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missed every other word or something.
    “I’m talking about Jamie’s past, Gray. He was abandoned by his mother to his grandmother’s care. The older woman died in her sleep while he was living with her.”
    “That’s rough.” Gray couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be that alone in the world. He mightresent and fight against Ma’s over-protectiveness, but he’d always known she was there for him.
    “Who found the grandmother?”
    “He did.”
    “God.” He shuddered at the thought of anyone, including and especially a little boy, finding a dead body.
    “Exactly. So if he’s found something that catches his interest, I’m going to make sure it’s available to him.”
    “Good idea.” It was none of his business, but he couldn’t help asking. “So how’d he end up at your house? You an aunt or something?”
    She shook her head, tumbling her wavy hair around her. “No, nothing like that. I run a long-term home for foster children.”
    He really should be leaving for work, but he couldn’t help asking one more question. “What’s that, exactly?”
    “I provide a home for children who have nowhere else to go. The system expects they’ll stay with me for a long time.”
    Before he could stop himself, he asked, “How many of them are yours?”
    “Weren’t you listening? All the kids are wards of the court.”
    “So you take care of them full-time.”
    “I’m a licensed psychologist specializing in childhood trauma.” She checked her watch. “I’ve got to run. Bonnie’s keeping an eye on them for me, but I need to get them organized for school before we’re late. I drive them to school since we moved.” She chuckled. “Besides Bonnie will let them take over the place.”
    Her smile reached her eyes, softening them, before she reached out and touched his forearm. “Thanks very much. You’ve given me a way to reach Jamie. Without knowing, you might have changed his life.” She held his gaze for a moment, before she duckedaround him and was gone.
    Gray scratched his head, then raked his fingers through his hair, watching her scamper across the driveway and lawn. Unconsciously, he opened his right shirt pocket, took out a mint, unwrapped it, and popped it into his mouth. Who’d have thought something good could have come out of yesterday?
    The little guy wasn’t very far from Gray’s thoughts all day. Driving home from work, he couldn’t get the horror of Jamie’s story out of his mind. No wonder the poor little kid didn’t talk or play. Finding his grandmother dead had probably scared him half to death. Hell, most adults would have been scared to find a body, never mind that it was someone important to you. Poor kid.
    He hoped she’d bought a model simple enough for the kid to work on. They could be complicated little suckers if you didn’t get the right one. He’d been lucky Pops had bought the first one and guided him building the ones that followed, as they became more difficult. Those were probably the best memories he had of childhood.
    Traffic was heavy on the freeway but he noticed the mall off to his right. Making a quick decision, he put on his blinker and pulled into the exit lane. He wouldn’t get involved, but it wouldn’t take long to make sure the kid got the right model to start with. Besides, who knew? Maybe if she was busy helping the boy build a model, the whole family might leave him alone so he could get some work done.
    ***
    The aroma of garlic and tomato sauce wafted from the oven when Andie opened the door to check her lasagna. The house was relatively quiet, thank heavens. The kids were doing homework or playing in their rooms, except for Jamie who was sitting at the kitchen table, carefully handling the pieces of the model she’d bought for him today.
    Although she’d read the instructions, building little cars was more difficult than it looked. Why on earth people called it fun to ‘insert tab A into slot C’ was beyond her. She’d read the