacation."

"I knew you had an ulterior motive."

Jeff grinned. "Then it's not a surprise, is it? You know I want details. Think of it like those assignments we had to do in school; you know the 'what I did on my summer vacation' essay."

Jim smirked. "I hated those."

Jeff clapped him on the back. "Don't worry, buddy; I don't grade on grammar, spelling or word count. I just want the content."

---

"Did you take good care of George while I was gone?" Johanna asked as she looked over their plant once they were back in her office.

"Of course I took good care of George. I think he missed you though, he had a few droopy leaves on Friday."

Johanna laughed. "Maybe the guys are right; maybe we are crazy."

"I'm sure they'll send someone to confirm it one day...and then we'll end up in a shrink's office being analyzed."

"God help that doctor," Johanna remarked.

"Yeah, he better be a brave soul," Sharon agreed. "I kept your schedule clear until 9:30 so you'd have time to settle in and review things before your first appointment."

"Great, I appreciate that."

"Your court appearance later this afternoon has been postponed until October."

"Why?"

"The docket was too full," Sharon answered.

Johanna nodded. "The usual excuse."

"At least they're consistent."

"True; anything else I need to know?"

"Yeah, I want the low down about your vacation as soon as possible."

"I figured that."

"So when should I pencil myself onto the schedule?" the secretary asked. "Lunch?"

"I'd love to have lunch with you, but let's leave the vacation talk until later."

"Later when?"

"Later as in this evening at my place," Johanna laughed. "We can have wine and not worry about anyone eavesdropping."

Sharon smiled. "Sounds good to me. I'll be there."

---

That evening, Johanna poured two glasses of wine and carried them into the living room as Sharon followed behind, carrying a bowl of popcorn for them to snack on as they chatted.

"So…" Sharon said slyly as she sat down on one end of the sofa and took possession of her glass of wine.

"So what?" Johanna asked from her place at the opposite end of the sofa; her hand already diving into the bowl of popcorn that her friend had set between them.

"Come on, Jo; you take off for two weeks without a word about where you're going or how to reach you; you come back relaxed, tan and looking more fabulous than usual and you have that sassy sparkle back in your eyes."

"I had a good vacation," she remarked.

"Obviously; now out with it."

"Out with what?"

Sharon eyed her. "Really? You're going to make me drag it out of you?"

"That's part of the fun," she teased.

Her friend smirked at her as she brushed back a lock of hair before reaching for some popcorn. "Alright, if that's the way you want to be. I noticed that Jim had the same exact days off as you…and no one knew where he was either."

"That's interesting."

"Johanna!"

"What?" she laughed.

"Did you or did you not go on vacation with Jim Beckett?"

Johanna took a long sip of her wine, attempting to play it cool but a lazy smile graced her lips and a sparkle lit up her eyes, making her friend grin in response.

"You did, didn't you!"

"Yes," she admitted.

Sharon squealed. "I knew it!"

"Look at you being all giddy," Johanna remarked. "I don't think you've squealed like that what's his name asked you to the prom…what was his name? Martin Mindel-something?"

"Martin Mendleson," Sharon replied. "That was one of the happiest days of my life. He had a dumb name but the rest of him made up for it. Good lord he was good looking…I swear, that boy was so yummy you just wanted to nibble on him like he was your favorite piece of cake."

Johanna nearly spit her wine across the floor as she laughed. "And you wonder why your mother smacks you every so often."

"Hey I just call them as I see them…you saw him; be honest, he was a prime specimen, wasn't he?"

She nodded. "He was…I wonder where he is now."

"I don't know…if I did, I'd probably be on his porch begging him to marry me. I was tempted to beg him on prom night."

"I bet Phil would like that."

"Phil's still on probation for his latest transgressions," Sharon remarked; "Now let's not get off topic here. You went away with Jim! Where did you go?"

"We went on a road trip; we stopped in a few different places in Pennsylvania and Maryland, and then we spent the last several days at the beach in North Carolina."

"Sounds wonderful; what all did you do in those places."

Johanna gave her the highlights of the trip, talking about the horseback riding and fishing; the haunted Balfour hotel and their run in with 'No Shacking Up' Thelma during that storm in Pennsylvania.

"So you've met more of his family," Sharon remarked. "I told you this was getting serious."

"We hadn't intended to visit relatives, it just happened."

"Mhmm; what happened in Maryland?"

She told her about the bar fight and their Bonnie and Clyde like escape into the night and how they had to sleep in the car. She told her about going to the carnival and how he had won her a prize…and then she somewhat shyly fessed about their moonlit picnic and how it had gotten interrupted.

Sharon's eyes danced with amusement. "I would've loved to have seen your face when that cop was there, Jo."

"I'm sure it was a Kodak moment," she replied; wondering if her friend was going to let the mention of that romantic moment pass by without notice that easily.

Her friend's lips curved into a teasing smile. "I can just imagine what your mother would think if she knew that a cop caught you out in the middle of a dark field getting felt up by a man you're not married to."

Johanna shot her an amused smirk. "I'm sure she'd just have spasms over it…which is why she'll never know…and thank you so much for making what was a beautiful moment up until that point into something classless."

The secretary laughed. "You know I had to go there, Jo."

"Oh I know," she giggled.

"I'm kind of surprised that you so freely admitted to that little moment with Jim...were there other moments that got somewhat heated?"

"Maybe," she answered coyly; her cheeks warming as she remembered those encounters at the beach.

Sharon's eyes grew wide. "Oh my God."

"What?"

"Did you two finally do it?"

"Do what?" she laughed.

"You're just determined to be difficult, aren't you?"

"I told you, that's part of the fun."

"Okay, if you want me to be blunt, I will be. Did you Jim finally hit the sheets?"

"Sharon!"

"Well you wanted me to spell it out…now did you?" she asked; her eyes gleaming with excitement.

"No."

"Why not!" her best friend exclaimed. "You had hotel rooms, you had opportunities and apparent romantic moments! What went wrong?"

"Nothing went wrong…I mean I didn't say that it didn't come close…because it did."

Sharon's brow rose. "How close?"

"Very close."

"How very close are we talking?"

Johanna took a sip of wine. "The kind of close where I was in his bed and things were very, very heated…"

Her friend pondered that for a moment and then eyed her. "I know it's been awhile, Jo; but are you sure you didn't do it? Maybe you just forgot how it works."

"I didn't forget how it works!" Johanna exclaimed as she smacked her friend's arm. "We didn't have sex…we just came very close to it…but I panicked and started pulling back and he realized that and we stopped."

"Why did you panic?" Sharon asked; her tone soft with compassion.

She sighed. "It's not because I didn't want to…I did…I wanted to be with him but I just couldn't; not when I don't know how he feels about me. If we cross that line I want to know that he loves me before we go there."

"Jo, Jim isn't Cade," her best friend remarked.

She frowned. "I know that…and I learned from my mistake."

"What mistake? You told Cade that you weren't ready, that you wanted to take things slow. He got you drunk and slept with you anyway."

"I must not have said no."

"How do you know? You told me you don't even remember most of it."

"I remember going back to his room with him and I went willingly."

"As willingly as a drunk girl can do," Sharon remarked. "In my mind, what he did was wrong and he justified it by telling you that he loved you when you got pissed at him when you woke up the next morning."

Johanna raked a hand through her hair. "I don't want to talk about Cade."

"You never want to talk about Cade."

She gave her friend a sharp look. "Do you want to talk about Scott?"

Sharon's jaw tightened. "No I don't want to talk about Scott. I hate his guts."

"Well I hate Cade Rutherford so let's not talk about either one of them."

"I only brought up jerk face because you can't just assume that every man is like him."

"I don't. I know Jim isn't anything like Cade…but I just want him to love me before I take that step."

"Jo…how can you think that he doesn't love you? He just whisked you away on a two week vacation; he's always taking you to lunch or dinner, driving you to and from work; taking you to parties; being here for you when things are bad…don't you see the way he looks at you?"

"Looks don't tell me what I need to know," she stated. "I want to know that he loves me before I give myself to him. Is that really so horrible?"

"No, it's not horrible…but some men don't say it until afterwards."

"I know and I hate that because you never know if they're saying it to appease you because you gave them what they wanted."

"Well with that line of thinking, how do you know a man isn't saying it before hand just so he can get what he wants?" Sharon asked.

Johanna frowned once again as she stared down into her wine glass. "Thanks for that thought, Sharon."

Her friend sighed. "Listen, what happened between you and the idiot happened in college…we were younger and dumber. We both made mistakes with men but we're older now, we're wiser. You're a good judge of character and in my opinion, you would've never left things get to that point with Jim if you didn't think he had feelings for you."

"But…I'm kind of the one who started it that night…without meaning to."

"Maybe you better tell me the whole story of that night, Jo."

She took a breath and another sip of wine and then told Sharon everything that had happened that night.

"Wow," Sharon remarked when she finished. "Sounds like he was pretty understanding…sounds like the mark of a man who loves and respects a certain woman, despite how hot and bothered she got him."

She couldn't help but giggle. "He was understanding…and it was a long night for both of us. He wasn't the only one that didn't sleep."

"Oh I'm sure," Sharon laughed. "Were you tempted to go back and finish it?"

"Only every five minutes."

"So what were things like when morning came?"

"Awkward," she answered and then she set about telling the events of that morning. "…and then of course he had to catch me in nothing but a towel."

The secretary laughed. "Oh my God, it's a wonder Jim survived this trip without spontaneously combusting. It sounds like you did really well at keeping him hot and bothered."

"It wasn't my intent…although you did tell me to dress sexy."

"I didn't know you'd resort to a towel," her friend quipped. "But hey, if it works, go for it."

"I meant my collection of bikinis; the towel was an accident."

"What happened with your compromising towel situation?" Sharon laughed.

"Well it kind of got intense again…and then breakfast was very quiet and tense."

"He was probably concentrating on not mauling you," her friend remarked before she took a drink of her wine. "Although I have a feeling you would've been receptive if he had."

"I might've been," Johanna admitted. "I did hate myself half the night for stopping."

"Why didn't you just go back and finish it? I'm sure he would've been all for that."

"I'm sure he would've been but I already told you why I couldn't."

Sharon sighed. "Jo…if this happened once…it's going to happen again and eventually, you're not going to stop no matter what has or hasn't been said. Did the two of you even talk about it?"

"Yeah…"

"And?"

"And we decided we're fine with things the way they are for now."

"Oh for God's sake; what the hell is wrong with the two of you!"

"Nothing's wrong with us…we just want to be cautious. We like what we have and for now it's enough."

"Is it?" Sharon asked with an arched brow. "Is it enough when you're rolling around in bed with him and then stop before crossing home plate…even though you don't really want to stop?"

Johanna sighed. "It's…complicated."

"Why?"

"Because it is."

"You'll have to do better than that."

