"I have to take this," Angela stood from her seat, "if the waitress comes by and takes drink orders I want a water."

"Okay, Angel." Sharon said as her eyes scanned the breakfast menu. She looked up at James, "you've been quiet."

"Huh?" He looked up. "Yeah, I… I actually have a lot on my mind."

"Want to talk about it?"

"I do actually… but just us." He looked over to see his sister standing outside on the sidewalk on her phone. "Do you think we could talk alone later?"

Sharon furrowed her brow, "of course."

Angela came back in, "sorry about that." She apologized as she sat back down at the table. "Did the waitress come yet?"

Brenda was looking through the glass wall as her parents handed out Christmas presents. She closed her eyes tightly for a moment, fighting back a fresh onslaught of tears. When she opened them again her vision was blurry and she knew that she hadn't entirely staved them off. She reached up with the back of her hand and wiped them away.

Almost unconsciously, she pulled her cell phone from her purse and scrolled through her contacts until she settled on Sharon's. She hesitated for a moment before pressing send and putting it to her ear.

"Mom, it's Brenda." Angela pulled the phone out of her mother's overstuffed purse.

"Give it to me," Sharon held her arm out.

"Mom, it's against the law to use a handheld device while you're driving in the state of California." Angela protested.

"I have a shiny badge that would outrank any officer who might pull me over." She wiggled her fingers, "give it to me, please."

Angela handed it over and fell back against the backseat with a sigh.

"Captain Raydor." Sharon answered coyly.

"Sharon?" Brenda sobbed, turning away from the glass so no one would see her.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I'm…" Brenda sank down into her chair, "oh god…"

"Brenda, what happened?" Sharon demanded slowly and clearly.

"I… no, I'm fine, I'm…" She wiped at her eyes, "I stubbed my toe really hard and I'm… sitting in my office trying to pretend I'm not crying."

"Oh… well, make sure it isn't broken – not that you can do much about a broken toe except live with it…"

"I don't think it's broken, I think I'm just stunned. Sometimes I don't know what to do with myself… Are you and the kids having a good time?"

"Yeah, we're headed toward Ano Nuevo State Reserve. Your favorite…"

Brenda snorted. As much as she loved the yearly trip to Pescadero and the inn, she did not love the four mile hike through the the state reserve. For most of the year Sharon was a happy city girl, a stone cold fox in the concrete jungle but drop her in the middle of nowhere and she was obviously in her element. Brenda had been an urban girl scout, the finer points of orienteering and wilderness survival were never stressed to her and she craved indoor heating.

"Okay, have fun. I can't wait until you get back. I miss you a lot."

"I miss you too, I hope you feel better."

After hanging up Brenda slumped down in her chair and dove into her candy drawer. She wished that her parents would just go back to the house so she could try not to think about her father's diagnosis. She would try not to think about all the time she'd spent away and feel guilty about pursuing her own interests instead of staying near her parents.

Didn't that happen with all children? They move out of their parents' house to seek their fortunes, their passions pulling them to the four corners… but when their parents got old and fell ill or… died… the children felt like they'd missed precious time with them.

Well, it hadn't been that way with Sharon. Sharon moved seven hours away and then her parents moved to the other side of the country. Maybed it was because Sharon's parents had still had passions too, maybe it was because they were California gentiles, maybe it was because Sharon was an only child.

Sharon's mother passed away when Brenda had only been with her for a few months. The funeral had been in Sarasota, FL and Brenda hadn't gone and Sharon hadn't asked her to but when Sharon returned to Los Angeles Brenda asked to take their relationship to the next level – she'd missed her too much in the week and a half she'd been gone. The mourning process had been relatively quick and these days when she speaks of her mother there are no tears only smiles remembering her fondly. Whether that meant she was actually well adjusted and her parents had iactually/i correctly taught her how to be her own person or she was just a very practical person remains to be unseen. Sharon's father's death had been harder on her because he'd had two heart attacks that didn't kill him and the constant threat of his death had been fraying at Sharon's nerves. When he had finally passed away Sharon spent the whole night in Brenda's arms sobbing and lamenting about how slow things had been for him and how she was glad he was finally at peace. Then she was also able to put her sadness behind her and she spoke with happy nostalgia about her parents.

