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shrugged, realizing that before the evening was finished she would have to explain her son to Shane, a sure way to discourage any further contact with the man. She should be utterly pleased, but she wasn't and that surprised her.
    "I'm just experimenting with flying because I've wanted to fly ever since I was two. I will, too, one day, when I convince Mom it's perfectly safe, that I know what I'm doing. I've studied the mechanics of flying—"
    One of Shane's eyebrows quirked. "Safe? You have a nasty cut on your leg, and I suspect several bruises will develop before morning. I'm not sure I'd call that safe."
    "These abrasions are nothing. I just had the wind knocked out of me." Joey patted the ground around him until he found his glasses and put them on. They sat crookedly on his face because the frame was bent.
    "Shane, remember Betsy. The boy is fine. My daughter isn't, especially after he came swooping down from the roof and landed on her. She may be scarred for life." Ned towered over the foursome, his fists on his bulging hips, his foot tapping impatiently.
    "As I told you earlier, I'll be with you in a moment, Ned." Shane ran his hands over Joey's legs, checking for broken bones.
    "I'm perfectly all right. I would know if I had broken a bone." Joey tried to right his glasses, but they remained lopsided on his nose.
    "Still I'm sure your mother would like a second opinion on that. Let's humor her," Shane whispered, winking at Joey as though they were coconspirators.
    "You're probably right. She gets concerned about those kind of things."
    "Yeah, mothers are like that"
    Her youngest son relaxed while Shane completed his examination, even though Joey hated doctors about as much as her grandfather. Leah watched while she listened to Ned continuing to tap an impatient beat that was quickly becoming a form of mental torture. There was still a chance she might follow in Betsy's footsteps after all, and run screaming down the street.
    "Well, aren't you through yet?" Ned's whiny voice filled the hot air with a grating sound that was matching his tapping.
    "I believe, Joey, your prognosis is correct. You're fine." Shane snapped his black bag closed.
    Leah's heart melted as she listened to Shane talk to her son as though they were equals. Her earlier assessment of Shane O'Grady began to change.
    "Excuse me. I'm still here, Shane." Ned shifted his bulky weight from one foot to the other.
    As if anyone could forget that, Leah thought as she stepped in to take over for Shane.
    "I think it's time for bed, young man. What happened to you reading in your room tonight?" Joey's sheepish look told her all she needed to know. "How long did you wait until after I cleared the driveway?"
    "Fifteen minutes. Sometimes you come back because Gramps forgets something."
    "We will discuss this tomorrow morning after I've had time to cool off. Right now I'm thinking of ways to freeze you until you turn eighteen. Then maybe I might not age before my time."
    "You know, Mom, cryonics is—"
    "Joey, not now. I believe I've had enough science for the night." Leah hoisted her son to his feet while Ned nabbed Shane to go over to his house.
    She watched the two men leave, Ned practically dragging Shane behind him. She fought a grin at the picture of them, and was amazed she could smile under the circumstances. Turning back to her son, she was about to say something when the ambulance pulled up with its lights flashing. There was already a crowd forming, but the sight of the ambulance was sure to bring anyone still in his house outside. This was not the way to be introduced to the townspeople, Leah thought as she started to walk over to the paramedics to tell them they weren't needed. Before Leah took a step, Shane's mother moved to the two paramedics and said something to them.
    As the ambulance left, her grandfather rushed up to her youngest. "Way to go. Sam told me you actually were in the air for a minute." He gave Joey a high five, beaming from ear to