He smiled. “Pressure. And if I don’t?”
She pretended to consider the question. “I guess I’ll have to learn to live with the disappointment, but I’m not exactly concerned.”
“Good.”
They talked for a few more minutes, then Marcus drove her back to the bookstore. She leaned over for a quick kiss before getting out, then stayed a little longer when the kiss got good. Finally they drew back.
“Okay, then,” she said with a laugh. “Now my concentration is shot.”
“You’ll get it back.”
They walked into the bookstore together. Cheryl practically ran toward them.
“I found him! The boy. I know who he is. His name is Bodie and his mom is Vivian. I’ve staked out their house and she leaves every night at nine.”
Cheryl sounded frantic and was practically wringing her hands together.
“She’s a very loving mother and I’m sure she’s not happy leaving her son alone. We have to help. Please. Can she have my job? I love working here, but this is a desperate situation.”
“Stop,” Jax said gently. “Breathe. No, she can’t have your job. I need you. Plus you don’t work full-time and I’m sure she needs a full-time job to support herself and her son.”
“But we have todosomething.”
“Maybe we start with talking to her,” Marcus said, his voice calm. “If she wants a better job then let’s help her find one. I know a lot of people in the business community. Do you know what she does?”
“I don’t. I didn’t want to follow her to work,” Cheryl said. “That seemed intrusive.”
Jax and Marcus exchanged a look. Really? Following her to work was intrusive, but staking out her house and reading other people’s diaries was fine?
“You’re right.” Cheryl nodded vigorously. “Talking to her makes sense. We’ll have to make it clear we’re not reportingher or getting the police involved. We just want to help.” She turned to Marcus. “Will you come with me?”
“Me? Why?”
“You have a calming presence. You’ll make her feel better.”
He looked doubtful but agreed. As they worked out what time they would head to her place, Jax thought that Marcus was one of the good ones. If she was going to take a chance on someone, he seemed like the perfect guy.
“So order is restored to the universe,” Ryleigh said, her voice teasing. “Your favorite guy is home where he belongs and you get to be right about him wanting a cat.”
“I’m not interested in being right,” Jax said. “I want to make sure he never runs away again.”
“He wasn’t running away. He was going on a quest.”
“Parrots aren’t meant to be quest-driven animals. I need to make sure he understands that.”
That made Ryleigh laugh. She and her sister were sitting in the backyard, sharing the last of the wine they’d had with dinner. Gentry and Xander were upstairs watching a movie, enjoying the fact that they didn’t have to worry about school night bedtime. They had some time off before their summer camps started and getting up early became a thing again. Noah had been just as excited to have his free time, although he would be spending it at his after-school camp.
“I couldn’t go through losing him again,” Jax added.
“He loves you. He wants to be with you.”
“He still ran away. I get scared thinking about what could have happened.”
“Quest,” Ryleigh repeated. “And he’s fine. There’s no need to torture yourself with things that didn’t happen. Although I do have to wonder how he made friends with a cat. I mean what was the sequence? Did he fly around, looking for a stray cat, then walk up and introduce himself?”
“I don’t know, but they get along really well.”
“Any luck on the name front?”
