Page 7 of Rescuing Sara

“Actually, no,” she repeated, trying to remember exactly what Anne had told her about Patrick Danton.

“Well, then. If you can get the fruit salad from the ‘fridge, and put it on the sideboard, I’ll bring the rest of the stuff. Coffee is already there.”

“I can do that,” she said as she took out the bowl and realized how hungry she was. Except for the amazing dinner he had prepared last night, she probably hadn’t had a decent meal since Sara vanished. “It smells wonderful.”

She carried the bowl to the sideboard, and he followed her, hands full. After filling their plates, they poured coffee, sat and ate in companionable silence.

“This is incredible,” she praised after several bites.

“Do you cook?” His study of her over the rim of his cup was thoughtful.

“Not a lot,” she said ruefully. “Sometimes it seems a lot of trouble to cook a full meal for one.”

“All the more reason,” he said. “Why have a lousy meal when you can a good one in the same amount of time?”

“You’re right,” Danni said. “I was always giving Leo a hard time about not eating well and drinking too much coffee.”

“I’m sorry about your friend.” He refilled her cup. “You and Lieutenant Anderson were close?”

“Yeah,” Danni said after minute. “He and my dad often worked together. Leo loved being in Major Crimes, while my dad worked Vice. Hard work, either way.”

“I would think so.” He propped an elbow on the table and rested his chin in his palm. “Tell me about your goddaughter.”

Danni’s heart turned over. “Sara Louise Turner,” she said softly. “Spunky, stubborn, smart.”

“A triple threat,” he pronounced solemnly but Danni couldn’t mistake the twinkle in his eyes.

“Sara is that, alright,” she agreed. “Really smart, testing two grades higher than most of her fifth-grade classmates. But sometimes it works against her, because she thinks becauseshe’s so smart, she understands things better than she does, and that frustrates her.”

“Like what?”

“Life experiences,” Danni said. “Ones she doesn’t know anything about but always has an answer for why it happened.”

“What does she like to do for fun?”

Over the next half hour, Danni described Sara’s love for reading, dogs, and pizza. Her automatic acceptance of anyone, no matter how they looked or what they had-or didn’t-and her willingness to stand up to any bully, no matter who they were.

“She took on a popular girl after that girl started making fun of a classmate named Claire who’d lost her hair to chemo,” Danni shared. “No one else would stand up to Ms-oh-so-popular, but Sara called her a coward and a bully. That was when she was in the third grade.”

“What happened? Or do I want to know?” Patrick’s mouth twitched in a clear attempt to remain serious.

Danni grinned. “I told my editor Stanley Harris about it, and he called Claire’s favorite Lady Vol basketball player. A day or two later, the young woman came to the school to have lunch with Claire and Sara. Their teacher said the look on the bully’s face was one of shock and pure jealousy.”

“So, Sara is like her godmother?”

“I don’t understand.”

Patrick Danton’s slow smile was a toe-curler. “Speaking up for people who need a little help.”

Heat scorched Danni’s cheeks and she hoped the blush that happened too often for her liking wasn’t reddening her face too much. “Yeah, well,” she said. “I think that ability will help Sara when she grows up. You know what she wants to be when she grows up? A lawyer.”

“Always good to have one of those in the family.” Patrick pushed his plate back and reached for his coffee. “And what about you?”

“What do you mean?” She cocked her head and her braid fell over to her back. He didn’t know too many women who braided their hair, and as attractive as it was, Patrick would have liked to have seen her hair’s autumnal hues falling around her shoulders this morning.

“I mean how are you holding up?”

Rather than answer his question, she stood and said, “I need to check my e-mail,” and left the table.

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