"Sharon," she whined; putting off saying anything further by taking a long sip of her wine.

"What? Come on; you talk about wanting him to love you before you cross that line, but I haven't heard you admitting anything."

"That's what you think!"

"Oh?" her friend asked skeptically; "And what is this grand admission and how did I miss it?"

"You missed it because it was an admission that I only shared with myself."

"Well I think it's show and tell time in the classroom so let's hear it. Let's hear the Queen of Denial's big admission."

She knew she was being goaded. "Bitch."

"Takes one to know one," Sharon quipped with a wink.

Johanna stuck her tongue out at her. "Maybe I just won't share with you after all."

"You better share with me! Everything we've been through together since the age of seventeen and you're going to hold out on me? That's so wrong! I mean, we share custody of a plant! Doesn't that count for anything?"

"I love him, okay!" Johanna exclaimed. "I love him; there I said it. Are you happy now?"

Her best friend stared at her for a moment, her mouth slightly open in surprise. "Wow."

"Wow?"

"Yeah…wow…I never thought this moment would come. I thought I'd have to beat you over the head with something to get you to realize that. How did this epiphany come about…before or after your uh, shall we say, steamy encounter?"

"It was before…and it just kind of happened."

"And when you had your little 'fine with how things are' chit chat, you just neglected to mention that you had these feelings for him, right?"

"Well if you're asking if I specifically named them, then no, I didn't mention them."

The secretary smacked a hand against her forehead as she gave her head a shake. "What am I going to do with you? Why didn't you just tell him?"

"Because I'm not ready! He's not ready either…and it just feels kind of new and…I don't know. I just feel like I need to wait."

"Johanna, how long are you going to wait?"

She gave a small shrug as she looked at the other woman. "Probably until he says it to me first."

"Do you really think you're going to be happy playing games like this when you not only know that you love him…but also when things have moved to a new level?"

"It'll be fine…it'll all work out if it's meant to be."

"You're playing with fire…one that apparently keeps getting hotter."

"I can take the heat," Johanna quipped.

"It's the burn I worry about if it blows up in your face."

"It won't."

"For you sake, I hope not. I want you to be happy, Jo."

"I am happy," she smiled. "I had a great time…and I feel like there was a promise that things would progress."

Sharon nodded; knowing she wasn't going to get through to her just yet. "I'm glad you had a great time. You've earned it and you deserved it."

---

There was a companionable silence between Jim and Jeff as they sat in Jeff's apartment that evening, cold beers in hand as they watched a game on TV. "Did you enjoy your vacation with Sassy?" Jeff asked casually, breaking the quiet.

Jim's gaze darted toward him but he said nothing, causing his friend to laugh. "What? You thought I was too stupid to notice that you both took a vacation at the same time?"

He shrugged. "Well there have been times when your intelligence has been called into question."

"This isn't one of those moments," Jeff replied. "Now are you going to deny going with Sassy so I can call you a liar?"

"No, I don't deny it," Jim answered; figuring it wouldn't do any good to lie anyway. "I took Johanna on vacation."

The other man nodded. "Finally."

"What do you mean, finally?"

"I mean finally we've got some momentum on this case. Taking her on vacation was a good move."

Jim took a drink of his beer. "I took her on vacation because she needed to get away for awhile. She did a lot for me when Dad was sick...it was time to return the favor."

Jeff gave him a skeptic look. "Is that all it was?"

"I needed to get away for awhile too. I figured we may as well go together."

"How many more of those excuses do you have before we get to the real one?"

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response."

"Which is a response within itself," his friend replied. "I hope you took her somewhere nice."

"I took her to a lot of nice places," he answered before ticking off the places they had gone and the things they had seen.

"That all sounds very nice but let's get to the important stuff. Did you and Sassy let nature take its course?"

"You want to run that by me again?"

Jeff laughed. "Did you take advantage of those hotel rooms?"

"If you're asking if we stole the towels, the answer is no...although there was one very appealing towel that I was tempted to make a grab for," Jim remarked as his mind remembered the sight of Johanna wrapped in that short white bath towel.

Jeff eyed him. "I didn't mean towels but I think you know that...but now I'm intrigued. What was so special about this towel?"

"It was wrapped around Johanna."

The other man's eyes widened. "You caught Sassy in a towel!"

He nodded. "I sure did."

"With nothing else..."

"Not a damn thing," Jim confirmed. "Just the towel."

Jeff whistled. "You have all the luck...but I'm surprised you're alive to tell the tale."

"It was an accident...besides, she would've had to drop the towel to kill me and she wasn't about to let me go out with a thrill."

"Sassy is smart like that. I imagine it uh made for a long night for you though."

Jim scoffed. "More like a long day...it was a long night the night before."

His friend pondered that for a moment. "Did you sleep with her?"

"Almost."

"Almost?" Jeff exclaimed. "What stopped you?"

He took another sip of his beer. "She changed her mind I guess."

"She changed her mind? What did you do? Did you rush it?"

"No, believe me, I intended to take my time with her...all night if need be."

Jeff laughed. "So you're admitting that you have thought about this before."

"Only every day of my life!" Jim exclaimed. "How can I not when she's walking around in bikinis and little summer dresses and those skimpy silky little nightgowns that cling to every curve of her body."

"Just how far did it get?"

"Far enough that I didn't get any sleep at all."

His friend chuckled. "I guess you just didn't get anything that night."

"I don't know what went wrong...everything seemed to be going well and then all of a sudden she started acting different. I could feel her pulling back. I didn't think I was rushing her...I don't even feel like I'm the one that started it...of course maybe we both did in some ways. It just kind of happened."

"Maybe she was just nervous."

"She's not a virgin."

Jeff laughed. "How do you know? You haven't slept with her."

"I know because we talked about past relationships."

His friend shrugged. "Well not being a virgin doesn't mean she can't be nervous when it comes to sex. Sassy doesn't seem like the type to sleep around...I doubt she has the experience of some of the girls we've gone out with; she has more respect for herself than that. As far as we know she hasn't been in any serious relationships in awhile...so maybe it's been awhile...and it was a new step with you and she got scared."

Jim nodded. "I guess she did seem kind of nervous when I think about it. She did try to apologize."

"Then I'd definitely say it was nerves... and maybe the fact that she doesn't know where she stands with you."

He sighed. "Are we really going back down that road?"

"For Jo's sake, yes we are."

"Jeff..."

"No; you listen, you can't play games with her like this. I told you this was going to happen, do you remember that? I told you that one day it was going to go too far and you were going to end up in bed with her. She stopped you this time, but what happens the next time? What happens when you don't stop and when it's over she wants more than a 'thank you for last night' on your way out the door?"

"That's not going to happen."

"How do you know?"

"Because we talked and we agree that we're fine with how things are right now," Jim stated.

Jeff sighed in disgust; "You're such a dumb ass."

"I know, that's why I'm friends with you," he retorted.

"No, you're a dumb ass because you want to keep having your cake and eating too. Whether you want to believe it or not, Jim; Johanna's in love with you and she thinks this little game you're playing is going somewhere serious and if that's not what you have in mind, then you need to stop it now before you hurt her. She doesn't deserve that. She's not the kind of girl that's happy with being a fling."

Jim's jaw tightened. "First of all, Johanna has never been a fling to me, nor would I ever consider her one. Second, how the hell do you know what she thinks or feels? You don't know what's in her heart or on her mind."

"And you do?"

"I think I know more about her heart and mind than you do!"

Jeff nodded. "I concede that you know her more deeply and intimately than I do...but I look at her face when she's looking at you and there's love all over it. Maybe you're blind but I'm not. In fact, I'm sure you're blind, because you can't even see your own feelings for her. You're in love with her. Maybe you don't want to see it...maybe you're not ready to acknowledge it, but it's there, Jim. You couldn't be anymore in love with her if you tried so why don't you pull your head out of your ass and go give her what she needs. Maybe if you do that, she'll give you what you need."

He shot him a glare. "I don't need to sleep with her."

Jeff laughed. "Oh I think maybe you need to."

"I admit that I'd like to but I can control myself. What happened in North Carolina isn't going to happen again any time soon."

The other man scoffed. "Oh it'll happen again; it always does once it starts."

"It won't; besides, we agreed that we were fine for now but that things could change one day. It isn't like I told her that I wasn't open to our relationship changing at some point."

"So she's just supposed to sit around and wait for your someday?"

"Johanna can do whatever she wants; I'm not stopping her but she didn't seem to have a problem with it. Besides, it's our business how we live our lives. We don't need your permission or anyone else's."

"I wasn't implying that you needed permission. I was just pointing out that you're a dumb ass if you blow this. You have a good thing; I'd hate to see you lose her."

"I'm not going to lose her."

"I hope not."

"I know what I'm doing," Jim stated.

"Okay, if that's what you want to believe," Jeff replied. "You always have been like talking to a brick wall about these things."

Jim glanced at him. "Let's just watch the game and forget about it, okay?"

"Okay...but when this goes wrong, I'll do what I can to help you win her back."

Jim gave a nod. "That's all I ask."

---

On Wednesday afternoon as Frank McKenzie stood on the fourth floor of the building housing the law firm Johanna worked at, he surveyed the long hallway of offices that stretched out before him. He frowned; he wasn't sure which one belonged to his daughter and he didn't pay any attention to the sign downstairs. "Are you lost?" a voice asked from beside him; pulling him from his thoughts.

"Not exactly," Frank answered as he turned towards a young man who was holding a small stack of files. "I'm looking for my daughter; her office is on this floor, I'm just not sure which one it is."

"Who's your daughter?" Jeff asked as he studied the man he had found standing by the elevator.

"Johanna McKenzie."

"Jo?" Jeff said in surprise.

Frank's brow rose as he assessed the man he was speaking to. "I take it you know her?"

Jeff nodded. "Yes; I consider her to be a good friend."

"And who might you be?"

"Jeff Campbell," he answered; offering his hand to her father.

Frank shook his hand as he eyed him. "Never heard of you."

Jeff smiled. "Well if it makes you feel any better, she doesn't talk much about you either."

"I'm sure she doesn't," the older man scoffed. "Can you tell me where she is?"

"Sure; follow me," Jeff answered; wondering if maybe he should've said that she was in court and spared her the visit.

Frank followed Jeff down the long hallway without saying anything more; offering a slightly terse 'thank you' as Jeff gestured to the open doorway of Johanna's office space. Jeff sighed as he watched Johanna's father cross the threshold of the office. While he wasn't privy to all the details as Jim was, he knew enough to know that this wouldn't be a welcome visit for her and he felt a small twinge of regret that he hadn't protected her from it. It was too bad that Jim was in court, he thought to himself. If he had been in the office he could've sounded the alarm that Frank McKenzie was in the building and Jim would've gone and made his presence known.

"Mr. McKenzie," Sharon said; surprise tingeing her voice as she looked up to see who had entered the office.

