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your lucky day.”
    Elizabeth took the object from him, then stopped when she realized what it was. Dominique could understand the woman’s disbelief. She leaned in closer just to make sure her eyes weren’t deceiving her. When Elizabeth flipped it over she realized they weren’t. He’d given her a hundred dollar bill. Her green eyes filled with tears. “Kevin, it’s too much.”
    â€œIt’s nothing.” Kevin looked at the floor as if he were searching for something. “I wonder if I can find some more.”
    She tugged on his sleeve. “No, don’t.”
    He tapped his cheek again. “Can I get a kiss now?”
    She kissed him, then held the money close to her chest. “This helps more than you know.”
    He squeezed her arm with affection. “Tell Jed I say hi.”
    She nodded, then turned and left.
    Dominique watched her go, seeing Elizabeth wiping her eyes. When she turned, Kevin was halfway down the hall. She rushed to catch up with him. He didn’t walk fast, but he didn’t stand still long either. She couldn’t believe what she’d just witnessed. Was he a magician? How had he managed to make that money appear out of nowhere? She hadn’t seen him reach for his wallet and when he bent down she could have sworn there was nothing in his hand. She opened her mouth to ask him how he’d done it, but he spoke before she could.
    â€œYes,” he said, “it’s cancer.”
    Dominique paused. She’d been so busy focusing on the money she hadn’t paid attention to the reason why he’d done it. She thought about the wig and the puffy face and the sudden tears and felt in awe of his compassion. How he’d told Elizabeth that she was beautiful and made it sound as if he meant it. “I’m sorry.”
    â€œTreatment seems to be working, but it’s still hard.”
    Dominique nodded, not sure what to say. She didn’t understand why he was sharing that with her. He spoke to her as if they were friends instead of employer and employee. She’d never seen a man of his status do that before. She was supposed to be part of the furniture—used and ignored. Maybe he was thinking aloud. She hadn’t even known him an hour and he was already confusing her. Who was this man? Seeing him as a nude model, yes that made sense. Seeing him as a man who cared for a married woman with cancer? No, that was harder to swallow. But it didn’t matter. She wouldn’t be swayed. Hadn’t Berton appeared to be one thing and then turned out to be another? Hadn’t her father taught her what men were really like? Untrustworthy, ruthless, conniving…
    Her thoughts faded when Kevin rushed forward and helped a woman struggling to open the main doors to the building while she pulled a luggage cart in one hand and held two bags in another. Kevin took one of the bags and the luggage cart.
    Dominique, feeling that she should do something, took the other bag from her. “Let me help you,” she said, her face reflecting in the woman’s dark glasses. The woman was petite with corkscrew twists, making Dominique feel like a wide lumbering giant standing beside her.
    The woman smiled in relief. “Thank you.”
    â€œIt’s not that sunny, Nora,” Kevin said. “Are the sunglasses really necessary?”
    Nora Winestone sighed. She worked for the chair of the department and had just finished a discussion about possible budget cuts. “Not now, Kevin.” She smiled at Dominique. “My car’s over there. I can take—”
    â€œIt can get dangerous if you stay longer,” Kevin said.
    She frowned. “Nothing’s wrong.”
    â€œThen let me see your face.”
    She stopped and lifted up her sunglasses, revealing her brown eyes. “Feel better now?”
    â€œThe makeup looks good.” He touched the side of her face, she winced. “But not good