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who gave him a gentle shove. “It’s okay,” she told him. “Andy’s a nice lady.”
    Shyly, he lifted his hand to shake mine. His “hi” was barely audible.
    “Good to meet you.” I took the small fingers in mine and gave a gentle squeeze before letting go.
    “I have his things,” Maria told me, indicating a faded green knapsack on the floor. “I got them from the apartment after”—she caught herself, gaze shifting to David—“after Molly had to leave. He has his pajamas and a toothbrush. Some clean underwear, shirts and socks.”
    “He’ll be fine,” I assured her. “If he needs anything, we’ll just buy it.” I nearly flinched at my own words: my mother’s motto all my life.
    “You ready?” I asked him.
    He stared at me, wide-eyed, for a long moment, and I thought I saw his bottom lip quiver. Then he puffed his chest out and whispered, “Ready.”
    “We’ll have fun,” I told him, hoping I wasn’t lying through my teeth. “It’ll be an adventure, you’ll see. And then your mommy will be back before you know it.”
    The boy tucked his thumbs into the straps of his knapsack and nodded. I patted the top of his head. His tousled hair felt like down.
    While Maria hugged him goodbye, I slipped a business card from my purse and set it on the nearest table. “Here’s my cell and home phone if you need me,” I told her. Then I picked up David’s knapsack and headed for the door, waiting there for him.
    David whimpered a bit and dragged his feet when I led him outside to the Jeep. As I buckled him in the front seat, I thought about where we were headed and wondered what Mother would say when I dropped him off at the house on Beverly Drive.

Chapter 5
    S andy answered the door. She looked both pleased and surprised to see me.
    “Andrea, sweetie,” she said in her honey-smooth drawl, the stern frown she wore to scare off solicitors morphing into a smile.
    She drew me into her sturdy embrace, muffling my own greeting in the cushiony folds of her breasts. She wore a blue cardigan over a white silk blouse and tan trousers, and she smelled of roses. My mother had hired Sandy Beck as a housekeeper some thirty-odd years ago, and she’d become so indispensable that she’d evolved into Mother’s social secretary—her best friend, if truth be told—and my fairy godmother.
    “What brings you here so early in the morning?” she asked, and then her broad mouth fell open as I drew apart from David. Until that moment, he’d been hiding behind me.
    “For heaven’s sake,” she breathed, the folds of skin lifting above her bright eyes. She touched a hand to her neat gray hair, a sure sign she’d been thrown for a loop. “Now, sweet pea, I’d know if he was yours,” she said, recovering quickly. “You couldn’t hide a thing like that any more than you could keep a secret.”
    I smiled at her teasing. “No, he’s not mine.”
    Sandy tugged her cardigan closed. The morning air was cool despite the sun. “Don’t tell me you’ve taken to babysitting.”
    “He’s Molly O’Brien’s,” I told her, catching the change in her expression. No doubt she’d already gotten an earful from Mother.
    “I see,” she replied, though her quizzical expression told me she awaited further explanation.
    “I promised Molly I’d look out for him until . . . well, until she can come home.”
    “You’d like him to stay with us?” she asked pointedly, and I blushed.
    “Do you mind?”
    Sandy put her hand on my arm. “If it means so much to you, Andy, then it’s no trouble at all.”
    I covered her fingers with mine. “Thank you,” I said. “It does.”
    I’d embarrassed her. Her cheeks reddened. I let go of her hand, and she fiddled with her collar.
    She cleared her throat, leaning nearer to ask me, “Will she be there long?” With the unsaid word being “jail.”
    I sighed, feeling the helplessness creep in again, knowing I would have to do more for Molly than keep David safe. Wondering exactly