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that’s funny. My upholstery? I’m way ahead of you. Come on!”
    For lack of a better option, she went to the passenger side of his car and got in. She had to kick aside what appeared to be dirty clothes and a pair of running shoes, while he lifted a stack of file folders spewing loose papers off the seat so she could sit down. He pitched some fast-food bags into the back seat, pulled a blanket from same and drew it around her shoulders. The car was only a couple of years old at worst, but the interior was a wreck. Like his little house. His life.
    â€œWhy would you have a blanket in the back seat? Dates?”
    â€œYou’re a riot, you know that?” he replied irritably. “This is a stakeout car—I practically live in it. There’s also a first-aid kit, water, pick and shovel, fire extinguisher and other emergency items. You never know what’s going to develop. Or what you might have to dig up.” He pulled the blanket tighter around her. “So, what were you thinking about, Charlie? That flat tire?” he asked. “Wishing you could say ‘April Fools’?”
    God, she thought, it was. April first! How sad that none of her stuff could be joked away.
    He was the only person who called her Charlie. Well, he and his cop friends. “What are you doing outhere?” it finally occurred to her to ask, but she knew the answer. He had to be coming to see her. The question she couldn’t answer yet was whether he was going to make her laugh or piss her off. There was a fifty-fifty possibility.
    â€œI stopped by your office, but you were already gone….”
    â€œI know I gave you my cell-phone number,” she said.
    â€œI had to see you in person for this,” he said.
    â€œIs it about Stephanie?” she asked.
    â€œNo, it’s a favor. I need your help on something. But what about Stephanie?”
    â€œYou didn’t hear from her today?”
    â€œNot a peep. Why?”
    â€œWell, wait a minute. I don’t want to breach a trust. Does she usually talk to you about her relationship with Grant?”
    â€œNo, I wouldn’t say that. She complains about Grant. She whines about Grant. She snivels, gripes, moans and groans, but no, I can’t say she has ever talked to me about Grant.”
    A chuckle escaped Charlene. Jake also had a way with the unvarnished truth.
    â€œThere are times, Charlie, when I think I almost like the boyfriend better than my own daughter.”
    She shrugged and chuckled again. Guiltily. “She’s been a little high-maintenance lately,” Charlene commiserated.
    â€œY’know, I forbade her to move in with him. I absolutely forbade her,” he went on. “She totally blewme off, called me old-fashioned, overprotective, the whole bit. Told me she knew what she was doing. And now what? All she does is bitch. Things just aren’t going too well for the little couple. I guess Mr. Grant isn’t courting her enough, huh?”
    â€œWell, what do you say to her when she lays all the whining on you?” Charlene seriously wanted to know.
    â€œI tell her to grow the fuck up.”
    God, he was a clod. “Oh, that’s sensitive. You don’t really say that, do you?”
    â€œNo, I think that, but I don’t say it. If I said it she would cry. And you know what happens to me when she cries. It takes the bones out of my legs and I crumble. But I’d like to say it. I gotta tell you…I’ve been thinking it a lot lately.”
    â€œI’ve even thought that about you,” Charlene taunted.
    â€œYou look good, Charlie,” he said. “You put on a little weight?”
    She ground her teeth. She wanted to kill him for that. “About Stephanie—”
    â€œYou’re right, I shouldn’t be too hard on the kid. She going to learn about successful relationships with us as role models?”
    She let out a huff of indignant laughter. “You