Garret woke up as the sun began to pour through the uncovered windows of Renee's bedroom. The sun warmed him, but he was immediately aware of the cold emptiness that filled the space beside him. Brushing the cobwebs of sleep from his mind he got up and dressed quickly. Renee's absence from the bed that morning meant one thing only, and although he hated like hell to admit it, he knew it was nevertheless true. She regretted what happened the night before. Once dressed, he located his keys and made his way to Renee's quiet kitchen. She was at the counter with her back to him. She was dressed and by all appearances ready to go to work. As she turned to put her son's breakfast on the table, she saw him.

"Where's the coffee?" he asked.

"Same place as always," she said quietly. She watched him pour black coffee into a mug he had always used at her apartment. "You should probably go. I don't want you here when Jake gets up." Garret had expected this. Nothing had changed because of their night together.

"I'm going," he said, heading to the door. "I'll see ya Renee." She followed him to the door and closed it quietly behind him. She sighed, running her hand nervously through her hair. Her stomach was doing flip flops, not because she regretted what she had done the night before, but because she didn't.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Later that afternoon Garret sat in his office staring at a never ending stack of reports that were waiting for his signature. He was nursing is third coffee from the same mug he had taken from Renee's that morning. He just couldn't get started today. The events of the day before were torturing his sleep deprived mind. Not only had he spent the night with his former lover, he had almost lost his daughter to an angry waiter. He picked up the phone and dialled a familiar number. She picked up on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey baby,"

"Hi, Dad," Abby said. Garret smiled at the sound of her voice. He had called her twice already today to make sure she was alright. "Before you ask, I'm fine," she sighed, "Mom has called me like a million times. I'm fine okay?" Garret laughed but inwardly hated the fact that his daughter didn't need him to check up on her.

"Alright," he relented, "I'll let you get to class."

"Dad?" Abby asked quickly, before her father hung up.

"Yeah?"

"Did you talk to Renee?" Garrett's heart skipped a beat; they had done more than talk.

"Yeah," he answered tentatively.

"Is she okay?"

"She's fine," Garret smiled, "she asked after you. Call her later. I'm sure she'll want to talk to you."

"Yeah, I will. Okay, I gotta get to math; I'll talk to you later okay?"

"Sure,"

"Okay, Love ya Dad,"

"Love you too," Garret smiled and hung up the phone. He was satisfied for the moment that his daughter was safe and decided that now, he could commit himself totally to his paperwork. He picked up the first file and signed on all the required dotted lines, without bothering to read what he was autographing. The forms were the same everyday. He could probably recite each one by heart.

Garret had ploughed through half the stack of fileswhen the ringing telephone jarred his focus. Surprised at the sound after such a long silence, he tore his glasses off his face and barked into the receiver as it finished its first ring.

"Macy," he announced.

"Garret, it's me," said a familiar voice.

"What can I do for you Renee?" he asked, taking extreme caution to make sure everything he said remained strictly professional.

"I need to talk to you," Garret could detect a slight uneasiness in her voice. To anyone else, Renee's tone would have seemed ordinary, but Garret new better. She was missing some of her usual harshness, and he was anxious to find out why.

"Go ahead," he pushed.

"I don't want to do this on the phone," she reasoned.

"Then why did you call me?" Garret asked sarcastically. Renee sighed into the phone, taking her time to respond.

"Abby is babysitting for me tomorrow night. Can you meet me at the coffee shop around the corner from my building?"

"Yeah," Garret said simply. He took no time to glance at his date book or ask what time. It didn't matter.

"8:00?" she asked.

"Sure." Once Garret confirmed that he would meet her, Renee regained the chilly tone she had been missing earlier.

"Fine," she said flatly, "I'll see you then," she placed the receiver back in it's cradle without a good-bye, leaving Garret to wonder what she had in store for him the following night. Garret raked the thought over in his head for an hour, finally deciding at six o'clock that he would never finish the reports today, so there was no use in torturing himself with them. He slid on his jacket, locked his office and headed for home.

xxxxxxxxxx

The following morning Renee woke up and made a mental note of her goals for the day. She was to be in court at nine o'clock, prosecuting, yet another murderer. She expected to present her closing arguments by about ten-thirty and if all went well, the jury would be sent to deliberate before noon. That gave her the rest of the afternoon to sort out just how she would tell Garret everything she needed to. She needed a plan. She needed to order her revelations in such away that would keep Garret from storming out of the coffee shop before she had finished. As she made her way quietly to the shower she noticed that for the second morning in a row that her stomach was doing somersaults. She mentally scolded herself for letting Garret Macy make her feel like a nervous teenager on her first date.

Standing in the shower letting the water wash over her tense muscles, she heard Jake enter the bathroom to use the toilet.

"Mornin' buddy," she called. He only grunted in response. She went back to washing her hair and lost herself in thoughts of what the day would bring. She had forgotten Jake was even in the room, until she heard him reach to flush the toilet. "No, Jake! Don't!" she yelled, but it was too late. She screamed, and jumped out of the way of the spray. The water pelted against her and her entire body clenched.

"Sorry mom," Jake said quietly.

"It's okay," she said, turning off the water, immediately feeling guilty for yelling at him. "Can you hand me a towel?" Jake did as he was asked and then perched himself on the end of his mother's bed. Renee dried herself and wrapped the towel around her slender frame and joined her son in her bedroom. Jake watched her as she picked through her closet. She noticed how strangely quiet he was this morning.

"Mom," he said finally.

"Uh-huh?"

"Who was that man?" he asked, pulling at thread in his pyjamas. Renee's heart stopped.

"What man?" she asked.

"Yesterday, when I woke up. I heard him talking to you." Renee sat down beside Jake. There were so many ways to answerhis question and she needed to find the right one.

"Do you remember the man you picked you up from daycare the other day?" she asked. He shook his head yes. "Well, he and I used to work together sometimes and he just came over to say hello to me," she lied.

"Why didn't you pick me up? I waited a really long time," Jake said sadly. Renee sighed. The truth about her ordeal was too much for such a small child. She would have to tell him another lie.

"I was at work Jake, and you know that sometimes I have to stay late when I'm talking to the judge, right?" Jake shook his head. There had been many nights, when in fact, Renee had been forced to stay in court later than she wanted to, but on those occasions her mother was always there for Jake. Jake had never had a stranger take care of him before, and Renee could understand the worry that was troubling the boy. "I called Garret, because I knew that he would take good care of you while I was with the judge," she said finally. Jake seemed satisfied with this explanation and slid of the bed in search of his Cheerios.