"Hello, Sharon," Frank stated. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," she answered while silently thinking that someone must've told the man to be on his best behavior. "What can I help you with?"

He nodded towards the closed inner door that led to Johanna's space. "Is my daughter in? I'd like to have a word with her."

That couldn't be good, Sharon thought. "She's here. She was conducting an interview over the phone for a case she's working on. I'll see if she's finished," she said as she pushed away from her desk.

Sharon slipped into Johanna's office, closing the door before hurrying towards the desk.

"You could've left it open," Johanna said as her friend approached. "I'm finished my phone call."

"Your father is out there," her secretary whispered as she gestured towards the door.

"What!" Johanna exclaimed in a hushed voice. "Why?"

"He wants to have a word with you."

"Great," she muttered; "Just what I needed."

"Do you want me to tell him you're busy and send him away?"

Johanna shook her head. "No; I may as well get it over with. Just make sure the door is shut so the whole office doesn't hear my business."

Sharon nodded and left the room. "She can see you now, Mr. McKenzie; she does have a client coming in at 1:30 though," she stated; hoping that putting him on the clock would keep his visit short.

"Thank you," Frank responded as she moved and allowed him to enter the room.

Frank closed the door behind him before walking further into the office; his gaze finding his daughter sitting behind her cherry wood desk; various files and documents strewn before her. He studied her for a moment as concentration furrowed her brow and her teeth worried her bottom lip. She looked like the epitome of class in her sleeveless black dress and the strand of pearls that Sophia Calabrese had given her for her 16th birthday. The emerald ring that he had chosen as her law school graduation gift caught the light and sparkled on her right hand. Her skin was lightly tanned; hinting at the vacation they had heard she had taken and her dark hair was swept up in an elegant knot, reminding him once again of his mother but he shoved that thought aside and approached her desk.

"Are you busy?" he asked.

"Always," she answered; her cool green gaze flicking to his face. "What do you want? Is something wrong with Mom?"

"No; your mother's fine."

"Colleen? Frankie?"

"No; everyone is fine."

"Then why are you here?" she demanded to know.

"I was on my lunch break and I thought I'd stop by," Frank answered.

She eyed him. "Because we're the type of father and daughter who visit each other on our lunch breaks?"

"There's a first time for everything," Frank retorted.

"I suppose."

"We heard you took a vacation," her father stated.

"Yes, I did."

"Looks like you got a tan," he remarked.

Johanna sighed; her nerves feeling taunt with his presence. "Dad, you've never been good at small talk so why don't you just stop and get to the point about why you're here so we can both get back to tending to our own business."

He eyed his eldest girl; taking in the stubborn set of her jaw and that cool demeanor. She was every inch a McKenzie. "Do you think it might kill you to come visit your mother once in awhile?" he asked. "She misses you."

"She must not miss me too much; I mean she does know where to find me if she's that desperate to see me and my phone number is still the same if she'd like to talk."

"Well maybe she's afraid of stepping on those sensitive toes of yours again," her father retorted.

"That's never stopped her before; and like I said, she could come and knock on my door. I don't have a problem with her anymore now that we've spent some time apart."

"She likes when you come home and see her."

"That's not my home," she responded. "It hasn't been for some time."

"It will always be your home, Johanna."

"Right," she scoffed.

"She wants you to come to dinner on Sunday."

"Since when does Mom need you to be her parrot?" Johanna asked. "She's always been able to speak for herself."

"What does it matter? Are you coming or not?"

"That depends."

"On what?"

"Are you going to be there?" she asked.

"Of course I'm going to be there!" he thundered. "Where else would I be?"

"Then it's probably best that I don't come. I wouldn't want to inflict my presence on you, seeing as how you can't stand the sight of me."

Frank rocked back on his heels as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "So you're still stewing over that, are you?"

Bitterness welled up in her throat as she gave a short unamused laugh. "I'm glad to see you aren't going to shock me with an apology."

"I have no reason to apologize."

"Really?" she asked. "You don't feel any remorse for saying something so hurtful? You don't care that I'm going to hear those words in my mind for the rest of my life?"

Frank scoffed. "Get over it, Johanna. Don't be such a damn baby. You're so overly dramatic about every damn thing."

She shook her head as her teeth sunk into her bottom lip once again. "Get over it," she muttered. "I'm just supposed to get over the fact that my father can't stand the sight of me. Well that's easier said than done, Dad. You know sometimes you say things that can't ever be taken back or gotten over. Sometimes that hurt is permanent...whether you think it should be or not."

"I was angry with you," he retorted. "People say things when they're angry. You know that, you've done it yourself."

"Well maybe I don't understand your anger, Dad. I don't understand why it was so wrong to offer comfort to a dying man...a man who was my grandfather; your father. Why deny him that comfort?"

"Because you had no right to pretend to be her," Frank stated; his tone low and laced with anger. "And I don't want to hear about how everyone told you to play along. It was wrong."

She shook her head. "No it wasn't. It gave him peace. For God's sake, Dad; he had been calling me Sarah every time he saw me for months before he got sick. I wasn't trying to impersonate your mother; I couldn't if I wanted to, I never knew her and everyone acts like it's some crime to even speak of her...like her existence shouldn't be acknowledged. I don't know why he thought I was her and you won't talk about her or tell me why he kept mistaking me for her and I'm sure you know."

"That's my business," he hissed; "And I won't apologize for how I feel. There are times when I can't stand the sight of you; times when you get on my nerves just as badly as your sister. You're so damn needy, Johanna. I don't know how you got that way but you are. Needy and overly sensitive. Get over it and grow up."

She felt the sting of tears but she fought them back. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry and giving him one more thing to berate her about. "Do you remember that summer when I was twelve and I was grounded for running away from home?" she asked. "Grandma brought Nona Josephina to dinner and she mentioned that she wanted someone to come spend the summer with her because Aunt Elena was going to be away for awhile, and you told her to take me since I was so eager to get away from home?"

"I remember," he said tersely.

"I didn't want to come back home when the time came...and she said she'd keep me if you and Mom would let her. You had your chance to be rid of me...I wish you had taken it. I wish you would've let me stay there with her."

"It wasn't my decision to make," Frank stated; "It was your mother's and she wanted you home."

"Yeah," Johanna murmured as she held his gaze. "It was Mom's decision because I've always been solely her child, haven't I?"

"Don't start that," he remarked. "It wouldn't have mattered if we had let you stay with Josephina or not; she died when you were fifteen so you would've ended up back home anyway."

"Inflicting my presence upon you," she remarked tartly. "You know, there for awhile I thought we were doing better. I guess I should've known better."

"I guess you should've," he retorted; although he felt a small twinge of regret. "Your mother wants to see so you put aside your issue with me and be at dinner Sunday."

"If I don't have other plans, I'll consider it. For now, you can tell my mother that I will call her tonight at 8:30 and now I think we're done here and I would appreciate it if you'd go before my client arrives."

Frank's eyes widened. "You're dismissing me?"

"It looks that way," she replied; "Kind of like when I was a kid and you'd wave me off and tell me to go bother my mother because you were busy."

He nodded; a smirk forming on his lips. "You're a stubborn little brat, Johanna."

She smiled coolly. "Can't imagine where I learned that," she commented as she rose from her desk and walked towards the door and opened it for him. "Thanks for stopping by."

If she was giving this treatment to anyone else, he would've smiled, Frank thought to himself. He would've smiled and thought about how she was so much like him in that respect; not that he'd ever admit it aloud...but it wasn't someone else; it was him and he was once again reminded of that day when she was six and the line had been irrevocably drawn between them. He moved in the direction of the door, pausing in front of her and holding her stare. Every inch a McKenzie, he thought once more as she refused to blink. "I'll tell your mother that you'll call tonight. Have a good day."

"You too," she replied; her gaze darting to Sharon once he turned away from her. Her friend gave her a reassuring smile and she returned it. For once she had been on equal footing in the battle and today she felt like she had come out with a small victory...he didn't break her this time.

---

As Jeff was on his way out of the office to head for court, he caught sight of Jim coming up the sidewalk and he paused to wait on him. "How did it go?" Jeff asked when his friend drew near.

Jim scoffed a little. "Too soon to tell, ask me again tomorrow."

The other man laughed. "I hate days like that, I hope one isn't waiting for me when I get in there."

"I hope not too, one of us has to come out on the winning end."

Jeff glanced at his watch and saw that he still had enough time to fill Jim in on Johanna's visitor, when he saw Frank McKenzie slipping out the door. "See that man there?" he said quietly to Jim as he nodded in Frank's direction.

"Yeah."

"That's Sassy's father."

"What?" Jim said in surprise as he kept his eyes on the man, watching as he moved to his car and unlocked the door. The man was of average height, his hair as dark as Johanna's and even from a distance he could tell that the man's chin curved in the same way Johanna's did…and her brother's as well, he recalled. He didn't look happy…but from what he knew of the man, he figured that stern look was probably his every day expression.

"That's her dad," Jeff confirmed. "I met him…seems like a real ray of sunshine."

"What was he doing here?"

"He was here to see Johanna but I don't know what it was about…maybe you better check on her when you get in there."

Jim's gaze stayed trained on the tan colored car that Frank had gotten into until it drove away. "What did you think of him?" he asked.

"I only spent a few brief minutes with him as I led him to her office but I'd say he's…cold as iceberg. It's hard to believe that Sassy could come from someone like that; she's so warm and kind. I guess she must take after her mama."

"It does look that way," Jim replied.

"I have to get going," Jeff remarked. "You'll have to get the details from Sassy."

"Count on it."

Jim said goodbye to his friend and then entered the building. He stopped at his office to drop off his brief case and to check his messages; seeing that nothing was urgent and that Sally didn't have any meetings scheduled for him until two, he headed down the hallway to Johanna's office. Sharon was at her desk, but the inner door was closed.

"She's with a client," the secretary announced as she glanced up at Jim.

"Is she alright?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I heard she had a visitor."

Sharon nodded. "Yeah; seeing Frank McKenzie in the doorway was the shock of my life. It's one of those moments when your first thought is 'oh my God, someone died'."

"What did Jo think of it?"

"She wasn't thrilled…but she handled it. She seems fine; I guess she held her own with him. I don't know what it was about; I didn't get a chance to ask. Mr. McKenzie had no sooner left when her client came in."

Jim gave a nod. "I'll stop back later."

Sharon grinned. "Now that's a visit I'll see coming."

"Behave, Sharon; or I'll tell Phil to cancel those weekend plans."

Her eyes widened. "What weekend plans?"

"I really can't say."

"You can't say something like that and then not tell me the rest!" she exclaimed in a hushed voice.

"Sure I can."

"Are there really plans or are you just messing with me?" the secretary demanded to know.

Jim grinned as he shrugged. "Guess you'll find out come the weekend…let me know how it turns out."

