I spend the rest of the morning trying to pass the time.

I already called Branch's therapist back; he told me that he doesn't think Branch is quite ready to come back yet. He thinks a few more weeks of therapy will do him a lot of good, so that's what he recommends. That conversation took a whole five minutes.

Without any calls coming in, there isn't much to do around here. The only call we've had today was about James Martin's "stolen" dog. Ferg came back from checking out the property and couldn't find anything to indicate that the dog was indeed stolen. James doesn't lock the dog up, so it runs away frequently, but he always does come back. James is a bit of a chatterbox, so I figure the dog just needs to get away every once in a while.

I get like that sometimes. I don't actually run away, but my mind tends to wander off.

Cady says I need to work on that, too.

Finally around lunch time, I get to take a break from my busy day to go meet the punk for lunch. At the same time I'm heading out into the main office, Vic is getting up from her chair.

"Where ya headed?'

"I'm starving," she says as she swings her coat over her shoulders. "I figured I'd head over to the Busy Bee and get some food."

"I'm about to meet Cady for lunch, why don't you join us?" I feel like we got off on the wrong foot this morning. Maybe being around Cady will cheer her up, it always works for me.

"Oh, no. I don't want to intrude on your lunch."

"What? You're not intruding on anything, Vic, it's just lunch. Cady was just asking me the other day how you were, come and you can tell her yourself."

She debates for a few seconds before giving in. "Ok, uhh sure, why not."

I grab my coat and hat from the coat rack and hold the door open to wait for Vic. Before I can stop it from coming, I feel a smile grow on my face as I hold the door open and wait for her to go ahead of me.

Cady beats us to the Red Pony, and is talking to Henry up at the bar when we stroll in. Cady smiles when she spots us.

"Hey, Vic! How are you?" Cady comes forward and gives Vic a light hug. "I haven't seen you in a few weeks. How are you holding up?"

"I'm good." She pauses. I'm assuming she knows Cady is referring to the divorce but she doesn't know what to say. "I'm ok, really. How are things with you? Did you get your old job back at the law firm?"

Deflecting a question with another question, that's my Vic.

Cady nods, "I did! It took a bit of convincing, though. After I disappeared for those few weeks a while back, they were hesitant to hire me back on. But after I told them about my success with Henry's case, they decided I was at least talented enough to give me another shot."

"That's good. Everything really is back to normal, huh?" Vic says as she turns makes eye contact with me to find that I was already watching her. She makes me feel far from normal.

She holds my gaze for another moment before turning to my best friend. "I'm starving, Henry, the usual?"

I peel my eyes off of Vic and turn to Henry, too. "Three usuals, Henry." Henry nods back, and we all make our way to a table to sit.

I ask Cady what's going on at work and that's all she needs for a story starter. She doesn't really need me for our conversations, and that's perfectly fine with me. I'm happy just listening. Henry brings our food out, and Cady barely pauses her story long enough to stop and chew. Eventually our conversation turns to the party here at the Red Pony this weekend.

Cady turns to Vic and asks if she's coming this weekend, but she has a blank stare on her face.

Instead of responding to the question, she reaches a hand over to me and wipes my face with her napkin.

I'm assuming I have ketchup on my face. "Oh, thanks," is all I can mutter as I wipe my face with my own napkin, hopefully getting the rest of it off.

Vic turns her attention back to Cady, "What were you saying?" I can see that she's blushing.

"Oh, I was just asking if you were coming to Henry's party here this weekend."

"I didn't know there was a party. What's it for?"

"Well, ever since the charges against Henry were dropped, he wants to celebrate once a month with everybody he cares about, just to make sure he doesn't take anything for granted. You have to come!"

"Ahhh, well…I'm sure I'm free this weekend. I don't have a husband to occupy my time anymore, so I'm free to party all I want!" This is the first time I've heard her act like she's happy to be divorced. Both Cady and I look back at her, unsure of how to respond to that.

I clear my throat start to gather up our empty food trays, "Well alright then." Getting up from my chair and turn towards my deputy, "We better get back to the office. Are you ready, Vic?"

"Yep, good to go."

I lean over towards Cady and give her a quick kiss on the cheek, "See ya later Punk, thanks for lunch."

She smiles. "Of course. And thanks for joining us, Vic. I better see you here this weekend."

"You bet. And we'll see about this weekend," Vic smiles at her quick before turning to me.

I wait for her at the door, and she smiles as she steps out in front of me.

On the ride back to the station, Vic seems to be in a better mood. I feel a little bit better myself. I tell myself that it's because of Cady, but I'm afraid that's not the case.