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across the street to the deli and see what we can find—besides coffee, of course.”
    The deli crew was between customers—cleaning up after the breakfast crowd and getting ready for the lunch rush. The place was practically empty. They slid into a booth and grabbed a couple of menus. Before they could browse the selections, a dark-haired waitress of about eighteen or nineteen, wearing a nametag that identified her as Melanie, appeared at their table. “We just quit serving breakfast,” she informed them, her voice a bored monotone as she snappedher gum. “And lunch isn't ready yet. All's we got left is a few cinnamon rolls and some coffee.”
    Abe and Toni looked at each other and grinned. “We'll take the cinnamon rolls,” Abe said. “No coffee.”
    “How many cinnamon rolls?”
    “All of them,” Abe answered as Toni suppressed a laugh.
    Melanie sighed, scribbled something on her order pad, and turned to leave.
    “And two big glasses of ice water,” Abe called after her. “If you're not out, that is.”
    Toni's laugh escaped, but Melanie didn't even turn around.
    By the time they'd finished their cinnamon rolls and ice water and Toni had wrapped up the three remaining rolls to take home to Melissa, it was almost eleven-thirty. Amazed at how comfortable she now felt in this man's company, she marveled at how freely she had shared with him about her life, including her mother's death, her insecurity at finding herself a surrogate mother to Melissa when she wasn't much more than a child herself, and her lifelong dream of writing novels. Just as the thought occurred to her that she hadn't even mentioned Brad or their impending wedding, she noticed the clock on the wall and reached for her purse. “I'd better get to the office before the day's over,” she said. “And I need to let you get back to the station. As your new unofficial partner, I have a vested interest in making sure you stay caught up on your work so you'll be able to devote your off-duty hours to my dad's case.”
    Abe smiled as he rose from the booth and reached into his pocket to fish out some change for Melanie. Toni grabbed for the bill. “I'll get it,” she offered, opening her purse.
    “Not this time,” said Abe, retrieving the bill from her hand. “This was my idea, so I'll pay. Next time you can get it. Fair enough?”
    She hesitated, then shrugged. “OK. Fair enough. As long as next time doesn't include steak and lobster.”
    He feigned disappointment. “How did you know?”
    She smiled and went to the door to wait for him while he paid the bill. As they stepped back out into the sunshine, Abe insisted on walking her the final block toward her father's office. Before they had taken a dozen steps, Toni was shocked to see Brad walking straight toward them, carrying a small picnic basket. He wasn't smiling.
    Her eyes opened wide, and she stopped in her tracks. Eleven o'clock. She'd had a lunch date with Brad at eleven, and she'd completely forgotten about it. “I'm so sorry,” she said as Brad drew to a stop in front of her. “I forgot all about—”
    “So I see,” Brad answered, the pain in his hazel eyes obvious. He glanced toward Abe, then handed the picnic basket to Toni. “I've got to get back to work,” he said. “I'll talk to you later.” Then he turned and walked away.

CHAPTER 3
    T he slight headache she'd had all afternoon seemed to be getting worse. She walked through the front door into her living room, relieved to be home at last. It had been a long day. In addition to the annoyance she felt toward herself for having forgotten her date with Brad, not to mention the resulting scene in which she and Abe had come face-to-face with him on the sidewalk, she had spent the vast majority of the afternoon stuck on the phone. On the positive side, however, besides having referred the last of her dad's former clients to other agencies, she had also managed to check out some of the details of Melissa's possible baby-sitting