A sequel ficlet to Chapter 15. You should definitely read that chapter first.

If this is to ask me to babysit, the answer is a big no.

That's what he had told Mac the very first time he had met Chloe.

That's also what he had told her this morning.

"Harm," she pleaded. "This is my only chance to see my little sister, but I have a big meeting with a client this afternoon, and it might run late, so if you could just watch her for a little while..."

"Mac, I am not going to babysit just to help you get out of your big sister duties."

"I'm not asking you to do that," she argued.

"Then what are you asking me to do?"

"Play big brother for a couple hours?"

And when she had looked up at him with a sweet smile and those pleading brown eyes, he had to admit that something inside him had melted completely.

And that's how Harmon Rabb found himself at the grocery store with a little sister tagging along.

"Harm, I think we need some of these," Chloe declared, putting a box of cereal in the grocery cart.

With a suspicious look in his eye, Harm removed the box and scrutinized the label. "It's all sugar."

"That's what makes it good."

Harm shook his head in disbelief. "Does Mac let you eat this crap?"

"Yes."

"Right, I'm sure she's eating it along with you." Harm rolled his eyes and put the box back in the cart. "One box. That's it. And not before dinner."

Chloe grinned. She wondered if Harm had any idea just how parental he sounded.

She skipped ahead as the two of them made their way down the aisle and around the corner to the fresh produce section. Chloe knew that Harm would take a while to select the vegetables for dinner.

"Why, hello, Chloe!"

Chloe spun around at the familiar voice. "Hi, Ms. Warren!"

Cornelia Warren had been perusing the selection of tomatoes when she spotted one of the children she had been counseling at school. Chloe Madison was one of her favorite success stories, and she attributed much of that success to the friendship Chloe had found in her big sister, Sarah MacKenzie.

"How's everything going?" she asked.

"Fine," Chloe replied.

"How's Mac? This is one of your mentoring days with her, right?"

Chloe nodded. "But she had to go to a meeting, so Harm's here instead."

As the handsome Navy commander dropped an assortment of peppers and zucchini into his grocery cart, Cornelia's eyes lit up with immediate recognition. "Commander Rabb," she said. "I'm Cornelia Warren, the psychologist at Chloe's school."

"Harm," he said politely, extending his hand. He was in the grocery store and saw no reason for military formalities.

"It's so nice to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you."

"From Chloe?" Harm sounded puzzled.

"Of course," Cornelia said with a smile. "You and Mac are all she ever talks about."

Just then, Harm's cell phone rang.

"Commander Rabb. ... Yeah? … Are you sure? ... So he didn't take the plea bargain?"

As Harm nodded apologetically and turned away to talk on the phone, Cornelia glanced over at Chloe.

"It's Mac," the little girl replied to the unasked question.

"Do they talk on the phone a lot?"

"All the time," Chloe confirmed. "The other night, they talked until almost midnight." She lowered her voice to a secretive whisper. "Mac thought I was asleep, but I wasn't."

"Eavesdropping again, are we?" Cornelia whispered back with a sly wink.

Chloe shrugged innocently. "Like I said, it's a small apartment. They were talking about the case that Mac's working on. That's what they're talking about now, even though he's just going to see her tonight."

"Is Harm cooking dinner again?" Cornelia asked. She motioned to some of the items in the grocery cart.

"Yeah, he's making vegetable lasagna."

Chloe said it so casually that Cornelia was certain that dinner at Mac's had become a fairly frequent occurrence now.

"Well, that sounds delicious," Cornelia said. She could almost feel her mouth watering at the thought.

"Chloe, Mac's on her way home," Harm announced, snapping his phone closed. "And she is one lean, mean, hungry Marine."

"Well, I won't keep you then," Cornelia laughed. She smiled warmly at Harm. "Have a wonderful evening. I'm sure your girlfriend will appreciate having a home-cooked meal waiting for her."

Harm blinked in surprise. "My...girlfriend?"

"Why, yes," Cornelia said. "Chloe tells me that you've been dating the Marine major for quite some time now."