Her eyes narrowed. "If you're lying to me, I'll get you."

"See you later, Sharon," he laughed as he left the room.

---

Much to his chagrin, Jim had to wait until the end of the day to talk to Johanna as their schedules hadn't allowed any time to see each other that afternoon. "Do you need a ride home?" Jim asked her when she appeared in his office at the end of the day.

"Sure, if you don't mind," she answered.

"Have I ever minded?"

A small smile ghosted across her lips. "Not to my knowledge."

He couldn't help but smile in appreciation at the picture she made as she leaned against the doorframe. "I like your Audrey Hepburn look you have going on today," he remarked as he moved toward her.

"I'm no Audrey Hepburn," she replied.

"No, you're not…you're much better."

Johanna laughed. "I don't think so."

There was a strong desire to capture her lips in a kiss…a longing to move his hands along the curves that her black dress accentuated. He had to curl his hands to fight the urge, and moved back to his desk under the pretext of grabbing his briefcase and his keys. "I heard you had a visitor today."

"Good news travels fast," she remarked. "I guess you heard who it was."

He gave a nod as they left his office and headed for the elevator. "Jeff escorted him to your office. What did your father want with you…if you don't mind me asking?"

There was a hint of amusement as she glanced at him. "Do I ever mind?"

Jim grinned at the sound of her tossing his words back at him and decided to play along. "Not to my knowledge."

"My dear father came to beret me for not visiting my mother lately."

"You can't be serious!"

"Very," she laughed. "He didn't break me today though…I let him speak his piece and then showed him the door."

"Showed him what you're made of did you?"

"Oh yeah, I enjoyed it too."

"I wish I would've been here, I would've liked to have been the one he ran into instead of Jeff. I saw him leaving the building though, Jeff pointed him out to me."

"I hope he wasn't rude to Jeff."

"No; all Jeff said was that he seemed cold and that you must take after your mother."

"Thank God on all accounts."

"I should've walked up to him when Jeff pointed him out when he was leaving."

Johanna shook her head. "No…you don't want to do that. I'm glad he didn't meet you…I don't want him to."

"Why not?"

Because it wouldn't take much to prove to Frank that Jim was her soft spot, she thought to herself; and more than that, Jim was too important to her to risk putting him in the same room with her father. She had no doubt that he could hold his own against the man, but she didn't want him to have to defend her and she didn't want to subject him to her father's less than sunny disposition. Having the two of them meet wouldn't be a good thing.

"Because…he's not someone I'm all that proud of as much as I hate to say that."

He had a feeling it was something more than that and he reached out and pressed the button to stop the elevator. "What are you doing?" she asked in confusion.

"Don't worry about it, I'll start it again in a minute. I just want to know why else you don't want me to meet him. I can handle whatever he dishes out."

"I know you can," she answered softly.

"Then what is it, Jo? Besides the fact that you're ashamed of the way he acts?"

She bit her lower lip, bringing back that insatiable urge to kiss her that Jim had thought he had quelled. "Tell me, sweetheart," he said quietly as he sat down his briefcase and moved to stand in front of her.

That statement was a loaded gun, Johanna thought. There was so much she could tell him, and she could hear Sharon in the back of her mind, egging her on to confess her secret. She'd like to...just like she'd like to slide her hands against his chest, wrap her arms around him and breath in his scent...kiss him...let him take her home and recapture the magic of that night in North Carolina, only this time see it through until the end. There was an unexpected ache of longing that startled her and she forced herself to turn her thoughts away from the more pleasurable pursuits they could enjoy instead of discussing the topic at hand. A hand settled at her waist, pulling her from her thoughts and back to the present moment. "He knows enough of my soft spots," she confessed, her voice a whisper, its sentiment striking a chord in his heart as her eyes met his.

He could no longer ignore the flame of desire that kept springing up despite his attempts to douse it. His hand slid to the small of her back, pulling her closer; her slender hands falling against his chest. Her eyes seemed to dare him as she moved even closer, leaving no space between them as her body brushed against his. She was a temptress, Jim thought to himself as he dipped his head and finally captured those very kissable lips. She met his kiss willingly, surprising him as it was just as demanding and passionate as his own. His hand moved along her side in a sensual caress as her fingertips grazed his jaw. The need to breathe forced them to part after awhile but he kept her in the circle of his embrace, his lips grazing her temple as they caught their breath. Maybe Sharon was right...maybe these moments were going to keep happening. At the moment, she didn't mind a bit...although she probably should.

Her heart was beating rapidly as his mouth met hers once again, this time in a softer manner but still carrying the same blazing passion that seemed to scorch the atmosphere between them. She didn't want to think of stopping it but if they didn't, they were going to end up in trouble. Johanna broke their kiss and gently pushed against his chest as he tried to recapture her lips. "We have to stop," she whispered. "We can't do this here."

Jim reluctantly backed away; she was right, they couldn't do this here...technically they probably shouldn't be doing it at all...but it was too damn good not to, he thought as he moved to the panel of buttons and restarted the elevator. "Do you want to stop for a drink?" he asked.

Johanna nodded. "Yeah, I could go for a drink. I have to be home by 8:30 though."

"Why?"

"That's the time I scheduled to call my mother," she replied.

Jim gave a quiet laugh. "We should be done discussing our day by then."

---

"Colleen, I really don't have time to give you a cooking lesson over the phone," Naomi McKenzie stated with an air of exasperation. "You should've paid more attention when I tried to teach you when you were a teenager."

"But, Mom…"

"But nothing; call back tomorrow morning and we'll discuss it then. Your sister is supposed to call me at 8:30 and it's already 8:28."

"Fine," her youngest child huffed. "I'll call you tomorrow."

"Goodnight, dear," she told before hanging up the phone, her gaze flicking toward the clock once again.

"You just can't make up your mind about which one to favor, can you?" Frank remarked as he turned the page of his evening paper. "First it was Johanna and then it was Colleen and now you're back to Johanna."

Naomi gave her husband a sharp look. "Frank, one of these days I'm going to go into the kitchen and get the skillet and come in here and hit you in the head with it."

He laughed. "You've been threatening to do that for over twenty years, Naomi; don't expect me to quake in my boots."

The phone rang before she could give him a proper retort and her eyes darted back to the clock; 8:30 it read. She grabbed the phone and spoke a hopeful "Hello?"

"Hi, Mama," Johanna answered.

Naomi expelled a relieved breath. "It's so good to hear your voice, darling."

"It's good to hear yours too. Did you get your birthday card?"

"Yes, I got it and I thank you for getting me that certificate I wanted to get my hair done. I have an appointment to go on Monday. I would've liked to have seen you though."

"I tried to call you to take you out for lunch," Johanna replied. "But the line was always either busy or no one answered."

"Why didn't you try calling in the evening? You may have had better luck."

"I didn't want to call when Dad was home," she answered honestly.

"Don't mind your father; there's no reason to restrict yourself to certain times of day to speak to me."

"He's kind of hard not to mind, Mama…especially when he shows up at my office on your behalf."

"I didn't send him to your office. I specifically told him to come see you at your apartment. It was time he apologized for his behavior and made it clear that you're welcome to come home anytime you'd like."

Johanna laughed. "There were no apologies, Mom; in fact he was very clear about the fact that he didn't owe me any and that's fine. He mainly just chastened me for neglecting my mother…among the usual subjects."

Naomi's gaze cut sharply toward her husband who cowered behind his newspaper. "Well I'll be sure to speak with him about his lying and his lack of apologies…you can mark my words on that."

"Don't worry about it; what's done is done. I don't want to start trouble between the two of you."

"We already have trouble; it's been brewing for over a month, but enough about your bear of a daddy; I want to see you, Bambina. Please come home for dinner on Sunday. You haven't been here in so long."

"I…I don't know about that, Mom. I really don't think I should come over when Dad is there."

Her mother sighed deeply. "I will handle him…I shouldn't have to be punished for the error of his ways. That's not fair to me, Johanna."

"You could always come see me. I could make dinner for you," she offered.

"That would be nice, but your brother and Valerie and the baby are coming on Sunday as usual. I understand how you feel, darling; really I do…I'm not trying to discount your feelings but are you going to stay away forever? I know I can come to you, and I'm not saying I won't…but I feel like if you don't come around once in awhile that you're adrift from the family…that you're out there on your own because I know you haven't been by Colleen's and your grandmother hasn't seen you in a few weeks either."

"I've been to Frankie's," she remarked; "And I've been out of town on vacation."

"I know," Naomi answered; "But still, I'd like for you to come home, Bambina. I miss you…there's nothing like the pain of a mother missing one of her babies."

"Wow, that's a nice new guilt card you've got there," Johanna replied.

"I'm not trying to guilt you; I really do miss you and I really do want you to come home, please, for me?"

She sighed; unwilling to commit herself to the task when she wasn't sure she was ready to return to the family table. "Can I think about it?"

"Of course, darling; you think about it if you need to…just know that the door is always open."

"I'll remember that," she replied before turning the conversation in a different direction.

---

Saturday once again found Jim at his brother's house. Michael had asked him to stop by, thinking that maybe Jim could bring peace back to their household by having a chat with a certain blonde haired, blue eyed child. After four days of kindergarten, Angela Beckett was making it clear to everyone who would listen that she'd had more than enough and that she wasn't going back on Monday.

"It'll be better when you go this time," Jim told her, although he knew that sentiment had already been expressed by the child's parents, along with Madelyn, Robert, and Natalie's parents. Even Mikey had been cajoled into assuring his sister that week two wouldn't be so bad but she wasn't taking anyone's word for it.

Angie crossed her arms; a look of stubbornness etched upon her features, reminding Jim of his mother. "I'm never going back!" she declared firmly. "I don't like it. The teacher don't like me and no one else likes me either. I'll just stay home and help Mommy like I always do."

"But school can be fun," Jim reasoned.

"You all told me that before," she remarked, her blue eyes narrowing in accusation. "Everybody said school would be fun, well I went and it wasn't fun at all! You all fibbed to me and that's not nice, Uncle Jim!"

"Listen, Sunshine; nobody lied to you…you just got off on the wrong foot that's all. If you give it another chance, you'll see that we were right and that you're going to have lots of fun."

"And you're going to have lots of friends," Natalie added.

"No I won't; no one likes me!"

"Everyone likes you honey," she soothed.

"You have to say that, you're my mommy," Angie cried.

Natalie looked shocked at the announcement. "Who told you that?"

"Grandma Beckett; she told me that you have to say things like that because you're my mommy. She said some people just ain't good at making friends. She said I gotta stop being a big baby and then maybe someone will like me! But I'm not a baby!"

"Grandma was wrong," Jim said as an angry gleam filled his sister-in-law's eyes. "Everyone's afraid at first and I bet you're not the only one who hasn't made friends yet. Everything will work out, you'll see."