Brenda knew that she would never have the sort of peace that Sharon had. Just the very idea of having to live without her parents could send Brenda into fits, it was a well-known fact that Sharon was the level-headed one in their relationship and Brenda was a Mt. Vesuvius of emotions.

She chanced a glance into the bullpen and she sighed a little bir of relief when she didn't see her parents. She leaned back in her chair and was starting to breathe a little easier when her office door opened and her parents entered.

"Brenda Leigh?" Willie Ray smiled.

Brenda nearly fell out of her chair. "Oh, mama, daddy… y'all should be at home restin'…"

"We just came to bring a little bit of good tidings to the murder business." Clay grinned, his indellible holiday cheer plastered on his wide face.

"You're our last stop since Sharon's out of town." Willie Ray handed Brenda a little teddy bear that was holding a big plush heart. "Just a little something to tide you over until Christmas."

Clay produced another teddy bear, this one was also holding a big plush heart but it was wearing a police officer's uniform. "This is the one for Sharon if you want to hold onto it for her. I think we'll be headed back to Atlanta before she gets back."

"Thank you, daddy." Brenda fell against her father, allowing the comfort of his embrace to envelope her. How many more times would she get to feel her father's arms and smell his aftershave? "Mama," she said, switching to her mother. Her mother had a small, more delicate body and, though her hugs were comforting, too, they were nothing in comparison to her father's big bear hugs.

When Brenda pulled back she had to wipe tears from her eyes.

"None of that, Brenda Leigh. You have a murder to solve." Willie Ray patted her on the arm, "we'll be at the apartment when you get back. We made dinner reservations for 6 so do try to be home, okay?"

Brenda nodded. "I will, mama, I promise I will."

Willie Ray patted her only daughter's arm, her touch felt fragile and Brenda felt another pang of sadness lance through her heart. When had her parents gotten so old and how did Brenda miss it?

Brenda spent several long minutes holding the police bear, settled back in her chair. They got Sharon a police bear but they got Brenda a princess bear. As she set Sharon's down and picked up her own she noticed the weight difference. The princess bear was considerably heavier.

After a short amount of inspection she realized that the heart opened and she pulled out a milk chocolate, badge shaped and wrapped in gold foil. Brenda felt a fresh wave of tears, thinking that that was probably the most thoughtful gift her parents had given her in a long time.

After their hike Angela volunteered to pick up dinner because she had to go into town to get wifi to send a few documents to work.

Sharon smiled at her son after Angela left in their rented truck. "Let's walk on the beach while we talk."

James fell into step with his mother as they walked away from their cabin down the shoreline. She was quiet, she was waiting for him to start. She was like that, she remained silent until you just couldn't stand it any more and spilled your guts.

"Well… I'm making a job change." He started.

"Why?" She looked over at him, "I thought you liked your job, why are you leaving?"

"I loved my job," he smiled sadly, "and I'm leaving because they asked me to."

"Oh James," Sharon stopped and looked at him, James stopped and shoved his hands in his pockets, looking defeated.

"They laid off a bunch of us, every body who hasn't been there for two years yet got shitcanned." He ran a hand through his hair. "I got a severance package but with this economy… I think I can make it go longer if I need to if…"

"If?" Sharon repeated encouragingly. She had a feeling what came next was what he had really been putting off saying.

"If I could move back home for a while?" He asked. She looked skeptical for a moment, "I have more contacts in LA, all my professors and my first couple of jobs, I think my prospects are better there and if I got an apartment I'd have to pay a security deposit. So if I could just stay with you until I get a job it would be a much wiser use of my money."

Sometimes Sharon wondered why he didn't go into law like his sister, considering their amazing abilities to present rational arguments that were hard to disagree with.

"Of course you can, James. You're always welcome in my home."