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Chase said adamantly, “No, I won’t forget. But this helping others
thing is doing wonders for my self esteem, so leave me alone.”
    Jared
rolled his eyes. “Fine. You’re coming over on Saturday night? Gina’s cooking.”
    “Sure.
I’ll bring the wine.”
    “Gina’s
making burgers. Make it beer.”
    “Fantastic.
I’ll bring a couple of six packs. Thanks for the invite.”
    Crumpling
up the paper from around his sandwich, Jared slid out of the booth they were
sharing and stood up next to the table. “I’ve got to go. I’ve got another
meeting in ten minutes. See you this weekend.”
     
     
     

 
     
     
     
    Five
     
    Late
Saturday morning, flashlight in hand, Lena was on her hands and knees, crawling
under a set of metal risers in the basement and looking for an old box of
children’s books. The box had come into the shelter via a donation from a local
library about six months ago, and the staff had moved it downstairs and out of
the way while they were painting and doing some renovations in the children’s
play room. But now, with the painting done and shelves newly installed along
the walls, it was time to dig the box out and put the books out for the
children to read. Problem was, she had absolutely no idea where the box had
ended up.
    As
she was backing out the way she came, she heard footsteps on the stairs.
    “Lena?”
she heard Frank calling her name.
    “What?”
she called out.
    “Where
are you?”
    “I’m
over here. I’ll be right out,” she said, starting to stand too soon and whacking
her head on one of the metal poles. Crawling out, she rubbed the top of her
head, cursing under her breath.
    “Lena?”
    “Geez,
Frank. Give me a sec. I just concussed myself on that damn pole, and I’m seeing
stars.”
    “What
are you doing?” the older man demanded.
    “Looking
for that missing box of books,” Lena said.
    “I
found it this morning. It’s in the office.”
    “Oh,
for...” Lena took a deep breath, and let it out in a long sigh, turning off her
flashlight as she did so. “Thank you. Where was it?”
    “Behind
the old mattresses that we need to take to the dump when we get a few hours
with a truck.”
    “Oh
wow. I never would have thought to look there,” she admitted. “So did you need
me for something?” she asked. “Or did you just get sent to look for me when Amelia
noticed that I was missing?”
    Frank
moved aside then, and Lena realized that he had brought someone down to the
basement with him.
    “Lena,
this is Ed – he’s the volunteer I told you about. I wanted you to meet him
before you both left for the day. Ed, this is Lena Magill. She’s in charge of
this place.”
    Lena
brushed her hand against her jeans to get the dust off before she shook hands,
but then looked up at the man and gasped.
    She
was looking up at the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen in her life. He was
tall, dressed in faded blue jeans and a woven fabric pullover in a dark forest
green. And wow did he fill those jeans out well, she thought. His eyes were a
deep chocolate brown, and his brown hair was rumpled, and streaked through with
gray. He looked kind, reliable, and sexier than anything Lena had seen in a
long time. Maybe her whole life. But the thing is, she knew him. And knew him
well.
    “Chase?”
    “Charlene?”
    Frank
looked from one of them to the other, his intelligent eyes shrewdly taking in
their equal astonishment. And he’d heard Lena call this man Chase. So that
opened up a world of questions, but he wisely kept silent and just watched.
    Chase
was looking down at Lena with a look of surprise, but he also seemed to be
working hard to not stare. Wondering what there was about her appearance that
had him in such a state of astonishment, she glanced down at herself, and
realized that she was not only clad in an outfit that he would never have
imagined her in, but she was absolutely and completely covered with dust. So
that’s why he was looking at her so strangely! She burst