"I'm not afraid!"

"It's okay if you are," he assured.

"I'm not!" Angie exclaimed. "I don't like school and I don't like peas either!"

Puzzlement furrowed Jim's brow. "What's peas got to do with anything?"

"I don't like peas and I don't have to eat them. I don't like school and I don't have to go."

Damn, who knew a five year old could be so stubborn about things, Jim thought to himself as he studied her, a hint of a pout clinging to her lips as she eyed him coolly. He took note of the fact that she was wearing the blue Barbie t-shirt Johanna had bought her and an idea came to mind. "But what about all of those pretty hair things Miss Jo bought for you to wear to school?" he asked.

Angie patted the butterfly shaped barrettes that was holding back her blonde curls. "I can wear them and look pretty at home," his niece declared before stomping off to her room.

Jim smiled as he heard a door slam. "She's just too damn smart for us."

"I'm not looking forward to Monday morning," Natalie replied. "I am looking forward to getting my hands on your mother though."

"Take a number and get in line," Michael stated.

"Be prepared to wait, it's a long line," Jim added, another thought coming to mind. "Maybe Angie needs advice from an outside source. Can I use your phone?"

"What do you have in mind?" Michael asked.

"I'll let you know when I find out if she's home."

---

Johanna was lounging on her sofa, watching an old movie on TV when the phone rang. She sighed and then pushed herself up enough that she could reach over the arm of the couch and grab the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey," Jim's voice replied.

A smile graced her lips at the sound of his voice. "Hey, yourself; what are you up today?"

"Well that's what I want to talk to you about…"

"You need bail money and a lawyer?" she teased.

He laughed. "No, nothing like that. I do have someone who needs a friend though…I think you might be able to fill the role."

"Anybody I know?"

"Well she's a newly minted kindergartener that's had a very bad week," Jim replied.

"Oh my," Johanna said, sympathy coloring her voice. "She's pretty upset, I'm guessing?"

"You could say that…and thanks to my mother, she believes we're only telling her things will be better because we have to…so I thought maybe she needed an influence that wasn't blood related."

"Bring her over," she told him. "I'll give it a shot. I'm not doing anything."

"I knew I could count on you," he answered with a smile. "I'll see you in a little awhile."

Michael and Natalie were eyeing him as he hung up the phone. "Do you mind if I take Angie out for awhile?" he asked.

"Are you taking her to see a certain person?" Michael asked, a teasing glimmer in his eyes.

"If you mean Johanna, then yes," he answered quietly. "Maybe she'll have better luck."

"By all means, take her over there," Natalie told him with a laugh. "It can't hurt to try."

Jim left the room and made his way to his niece's bedroom door. "Angie," he said as he knocked. "Come on out, Sunshine; I want you to go somewhere with me."

"Are you taking me to school?"

"Of course not; they're not open on Saturday's. I'm taking you somewhere you'll like."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"Okay," she replied as she opened her door and peered out at him. "I got to get my shoes."

He smiled. "I'll wait for you to do that, it's not a problem."

---

"Where are we going, Uncle Jim?" Angie asked once again as they walked down the hallway of Johanna's building.

"You'll see," he replied as he stopped in front of the door and knocked.

Johanna swung open the door and smiled at the sight of Jim holding his niece's hand. "Miss Jo!" Angie exclaimed in surprise. "Uncle Jim, Miss Jo lives here."

"I know," he laughed.

"I'm so glad that you came to visit me," Johanna said as she offered her hand to Angie. The little girl took it willingly, stepping across the threshold as Jim followed behind her.

"Look, Miss Jo; I'm wearing the shirt you got me," Angie declared proudly as Johanna stooped down in front of her.

"I see that; I'm so glad you liked it. I thought of you as soon as I saw it," she answered; wrapping the little girl in a hug.

"I'm wearing my barrettes too."

"They look very nice in those blonde curls of yours. I picked out all of those hair accessories so you'd have a lot of things to go with your school clothes."

Angie frowned at the mention of school but nodded her head.

"She's had a rough week in kindergarten," Jim said; acting as though he hadn't already informed her of that information.

Johanna gave a nod as she eyed the child. "She does look like a girl who could use a bowl of ice cream. What do you say, Angie? I'll make you a treat and you can tell me all about it."

"Okay," she replied; hanging on to Johanna's hand as she rose from her place on the floor.

"Come on, Uncle Jim," Johanna teased lightly as she led the way.

"Believe me, I'm coming."

Jim and Angie sat at the table as Johanna made three ice cream sundaes. When she placed the dish in front of Angie, the girl dug her spoon into it and breathed a grateful sigh as she took a bite, her eyes closed as if she was savoring the cool comfort on her tongue.

Jim bit back a laugh. "I don't know how you women do it," he said as Johanna took her seat.

"Do what?"

"How you all can take a bite of ice cream and look like it just saved your life."

She smirked at him. "It's not something that science can explain yet but even if it could be explained, only women would understand it."

"That's probably true," he laughed.

"Alright, Miss Angie," she said, turning her attention to his niece. "You had a bad week at school?"

"It was awful," Angie proclaimed; "And I'm not going back no matter what anybody says."

"I see," Johanna replied; figuring it best to deal with that issue later. "Tell me what happened that made this week so awful for you, lady bug."

"Nobody likes me," the child said sadly as she dug her spoon into her treat.

"Now how could anybody not like my friend Angie?" she asked. "You're nice, pretty; smart and helpful, funny and kind. I bet someone likes you."

Angie shook her head. "Nope; even the teacher don't like me."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because she was mean to me. She got mad because I already know my ABC's."

"What's wrong with knowing your ABC's?" Jim asked.

"We got a book and it has a letter on each page and then there's pictures and we have to put the picture with the letter."

"Pictures?" he questioned.

"Like you have to put a picture of an apple on the A page?" Johanna asked.

"Yeah…I thought we were supposed to match all the pictures to every page but we were only supposed to do A, B and C. She got mad and said I jumped ahead and the other kids were going to feel bad because I was showing off, but I wasn't…but I know all my letters, Miss Jo. Mommy taught me my letters. I didn't know not to do all of them."

Johanna patted her hand. "Sometimes things like that happen. Don't be ashamed of knowing your letters, there's nothing wrong with that and I'm sure the other kids won't feel bad about it. I bet some of them know all of their letters just like you do. Did anything else happen with your teacher?"

"Yeah; she put me on time out."

"What for?" Jim asked.

"She said I wasn't paying attention while she read us a story. It was The Cat In the Hat, Uncle Jim. I've heard that story lots of times, it's Danny's favorite. I got bored."

Johanna smothered a smile; thinking that she would've been bored too if it had been a story she wasn't interested in hearing for the millionth time. "She put you on timeout for that?"

"Yep; she said I got to learn to pay attention. I pay attention, I told her I know the story but that just made her mad. She said I back talked but I didn't mean to. Miss Jacobs is like Grandma Beckett…everything makes her mad."

Poor kid, Johanna thought to herself, she was in for a long year. "Well sweetie, the only thing you can do is to ask if you aren't sure about how much of your work to do, and if she's reading a story you already know, you'll just have to try harder to look like you're interested."

"I'm not going back."

"What else happened to make you feel like no one likes you?" Johanna asked, ignoring that statement about not going back.

"I don't have any friends," Angie replied mournfully as she scooped up another bite of ice cream.

"Sweetie, it's only the first week, sometimes it takes time," she told her.

"I wish Jenny was in my class."

"Who's Jenny?"

"The little girl that lives across the street from her," Jim supplied. "They've known each other since they were babies. Jenny got put into the other kindergarten class."

"No one even talks to me, Miss Jo."

"Have you talked to anyone?" Johanna asked; remembering what it was like to be a shy elementary school girl.

"No…I don't know anyone."

She gave her a smile. "Well how do you expect to know anybody if you don't talk to them? If you want to make some friends, you're going to have to talk to someone and get to know them, honey."

"I don't know how."

"It's easy," Johanna said warmly. "All you do is go up to a little girl you want to talk to and you say 'Hi, I'm Angie Beckett, what's your name?' and then she'll tell you and you'll start talking and playing and before you know it, you have a friend."

"But what if she doesn't say anything? What if she just walks away?" Angie asked.

"Then she's probably not someone you want as a friend and you pick another little girl to talk to. You'll find a friend, I guarantee it."

Angie eyed her seriously. "You really think so?"

"Yes I do; you just have to try. You know, I didn't always know your Uncle Jim."

"You didn't?"

"No; I met him at work. It was my first day there and I was just as nervous about my new job as you are right now about kindergarten."

"Really?"

"Mhmm; and I only knew one person there…until your Uncle Jim walked up to me and started talking to me. After that we were friends."

Angie smiled. "Did you do that, Uncle Jim?"

"Yes I did," he answered.

"How come you talked to her?"

"Yeah, Jim; why did you?" Johanna asked as she shot him an amused glance.

"Because…you were new and you looked like you needed to know me," he replied with a grin.

"Why did she need to know you?" his niece asked.

"Yes, enlighten us," his sassy colleague egged.

"Well I was worried that since Miss Jo was new, she might get lost in that big building. I wanted to make sure she knew where to get her coffee and where the elevator was…and how to find me if she needed anything."

"You're so gallant," Johanna teased. "It's a shame you don't have a white horse."

Jim laughed as he held her gaze. "Maybe I'll get one just so I don't disappoint you."

"Uncle Jim was your friend as soon as he talked to you?" Angie questioned; tearing Johanna's gaze away from Jim's warm blue eyes.

"Yes…I liked him very much."

"Liked?" Jim asked.

She laughed. "I still like him very much."

"You really think one of those girls might talk to me, Miss Jo?"

"I really do, Angie; you'll make a wonderful friend for some little girl in your class, you just have to keep trying. They might be feeling a little shy and nervous too, you know."

"Really?"

"Mhmm; every girl and boy in that class has been just as nervous as you…some of them just hide it really well. Now did anything else happen?"

"Yes; a mean boy is picking on me!" she declared indignantly.

"Who's picking on you?" Jim demanded to know; protective instinct surging to the surface. "What's his name, where does he live?"

"Down, boy," Johanna quipped as she eyed him with amusement. "Let's get the story first. What's going on with this boy, Angie?"

"His name is Raymond and he's always pulling my hair! And he calls me Angie Pansy…and he pokes me when he's behind me!"

"Little brat," Jim remarked. "You tell him to back off or I'm coming after him…and if that doesn't work, you punch him. He'll leave you alone then."

"Don't do that!" Johanna exclaimed. "For God's sake, Jim; you'll get her in trouble."

"That kid's picking on her!"

Johanna turned her attention back to Angie. "I don't think Raymond's trying to be mean…I think he just wants your attention, honey. Boys do things like that when they like a girl."

"Why?" Angie asked.

