5

"I work well with my hands."

Alex almost choked on her coffee. "Really."

Bobby looked at her curiously. "Yeah. That's why I'm glad they put me into a carpentry job."

Alex put her coffee down and nodded. "Okay. Um, maybe we should get going. I'll see you tonight."

"Alex?"

She turned back to face him. "Yeah."

"Maybe tonight we could talk some more. About what you said last night."

Alex bit her lip. "Okay," she said hesitantly, turning towards the door once again.

"Alex?"

"Yes, Bobby?"

"Be careful."

Alex turned around and stared at him for a moment, before finally relaxing. "I will. You too."

Bobby nodded. "Always."


"You must be Emily Cormwell."

Alex looked up and nodded and the brunette that made her way over to her. "Hi."

The woman smiled. "Hi. I'm Kerry. Welcome."

"Thank you. And thanks for employing me on such short notice."

Kerry waved the gratitude away. "We're always happy to have new people working here. The more we have, the more attention the kids get."

Alex nodded. "So, where do I start?"

"You be careful, Emily. With an attitude like that…everyone will be taking advantage."

Alex arched an eyebrow. "You're really that understaffed?"

"Look around," Kerry gestured. "We have around 50 kids in here on a quiet day, and a total of three staff."

Alex looked around, seeing the various kids playing in different areas. "Must be hard."

"For us or them?" Kerry asked.

"Both," Alex replied.

Kerry nodded and pointed to a table where a girl aged about ten read a book. "That's Emma. She won't let any of our other counselors get near her. I thought since you were a newbie, you could try."

"What's her background?"

"Her mother died in childbirth. Her father is no package. We have to make sure she's home by 4.30 each day. That gives her half an hour before her father gets home."

Alex was almost afraid to ask. "What happens then?"

"Then we go home…and hope she returns tomorrow."

Alex's eyes widened. "He beats her and no one has reported him?"

"We tried. Once." Kerry sighed. "If you want, I can give you someone else."

"No," Alex said, putting her hand up. "No, I'll go talk to her."


Bobby was enjoying both the physical and the artistic aspect to carpentry. They were working on some cabinets for a kitchen, and his hands smoothed along the wood as he went.

"You're not bad at this, Cormwell," one of the workers, a jolly man named Greg said. "Where did you say you worked before?"

"Just basic stuff, really,' Bobby answered. "My wife wanted to move out here. She thought it was a better place to raise a family." He bit his lip. Alex would kill him if she had heard that.

"Yeah, it's not a bad little place," Greg told him. "My wife and I love it here. Maybe we should get together and have a barbecue sometime."

Bobby nodded. "That sounds nice."

Greg grinned. "Great. I'll get my wife to ring yours up. What's your wife's name?"

"Emily," Bobby answered.

"Perfect."

Bobby smiled to himself. Alex wasn't far off it.


"Hi," Alex said, sitting down next to Emma.

The little girl looked up. "Hi."

"I'm Emily. You're Emma, right?"

Emma nodded. "Yeah."

"So, what are you up to?"

The girl showed her the book. "Reading Harry Potter."

"Cool," Alex said. "I like Harry Potter."

Emma glanced at her. "You read Harry Potter?"

Alex nodded. "Of course. It was a great book."

Emma relaxed slightly. "Cool."


Bobby threw his keys onto the foyer table as he walked into the house he now lived in with Alex. He wasn't overly concerned when she didn't answer his call. He figured she was either still at work or buried somewhere in the house. With the size of their home, it was pretty easy to get lost.

Besides, Alex wasn't supposed to answer to him. It wasn't like they were really married. Bobby frowned.

Damn it.

"Do not say a word to me!" came Alex's growl, as she stomped in, slamming the front door behind her. She threw her keys down onto the table and stomped through. "Is there a punching bag in this house?"

Bobby's eyes widened, momentarily worried that she may instead decide to use him. "Uh, we could check the gym."

"I'll check the gym," came the reply, as she stomped off towards the built in gymnasium.

Bobby weighed his odds of coming out alive after he followed her, but decided that he really better follow her in case she damaged something. Like the wall.

"Alex?"

There was a thump and Bobby peeked in the room to see her bashing the punching bag.

In any other circumstances, it might have amused him that the bag was almost the same size as her.

"Go away."

"I take it you had a bad day."

"You take correctly. Now leave me alone."

Bobby went and stood behind the punching bag, holding it in his hands. "Want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Alex…"

She looked up at him. "You're going to annoy me all night if I don't tell you, aren't you?"

Bobby nodded.

"There's this kid at the youth center. She's being abused at home by her father, but no one does anything about it. Of course, being a cop, I could, but then I remember, I'm not a cop!" The last four words were punctuated with attacks on the bag.

Bobby moved backward. "And being a cop is part of who you are."

Alex glared at him. "Doesn't it bother you, even a little bit, that this kid is being hurt and no one is doing anything about it?"

Bobby nodded. "Yes, it does bother me."

"I can't help her," Alex said, punching the bag in frustration. "No matter how much I want to."

"No, you can't."

Alex frowned. "I hate it when you act like that."

"Like what?"

"Practical."

"If I had a choice, Alex, I'd be the first person to go to the local station and report it. But I don't have a choice." Bobby walked over and grabbed her hands. "Now, before you hurt yourself, let's go inside, okay?"

"Are you implying that I can't take a punching bag?"

"No, I'm implying that you shouldn't take one without gloves." Bobby's challenging gaze met hers. "Want me to get you a pair?"

"Maybe I should practice on you?"

"Be my guest," Bobby replied calmly.