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she could eat the banana on the way home. She guzzled the water, handed the bottle back to me, told me she loved me, and took off for the stage again.
    “She looks like she’s twelve or thirteen close up, but comports herself on stage better than most young adults. I have no idea how old she is.”
    “Lauren just turned sixteen, but I haven’t turned her loose to drive downtown alone yet. Before I was a mom I heard about the curse of having a beautiful daughter and thought it was silly. Now, I understand it. When I was growing up, my dad was usually cleaning his guns on the living room floor when my dates picked me up. I’m thinking of taking up a similar practice.”
    “I’m shocked a lady such as yourself would admit to having guns. It doesn’t seem very politically correct.”
    “Are you one of those anti-gun people, Mr. Hamilton?”
    “Please, call me Abbott. And no, I am not anti-gun. I was merely surprised you spoke so frankly about owning them. Most people in the theater tend to be against weapons these days.”
    Not wanting to get into how familiar I am with guns, I asked, “What is it you do when you aren’t stalking the theater?”
    “I own a few businesses and I’ve put competent managers in place to run things. Other than putting out fires as they arise, most of my time tends to be leisure time. What is it you do, Miss O’Shea?”
    I’m not one to get hung on Miss versus Ms. versus Mrs., but it felt as if he was still digging for information while not giving me any. He didn’t tell me what kind of businesses he owned, did he? How annoying. But we’d deal with that later. “Please, call me Kirsten. I’m a therapist. I specialize in couples and family counseling.”
    He raised an eyebrow. “The woman who is not married helps married couples stay together?”
    I gave him my mischievous smile. “If you spend any time at all around me you’ll soon discover I’m a plethora of inconsistencies.”
    His laugh was pure joy, as if I were a wonderful novelty. “I would be delighted to spend more time with you, to make these discoveries for myself.”
    Part of me thought that sounded nice, the other part of me was alternately screaming warning and danger . I’d meditated that morning, again at lunch, and again as I’d first taken my seat in the theater. The vampire visit last night had weirded me out, and I was keeping enough energy reserve on hand to take care of anyone who proved a threat.
    I put my tablet into my bag and excused myself, saying I needed to go see to Lauren and double-check the schedule. I told him I looked forward to seeing him Saturday night, and he answered with, “Likewise.”
    He stepped out into the aisle so I wouldn’t have to squeeze past him, and my heart skipped a beat as I noted he was nearly a foot taller than me. I was certainly attracted to him, but also cautious.
    After a few words with the director, choreographer, and acting coach, Lauren and I were on our way. She ate her banana while we talked about her day — high school can be brutal, but all I can ever do is offer suggestions for how best to handle the little clique stuff.
    Xiaolan was watching a movie when we got home. Her name is pronounced shee-ow-lan, though when said fast the xiao is kind of like shout without the t, and the lan is somewhere between lon and lan . She’s started introducing herself as Sharon to non-Mandarin speakers, and this is what my parents call her.
    Xiaolan is Chinese, and is living with us while going to the local university. I’ve been friends with her big brother for years, and I was in China when they discovered Xiaolan hadn’t been accepted into the Chinese Universities she’d applied for. There are only enough seats in all of the colleges in China for less than ten percent of the graduating high school population, so only the best of the best make it in. I’ve been told it’s easier to get into Harvard than it is to get into an unknown college in China. Anyway, the family