"I don't know, but that's what they do. They pull your hair and call you names so you'll pay attention to them."

"I think that's dumb," the little girl declared.

She nodded. "That's how boys are."

"Do they ever get better?"

"Not as far as I can tell," she remarked. "But I think Raymond just has a little crush on you, and when he makes you mad, you pay attention to him. You just ignore him if you don't like him and eventually he'll stop…or you can just try talking to him a little and then he won't feel like he has to do things like that to get your attention."

Jim scoffed. "He sounds like a bully to me; I mean I don't go around pulling your hair and calling you names."

Johanna's brow rose and her eyes gleamed with amusement. "So what are you saying, Jim? You have a crush on me?"

He stammered for a few minutes, making Angie giggle in the process as they watched them. "Let's not get into the semantics of that."

"I think Uncle Jim likes you a lot, Miss Jo," Angie remarked. "He told Grandma he'd marry you if he wanted to."

Jim closed his eyes; did that really just happen? "He told her you make him happy," Angie added. "Daddy says that he knows you're Uncle Jim's girlfriend and he don't know why he don't just admit it but since he don't want to, we'll all just pretend to believe him. Mikey says that he thinks Uncle Jim kisses you…I think so too."

Johanna glanced at Jim. "My ears were burning the other day."

"It's not what it sounds like," he replied.

"Then what was it?"

"We'll discuss that at a better time. This is Angie's time," he said, saving himself.

"Okay…but if we got engaged or something, I'd appreciate knowing so I can share the news with my mother."

"There's no news to share…it was just a…well, we can discuss that some other time."

"I'm sure we will," she remarked before looking to Angie once more. "Don't punch Raymond like Uncle Jim said; you try what I told you first and then if he's still bothering you, you tell the teacher, and if she doesn't do anything about it, then you can punch him."

"Okay," she agreed.

Johanna took a breath and braced herself for the part of their talk that Angie wasn't going to like. She waited while the little girl polished off the last bite of her ice cream and then she reached out and gently hooked a finger under her chin to bring her focus back to her.

"Angie," she said gently; "You're going to have to go back to school on Monday, you know that, don't you?"

"But I don't want to…I don't like it."

"I know you don't like it, but you have to go back; there's no getting out of it, honey."

"There isn't?"

"No," Johanna said honestly. "No matter what, you have to go back to school. It's a rule that all little boys and girls have to go to school. I went to school and Uncle Jim went to school, so did your parents and your grandparents, and Mikey goes too. I know your first week was bad…but you're a big girl and you know that sometimes we have to do things we don't like, isn't that right?"

"I guess so," she said quietly. "Grown ups always make you do things."

"Hey," Johanna said softly; "Even grown ups have to do things they don't like. I have to go do something tomorrow that I don't really want to do either…but it has to be done."

"How come you have to do it, Miss Jo?"

"Because my mother wants me to," she replied; "And I love my mother so I'm going to do this for her."

"I love my mommy…that's why I think I should stay home and help her with Danny and Alicia like I always do."

"I know what a big help you are with your little brother and sister and I'm sure your mommy misses you when you're in school…but you have to go back."

Angie's face crumbled and tears spilled down her cheeks. "But I don't want to."

Johanna pulled the little girl from her chair and settled her onto her lap so that she could wrap her arms around her in a tight hug. "I know you don't, lady bug. I know things went wrong and you feel like you're all alone right now, but you're not. Mikey is right there in the same building with you and you'll get to go home and help Mommy every day when school is over. You're going to make friends and you're going to learn new things and you'll be able to tell new stories to Danny, I bet he'd like that. You have to give it a chance; sometimes it just takes a little time for everything to work out. You can do this, do you know why?"

"Why?" she asked tearfully.

"Because you're brave," Johanna said as she smiled down at her. "Angie Beckett is a strong, brave girl. Kindergarten is not going to beat her."

"I don't feel brave," Angie confessed as she swiped at her cheeks, remaining cuddled against Johanna.

"Well that happens sometimes, but your bravery is in there…maybe you just need a little help with it."

"What do you mean?"

Johanna rose from the chair and sat Angie down on it. "You sit here with Uncle Jim and I'll be right back. I have something that will help you with your bravery."

Jim's curiosity was as piqued as Angie's and he wondered what she was up to as a few minutes passed. Finally Johanna returned to the kitchen and she smiled as she made her way back to Angie. "You see this?" she asked, showing her a smooth pink stone.

"It's a pink rock," the girl answered.

"It's not just a pink rock," Johanna replied. "This is a bravery stone. My Grandma Sophia, brought this with her from Italy when she was a little girl. She gave it to me when I was a little girl because I felt the same way about school as you do. I carried it in my pocket and any time I needed to be brave, I just put my hand in my pocket and held on to this stone and it helped me find my bravery. It'll work the same way for you."

"Really, Miss Jo?"

She smiled. "It worked for me…I know it'll work for you if you just try it. What do you think? Do you want to give it a try?"

Angie nodded and Johanna placed the stone in her hand. She curled her fingers around it and closed her eyes. "Okay…I'll go back to school on Monday."

"That's my girl," she told her. "You put your stone in your pocket every day…it'll work…and you try the things I told you, okay?"

"Okay, Miss Jo…I'll try."

"You let me know what happens, okay?"

"I promise."

---

After allowing Angie another small scoop of ice cream and listening to a few more of her worries, Johanna settled the girl on the sofa in front of an episode of I Dream of Jeannie. She then fished an old photo album out of the closet and turned it to the page containing a few photos of herself as a kindergartener and left it with Angie to look at before returning to the kitchen to have a few moments alone with Jim.

"So, do you want to tell me about this marriage talk you had with your mother?" she quietly teased.

Jim laughed. "There's not much to say…you know how it is with mothers."

"Mhmm, guess it's a good thing I kept my ring."

"You kept it?" he grinned.

"Of course," Johanna replied. "It was my first marriage; I'm sentimental like that."

"Maybe I should have you put it on and I'll take you over to my mother's."

"That could be fun," she replied. "Maybe I better hit a few bubble gum machines and get you one so we'll match."

A mischievous gleam lit up his eyes. "That would be good; that would really get her going."

She laughed. "So are you going to tell me or not?"

"Not today," he remarked. "Let's talk about you instead."

Johanna eyed him. "You don't feel like talking about you?"

"Nope; I like when the topic is you. What do you have to do for your mother that you don't really want to?"

She sighed. "I'm making my return to Sunday dinner."

"You ready for that?"

"I guess."

"Don't let anyone get to you, Jo."

"I don't intend to," she answered. "I'm only doing it for Mom. If Dad feels froggy and wants to take a leap, I'll be ready for him."

"That's my girl," he smiled. "I hope it goes okay for you."

"Me too."

He would've liked to linger there for awhile longer but Angie's giggles as she watched Jeannie's antics reminded him that he had to get his niece back home. "I guess I better go take Angie home. Thanks for letting me bring her over."

"No problem," she smiled. "I just hope it helped."

"I'm sure it did," Jim replied as he walked into the living room. "Come on, Angie; it's time to go."

"Miss Jo, who's that baby?" Angie asked as she pointed to the framed picture on the stand.

"That's my nephew Greg."

"What are those pictures?" she asked, pointing to the photos that were arranged on the shelves of the bookcase.

Johanna scooped her up and moved toward the shelves so that Angie could get a better look. This is me and my sister when we were little, and this picture beside it is us now that we're grown up. This next picture is my brother and his wife and Greg. This one is my grandparents; that's the grandma who gave me the bravery stone. Here on the next shelf is my mother and I when I was your age and the one next to it is my best friend Sharon and me right after we graduated from high school."

"And the one between the seashells is you and Uncle Jim!" Angie exclaimed.

"That's right, it is."

Jim smiled as he looked at the picture she'd had someone snap of them while they were in North Carolina. It was nice to see himself added to her collection. Just the day before she had slipped him the photo he had taken of her on the beach that he had laid claim to. It was on his nightstand, propped up against the lamp until he could get a frame. 'Alright, Angie; we have to go now. Maybe I can bring you back to visit another day. Say goodbye."

Johanna carried her toward the door and then sat her down and gave her a hug before cupping her face. "Remember, you're brave."

"I'm brave," Angie repeated.

"I'll talk to you soon, Angie."

"Bye, Miss Jo," she replied; slipping her hand into Jim's as he opened the door.

He paused on the threshold, his gaze meeting Johanna's once again. "Call if you need me."

She smiled; knowing that he referred to any mishaps that might spring up at her upcoming return to her mother's table. "I will."

Despite the curious five year old hanging on to his hand, Jim leaned close and pressed a kiss to Johanna's cheek. "I'll talk to you later, sweetheart," he murmured.

Her eyes sparkled with amusement. "Don't go thinking I'll forget about that other talk we're supposed to have."

"I didn't think that for a minute," he laughed.

---

Johanna discreetly rubbed her fingers across her forehead late Sunday afternoon as she sat on the sofa at her mother's house. Upon arriving, she found that not only was Frankie and Valerie present with Greg, but that Colleen and Paul had shown up on the spur of the moment as well. Her father had been shooting her glares on occasion which she had been ignoring and her brother-in-law hadn't said two words to her despite her greeting him. Colleen, however, had sidled up to her as if a cross word had never passed between them and regaled her endlessly with the tale of her honeymoon in Spain. Johanna had feigned interest, figuring it would be better than enduring the cold shoulder from her sister, but now her head was starting to ache from the constant chatter and she felt it was time for wine as Colleen moved to join her husband.

She abandoned her spot on the sofa and headed for the kitchen, the sounds of Valerie trying to soothe fussy Greg, filling her ears along with the sound of her brother and father bickering over business. It was going to be an Advil night when she got home, that was for certain. "Mom, can I get a glass of wine?" she asked as she entered the kitchen but as her gaze fell upon Naomi, she knew something wasn't right. "What's wrong?"

"Oh dear," Naomi said as she wrung her hands. "There isn't going to be enough room at the table and I'm not sure I cooked enough. I didn't know everyone was coming."

"That's what happens when people don't call first," Frank said tartly as he eyed Johanna.

She smirked at him, apparently it was okay for Colleen and Paul to show up unannounced but it wasn't okay for her. That was fine. "It's alright, Mama," she replied as she pressed a kiss to her mother's cheek. "I'm not hungry anyway. I'll just have a glass of wine and sit on the couch while you all eat."

"You have to eat!" Naomi cried. "I'll share mine with you."

"No, it's okay. I'm not hungry. I had a big lunch," Johanna lied. Really she had a ham sandwich and had been looking forward to her mother's cooking but since the gang was all accounted for and had caught her mother off guard, she'd make the sacrifice and fix her own dinner when she got home. Paul was in her place at the table anyway and it seemed to scream that she wasn't really a part of things anymore. The thought should've depressed her but instead it sparked something deeper and lit a fire. No one was going to get to her today. Tears were gleaming in Naomi's eyes, the feeling of self failure written across her features. Johanna gave her a smile. "It's okay, I only came to see you; you don't have to feed me for that."

