“A cook with a night off. Missed having you around,” she added and walked over to hug him. There’d been a time he wouldn’t have returned the hug, but he did now, even lifted her a scant inch off the floor along with it.
“Why’d you scream?”
“I was just— Oh, I can’t hold it in. Why should I? It’s…”
He took a hard grip when her eyes filled. “You tell me what’s wrong, Ro. Right now.”
“Not wrong. Perfect. Look at my face
! I’m just so damn happy. It’s why I screamed, why I forgot about your night off. Why I can barely remember my name, except it’s right there, on the contract.”
He glanced toward her miniscreen. “What contract?”
“For my new job. For my dream job. Hell, here I go again.”
She screamed, grabbed him, and danced.
“You’ve got a job. You love your job. What dream job?”
“As head therapist at An Didean. The shelter and school.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard something about that place. Funny name. Wait. That’s a Roarke deal, right? You’re going to work for Roarke and the cop skirt.”
Grinning like a fool, Rochelle poked him in the chest. “She’d bust you for the skirt, but yes. You don’t have a problem with that, do you?”
“Why would I? Man, Roarke turns shit into gold all the damn time. It must be a good place or you wouldn’t go into it.”
“It will be, a really good place. It’s scheduled to open in May. I have so much work to do to get ready!”
“Wait, back up. You said head. Like chief? Like numero uno?”
“With a staff of eight counselors, therapists, and an administrative assistant.” She put a hand to her ear as if listening. “Do you hear that word, Lyle? Staff!”
His whole face lit up, for her. “Jesus, Ro. This is a big fucking deal. Like monster fucking big. MFBFD.”
“I can hardly get my breath. It’s why I asked Wilson out to dinner. I wanted to tell him. You know what? I’ll tell him to come over here, we’ll order in and celebrate like maniacs.”
“Oh hell no, you take your fancy ass out with your man, have a big night. I was figuring on cleaning up, heading to a meeting, then over to see Gram and the gang. I haven’t seen her in a couple weeks, and she’ll skin my ass if it’s much longer. I’ll be late for dinner, but she’s always got leftovers. Then I thought I’d just bunk there or at Martin’s tonight.”
Or he did now, to give his sister and her man the place to themselves.
“Can I tell ’em?”
“Yes. Absolutely yes. And that I’ll get in touch tomorrow. Oh, Lyle, you should see the place. I got a tour today—from the boss! It’s just amazing. The thought and care that’s going into it. We’re going to change lives. We’re going to save lives.”
“You saved mine.”
“No, honey, you—”
“You’re a freaking wonder, Ro. I’m real proud.”
“So am I, of you.” She cupped his face. “So am I.”
“Get going. Get your fancy on, and tell Crack I said to take you dancing. Maybe you come by tomorrow lunchtime. I’ll cook you up something special.”
“I’m going to do all of that.” She grabbed her coat, stuck her arms in. “This is going to make a big difference for us, Lyle. Such a difference. You tell Gram to plan a big family dinner for your next night off. We’re going to celebrate till we drop.
“Crap, I’m going to be late.” She snagged a scarf and her purse on the run. “I love you, Lyle.”