"See what you did?" Frank asked. "You've gone and upset your mother again. You just have to cause trouble, don't you, Johanna?"

"Stop it, Frank!" Naomi yelled. "I've had just about enough out of you!"

"Well she should've called first!"

"My children don't have to call first! And under your logic, Colleen should've called before arriving too. Our family is growing; we're just going to have to get a bigger table."

"The hell we will!" Frank yelled. "Either they'll all take turns coming on Sundays or Johanna will have to get a chair out of the garage and eat in the kitchen at the counter."

"Why me?" Johanna asked.

There was a hint of malicious glee in her father's eyes. "Because you don't have a spouse. Husbands and wives eat together; old maids sit in the kitchen."

He had hoped to hit her in her most sensitive area, Johanna thought to herself as she laughed in his face. "I thought maybe you'd eat in the kitchen, Dad; after all it isn't like we wouldn't be able to hear your mouth from there...God knows it's big enough. I mean look at all the times you put your foot in it."

There was a choking cough as her brother choked on his beer while her father's eyes widened and blazed with fury. "If you want to talk about mouths, let's talk about yours, you little brat!"

Johanna rolled her eyes, a light smile clinging to her lips. "Spare me your theatrics. And as for being the only single person here, I don't look at it as being an old maid. I just remember that I'm carefully screening my candidates so I don't end up with a man like my father."

Her father's face turned red with indignation and his finger raised to point at her but Naomi grabbed it as she handed Johanna a glass of wine. "That's enough," she stated. "I'm buying a new table. I've been looking at that one since 1949 and I'm sick of it. I want something new and damn it I'm going to have it and I don't care what you say, Frank McKenzie!"

Frank huffed and stormed from the kitchen, leaving Johanna to help carry in the plates. Greg was fussing in his highchair and after sitting down a plate in front of Valerie, she asked what was troubling her nephew. "He's still teething," her sister-in-law answered. "He's been fussy all day."

"I could hold him while you eat," Johanna offered. "Maybe it would soothe him a little."

Valerie gave her a grateful smile. "If you want to, go ahead. He ate his lunch late so I know he isn't going to eat here."

Johanna unhooked the belt of the chair and lifted her nephew into her arms and then picked up her wine glass and moved to the couch. Greg cuddled against her and she kissed his head. "Did you just need to be cuddled?" she asked him. He babbled in response and began to play with the emerald ring on her finger. She took a sip of her drink and sat it on the stand as she listened to the scrape of forks and her sister once again making a comment about her magnificent honeymoon in Spain. She rolled her eyes but refrained from commenting.

"Johanna, dear," her mother said. "We heard that you went on vacation."

Johanna shifted to face the gathering at the table. "That's right, I did."

"Where did you go?" Naomi inquired. "No one seemed to know."

"Oh I went on a road trip. I went to Pennsylvania, Maryland and North Carolina."

"A road trip," Frank sneered. "What a waste of time and money."

Johanna picked up her glass and took a sip and then smiled. "Don't worry, Dad; I didn't use my own savings for the trip. When I spoke to someone about your mother's bond I was told that it was worth $1500 and that it wouldn't get much more valuable and that I should just cash it in...so that's what I did. I cashed in the bond and used it for my vacation. Somehow I think Grandma Sarah would approve...as would Grandpa."

"You blew my mother's money on a stupid vacation!" he thundered.

She smiled. "Yes, I did. I still have a good bit left though. I figure I have enough to buy myself some new clothes for winter and for anything else I'd like. In fact, Mama, on Wednesday I should be able to get out of work early. If you'll meet me in the city we'll go get you that new kitchen table. It'll be my birthday gift to you. I know you wanted the certificate to get your hair done and I that I gave it to you in your card but I want you to have something else too...and besides, I think your mother-in-law would want you to have a new table in thanks for the care and love you give her son. You did give him three children and three meals a day. You do his laundry and iron his shirts...and when he can't get that little noose around his neck tied just right, you tie his tie for him and send him off to work with a smile."

"Oh, darling, that's a lovely thought but you shouldn't spend so much on me," Naomi replied. "That's your money."

"And I want to use some of it to buy my mother a present," she remarked.

Frank glared at . "That bond wasn't rightfully yours and you know it! And you will not bring anything into my house that was bought with that money!"

"You don't own me," Johanna retorted. "I'll do what I want; and as for the bond it was legally given to me to do with what I wished. Now you make sure you call your brother tonight and tell him that Grandma's bond has been cashed and that the stocks have been invested. You can also tell him that I got his letter and I said that he can kiss my ass, because neither one of you will ever get what is mine. I may not have known my grandmother but I'm sure that she'd rather me have it than either one of you! I bet she's ashamed."

"What do you know!" her father bellowed. "Just how do you know what my mother would want? How do you know that she'd want you to blow her money on stupid frivolous things? You know nothing!"

She held his eye. "Let's just say that I feel like Sarah and I have a special bond...I feel her approval."

"I don't give a damn what you feel, you will not buy your mother anything with that money, least of all a table she doesn't need!"

"Watch me."

"Johanna," Naomi said. "Let me know what time to meet you Wednesday because I'm getting tired of your father telling me what I'm going to do. I want a new table and if you're determined to give me one...I'm going to let you."

"I'll let you know, Mom; and Paul," Johanna said as she eyed her brother-in-law; "This will be the last time you sit in my place at the table. I have always sat on my mother's left side and I will continue to do so. So next week when that new table is here, I will be here for dinner and as the eldest daughter, I will sit in my chair and you will sit elsewhere or I'll knock you out of my chair. Understood?"

"Johanna," Colleen said in outrage.

"It's nothing personal," she replied; "But your husband isn't taking my place at my mother's table."

Paul glared at her. "You may have your seat next week, princess. We'll be eating at my mother's."

"Hey, Paul," Frankie stated as he eyed the man. "You haven't been in this family long enough to be doling out smart ass nicknames. You'll call my sister and I by our given names or we'll think up a few for you...like mama's boy."

"No one is calling anyone anything at my table," Naomi remarked; "Now everyone behave, Johanna's telling us about her vacation. Who did you go with, dear? Surely you didn't go alone."

"No; I went with a friend," she replied, untangling Greg's hand from her necklace.

"Sharon?" Naomi questioned.

"No."

"Maggie?"

"No."

"Then who?" her sister questioned.

Johanna shared a secret smile with Valerie and then her smile widened as she looked at Colleen. "I went with a man," she answered.

"A man?" her sister repeated.

"That's right, Colleen; I went with a man...you know, that thing some of you don't think I'm capable of catching? Well I caught one baby sister, a real live handsome, wonderful, red blooded man...it was two glorious weeks of just me and a man," Johanna remarked, raising her glass in salute.

Colleen's mouth dropped open, her father stared in dismay and Frankie grinned. "I knew it," her brother laughed. "I knew she went with a man. She came home too happy."

"What do you mean by that?" Johanna asked.

"I mean that when you came to visit on Labor Day, you were the kind of happy that only someone who's spent two weeks getting screwed on vacation could be."

"Frankie!" Naomi exclaimed in shock as her daughter laughed.

"What?" he asked; "Apparently it did her good."

Naomi shook her head. "Johanna...you didn't really go away with a man...by yourself, did you?"

"I sure did," she replied, smiling brightly. "And it was fantastic."

"Oh dear...what will people think?" her mother asked.

"Don't worry, Mama; when we checked into hotels, we checked in as Mr. and Mrs."

"Tell me you're joking!"

Johanna laughed. "Well...we only checked into a few of them as Mr. and Mrs. and we used a fake name a few times."

"Good lord," Frank said tartly. "We didn't raise you to be a slut!"

"That's a little harsh, Dad. Slut would imply that I went with three men; I only went with one…he was more than enough."

Her father's face turned red with indignation. "What's this man's name?"

"None of your business," she replied lightly.

"You tell me who he is because he's going to marry you!"

Johanna laughed. "No; I'm not telling you who he is and there's no call for a shot gun wedding."

"You sure about that?" Frankie asked. "You don't want to be showing at the wedding."

"I'm sure."

He nodded. "Don't worry, Mom; if she's sure, that means she was listening to that safe sex lecture we got in school that one time."

"Oh my God!" Naomi exclaimed. "You never told me they taught that sort of thing in school!"

"It's okay," he laughed. "It wasn't anything I didn't already know…now if Jo knew or not I don't know; you'll have to ask her about that."

"At that point I had only heard rumors," Johanna said; "But I found it all very informative…which is why I made sure to tell Colleen about it."

"You told your sister!" Naomi exclaimed.

"Well she had a lot of questions that I didn't have the answers to until then and she didn't want to ask you."

"That was supposed to be a secret!" Colleen exclaimed.

"It's alright, we're big girls now," she told her sister. "You're married, every one knows that you're probably well versed in the art by now."

"I don't want to hear another word of this!" Frank exclaimed.

"But we were having so much fun," Frankie remarked.

"We shouldn't be discussing such things at the table…or anywhere else for that matter," Naomi said as she fussed with her napkin; "And we have a child in the room!"

"I don't think he understands yet," Valerie remarked. "Besides, he's all cuddled up to his Aunt Jo and looks like he's ready to fall asleep at any moment."

Naomi released a heavy sigh. "I was going to ask you more about your vacation, Johanna; but I'm not sure I want to know."

"I had a wonderful time and I saw a lot of interesting things," she said before speaking of the places she had been to but being careful not to mention Jim by name.

"That sounds lovely, dear," her mother said when she finished; "But you were joking about signing into hotels as a married couple…right?"

"Don't worry about it, no one knows."

Her father shook his head. "You might be a lot of things but I thought you at least had some decency. I can't believe you just up and go off with some man that we know nothing about and that you're not married to!"

"You don't have to know him; I do, and he's a good man and I don't need a ring on my finger to travel with someone of the opposite sex. You're the one who told me to get a back bone; you're the one who said you didn't believe I was as lonely as everyone thought…I was just proving you right," Johanna stated.

"You might be trying to prove something but it isn't that," he retorted.

"Believe what you want, you always do."

Frank turned his attention to Naomi. "Well are you happy now? You've got your princess back and she still doesn't have the sense God gave a goose. All she wants to do is…"

"No, all you want to do is run your mouth!" Naomi exclaimed; "And I'm tired of it! You're the reason they all act the way they do!"

"Don't you blame me!"

Frankie caught Johanna's eye and raised his glass to her. "Welcome home, Sis."

She raised her glass in return. "It's like I never left."

---

The conversation finally settled down and Johanna figured she had scandalized them all enough for the day; it had been fun though, she thought to herself as she held her sleeping nephew. Eventually Valerie came to collect the boy from her arms as she and Frankie decided to head home early. She said goodbye to them and remained on the couch instead of asking for a ride home. Colleen reappeared, sitting down next to her, her chatter oddly gone as they sat together quietly.

"We can give you a ride home if you want," Colleen offered quietly.

She didn't relish the thought of riding with Paul and she was sure it wouldn't thrill him either but she nodded. "Thank you, I'd appreciate that."

It was quiet once again until her sister decided to speak once more. "So…do you still hate me?"

"I've never hated you, Colleen; there are just times when I don't like you very much…like when you're acting like you're so much better than me and when you're going out of your way to hurt me," Johanna remarked softly.

"I don't know what happened," Colleen admitted. "I don't know what happened to me…"

"You lost your damn mind, that's what happened."

The younger McKenzie sister smiled. "I guess I kind of did, huh."

Johanna nodded. "Oh yeah, definitely."

"Why didn't you beat the hell out of me?"

"I was trying to the night before the wedding but you cried for your mommy and she made me stop."

"Oh yeah, I had almost forgotten that."

"I haven't."

Colleen rubbed her palm against the skirt of her dress. "Yeah, I guess you probably haven't forgotten a lot of things."

"That doesn't mean I'm not open to forgiveness…as long as I'm not going to be a peasant in your world."

"You've never been a peasant in my world…you're my big sister and I love you…even if I don't always show it."

Johanna took her hand. "Well maybe we should have lunch together next week and see how things go."

"I'd like that…I've missed you and I'm sorry…although I'm sure that's not worth much."

"It's worth plenty…and if I've hurt you, I'm sorry too. It's not something I ever wanted to do, Colleen. I love you; and you're always going to be my baby sister no matter what."

"Is Tuesday good for lunch?" her sister said with a small sniffle.

"Yes; call me tomorrow and I'll let you know what time my break is."

"Okay."

"And if it goes well," Johanna said; "Maybe this weekend I can help you with that cooking lesson you claim to need."

"I'd really appreciate that," her sister cried; "Because I'm a horrible cook."

She laughed and gave in to the urge to hug her sister. "We'll work on it."

"Thanks, Sissy."

When they finished their talk, they both got up and moved to the kitchen to say goodnight to Naomi.

"Don't forget about Wednesday," Johanna told her as she hugged her.

"I won't, darling; I'll call you Tuesday to see what time you want me to be there. I'm glad you came tonight…I wasn't sure if you would."

"I did it for you, Mama."

"I know," her mother replied as she hugged her tighter. "I appreciate it…and I was glad to see you and your sister in there talking. I know it isn't easy to forgive the people that hurt us…but you do it with a great amount of grace, Johanna."

"I never wanted to be mad at her in the first place," she replied as she slipped out of her mother's embrace.

"I know…and before you say it, I know that miracle isn't going to occur with your father and while I wish it could be otherwise, I know he crossed a line and that some things can't be overlooked and forgiven…but I hope that one day the two of you can co-exist a little more peacefully like you had been."

"I'll do my best for you…but the rest is up to him. I won't let him walk on me and I'm not going to forget what he said or forgive him for it…I'm sorry, Mom."

Naomi shook her head. "There's no need to be sorry. I just wish…"

"Don't," Johanna said quietly. "There's no use wishing for something that isn't meant to be. Dad and I…we just aren't ever going to be a typical father and daughter and I know that hurts you but it isn't your fault and there isn't anything you can do to fix it so you just have to accept it like I'm learning to do. I can't promise that I'm going to be here every Sunday like I used to be, but I won't stay away because that isn't fair to you. I'll be around and I'll go back to calling more regularly."

"That's all I ask, Bambina…that and that you'll not shock me at the dinner table anymore for awhile."

She laughed. "I'll try to refrain…and really, Mama; it wasn't as scandalous as you think. He's a good man and he respects me and he just wanted to give me a nice ending to the summer. He's been a good friend for a long time…you have nothing to worry about; I'm perfectly safe with him."

Naomi smiled a little. "I think I may have an idea who you went with."

Johanna smiled. "And on that note, goodnight."

---

"Are you sure you want to do this, Johanna?" Naomi asked Wednesday afternoon as she stood by while Johanna packed her briefcase.

"I'm sure," she smiled. "I told you I was going to get you a table and that's what we're going to do."

"Your father is going to throw a fit."

"Let him throw one and get over it; you have the right to something new and I have the right to buy my mother a gift."

Naomi smiled. "I think it's the part about you using money from Sarah McKenzie's bond that infuriates him."

"Not my problem," Johanna replied. "He'll get over it. And don't go picking a slab of plywood and some rickety chairs. I want you to pick something nice, I can afford it."

"Alright, we'll get something nice and reasonable."

Johanna was about to reply when someone knocked on the door of her office. She glanced up and smiled at the sight of Jim. "Hey, do you need something?"

"In a way, do you have a minute before you take off?" Jim asked.

She glanced at her mother who nodded; a gleam in her eye that suggested what their conversation would be about later. "Sure, I have a minute; we're not in a hurry."

"Hello, Jim," Naomi added warmly as she smiled at him; her radar for potential son-in-laws beeping loudly in her head.

"Hello, Mrs. McKenzie," he replied with a smile.

"No need to be formal, dear; just call me Naomi like all of Johanna's friends do."

"Alright, Naomi," Jim said with a quiet laugh as Johanna rolled her eyes.

"What do you need, Jim?" she asked.

"I have someone who desperately wants to see you," he remarked. "Hang on and I'll bring her in."

Puzzlement crossed her features as she looked at her mother and shrugged. A moment later, Angie Beckett came running through the outer office exclaiming, "Miss Jo!" Johanna smiled and stooped down enough to catch the little girl as she flung herself at her. "Hi, Angie," she said warmly; lifting her into her arms as Jim and Natalie stepped into the room.

"Miss Jo, it worked! It really worked!"

"What worked, sweetie?"

"My bravery stone," she replied as she reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out the pink stone Johanna had given her.

"I told you it would!"

"And you know what else?" Angie asked.

"What?"

"I did just what you told me."

"Does that mean you made a new friend?" Johanna asked with a smile.

Angie beamed. "I got two friends!"

"Two!" she exclaimed as the little girl's arms wrapped around her in a tight hug. "I'm so proud of you, Angie! I knew you could do it!" she praised as she returned the child's hug.

"I walked up to them and talked to them just the way you told me to, their names are Kathy and Heather and they're really nice."

"I'm so glad to hear that. What about Raymond? Is he still giving you trouble?"

Angie shook her head. "No; I talked to him and now he doesn't pull my hair anymore. Now he just talks to me whenever he wants to."

"So really you have three friends," Johanna stated.

Angie's smile widened. "That's right! Because Raymond isn't a mean boy at all, he's really nice now."

"See, I told you he liked you," she remarked; her gaze shifting to Natalie. "Where's the rest of the kids, Natalie?"

"Oh I left them with my mother so I could run her down to see you. She just couldn't wait until Jim could bring her on the weekend and a phone call wouldn't do," she laughed.

Johanna laughed and gave her attention back to Angie. "And how are things going with your teacher?"

"She read another story I heard before but I pretended like I didn't know it."

"That's my girl."

"Maybe you missed your calling, Jo; maybe you should be counseling kindergarteners," Jim commented.

"I'm saving that as my back up career," she replied with a wink.

"That's good to know," Natalie remarked; "Because I have two more waiting in the wings and I'm just bringing them straight to you."

"Go ahead," Johanna told her. "I don't mind a bit."

"That lady looks like you," Angie declared; a small finger pointing at Naomi who was standing by and quietly observing the scene.

Johanna smiled. "That's my mom."

"You're Miss Jo's mommy?" Angie asked excitedly.

Naomi gave a soft laugh. "Yes, I'm her mommy."

"I like Miss Jo a whole lot," the girl stated.

Naomi gave a nod. "She is a special girl, isn't she?"

"Uh huh; she helped me be brave."

A look of pride stole across Naomi's features as she moved closer and ran a hand over Angie's blonde curls. "She knows a lot about being brave...she's a good person to have around when you need a little help."

Angie grinned. "Maybe my Uncle Jim will marry her and she can be my aunt!"

Johanna's eyes widened as her mother laughed. "We can hope."

"It's time for you to go, Angie," Jim declared as his sister-in-law shot him a teasing look. "Miss Jo has plans with her mother."

Angie gave her another hug. "Bye, Miss Jo."

"Bye, Angie," Johanna replied as she kissed her cheek. "Thanks for coming to see me; you keep being my brave girl."

"I will."

She set her down and she hurried to Natalie's side and took her mother's hand. "Thanks for helping, Johanna," Natalie said warmly. "I hope we didn't hold you up too much."

"Oh no, not at all; I'm glad you came, and I'm glad I could help."

"Jim, we'll wait for you outside if you want a moment with Johanna," his sister-in-law declared.

"I would like a minute with you," Johanna said as she laid a hand on his sleeve.

He gave a nod. "I'll be along in a minute, Natalie."

"I'll wait for you in the hallway, dear," Naomi remarked as she followed behind the Beckett ladies.

"What's on your mind, sweetheart?" he asked once they were alone.

She smiled; a teasing sparkle in her eyes. "We still haven't had that talk yet...you know, about whatever it was you announced in front of Angie about how you'd marry me if you wanted to."

Jim grinned as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh, that talk."

"Yeah, that's the one...when are you going to fill me in on that?"

He laughed. "I don't know...maybe over dinner Friday night...that is if you aren't busy."

"What time?"

"Seven?"

"I'll be ready," she replied.

He brushed a knuckle against the curve of her chin and then softly pressed his lips to her cheek. "See you tomorrow, sweetheart."

"See you tomorrow," she answered.

He left the room and she grabbed her briefcase and purse and then moved into the hallway to join her mother who smiled at her knowingly as they made their trek to the elevator. "What?"

"Nothing," Naomi replied. "I see you passed on your bravery stone."

"Well, I have a couple more. Grandma handed those out every so often."

Her mother slipped an arm around her waist once they were on the elevator. "You're going to be a good mommy one day."

"I hope so."

"You will be," Naomi assured. "You did wonderfully with that little girl...but you've always had a touch with children. You'll do just fine."

Johanna smiled and gave her mother's waist a squeeze. "I learned from the best."

"That's sweet of you to say, darling."

"It's the truth."

"That young man is smitten with you; he couldn't keep his eyes off of you the entire time."

"Mom..."

"Well he is! It's so very obvious; just like it's so very obvious that you are smitten with him as well."

Her cheeks warmed. "I know."

Naomi's brow rose. "Did you just admit that you're smitten?"

She nodded. "Yes, I did...happy now?"

Her mother grinned broadly. "Very...are we going to discuss it while we shop?"

"Nope."

"We'll just see about that."

Johanna laughed. "I guess we will."