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Anna grew up years ago

"Do you think Anna's doing okay?" Julia asks

"I don't think she would have filed a lawsuit if she was" I hesitate "Sara says she wants attention"

"What do you think?"

To buy tis The horseradish turned out to be surprisingly good It brings out the orange I tell Julia Romano this

She folds her napkin next to her own plate "You didn't answer erald"

"I don't think it's that simple" I very carefully set my silverware down "Do you have brothers or sisters?"

"Both Six older brothers and a twin sister"

I whistle "Your parents must have a hell of a lot of patience"

She shrugs "Good Catholics I don't kno they did it, either, but none of us fell through the cracks"

"Did you always think so?" I ask "Did you ever feel, when you were a kid, that htens, just the tiniest bit, and I feel bad about putting her on the spot "We all know you're supposed to love your kids equal, but that's not always hoorks out" I get to ot a little extra time? There's someone I'd like you to meet"

Last winter we got an auy who lived up a rural road The contractor he hired to plow his driveway had found hiotten out of his car the night before, slipped, and froze right to the gravel; the contractor nearly ran over hi he was a drift

When we got to the scene, he'd been outside for nearly eight hours, and he was nothing more than an ice cube with no pulse His knees were bent; I remember this, because e finally pried hi straight up in the air We got the heat cranked in the a to cut off his clothes By the time we had our paperwork in order for the hospital transport, the guy was sitting up and talking to us

I tell you this to show you that in spite of what you'd think, miracles happen

It's a cliche, but the reason I becahter in the first place was because I wanted to save people So the ed from the fiery arched doorith Luisa in my arms, when her mother first saw us and fell to her knees, I knew I had done my job and done it well She swooped down beside the EMT froirl's arhtened, but she would be fine

The fire was all but out; the boys were inside doing salvage and overhaul Sht sky; I couldn't le star in the constellation Scorpio I took offfor hours "Good work," I said to Red, as he packed up the hose

"Good save, Cap," he called back

It would have been better, of course, if Luisa had been in her own room, as her mother expected But kids don't stay where they're supposed to You turn around and find her not in the bedroo in a closet; you turn around and see she's not three but thirteen Parenting is really just a et so far ahead you can no longer see their next moves

I took off my helmet and stretched the muscles of my neck I looked up at the structure that was once a hoers wrap around my hand The woest was still in her ar in the fire truck under Red's supervision Silently she raised my knuckles to her lips A streak of soot came off my jacket to stripe her cheek "You're welcome," I said

On our way back to the station I directed Caesar the long way, so that we passed right down the street where I live Jesse's Jeep sat in hts in the house were all off I pictured Anna with the covers pulled up to her chin, like usual; Kate's bed empty

"We all set, Fitz?" Caesar asked The truck was barely crawling, almost stopped directly in front of my driveway

"Yeah, we're set," I said "Let's take it on home"

I becahter because I wanted to save people But I should have been more specific I should have named names

JULIA

BRIAN FITZGERALD'S CAR IS FILLED with stars There are charts on the passenger seat and tables jammed into the console between us; the backseat is a palette for Xerox copies of nebulae and planets "Sorry," he says, reddening "I wasn't expecting company"

I help him clear off a space for me, and in the process pick up a map made of pinpricks "What's this?" I ask

"A sky atlas" He shrugs "It's kind of a hobby"

"When I was little, I once tried to name every star in the sky after one of my relatives The scary part is I hadn't run out of names by the time I fell asleep"

"Anna's naalaxy," Brian says

"That'snamed after a patron saint," I muse "Once, I asked hts, so the angels could find their way around in Heaven But when I asked as, and soured that the food God served caused ht"

Brian laughs out loud "And here I was trying to explain atomic fusion to my kids"

"Did it work?"

He considers for aDipper with their eyes closed"

"That's impressive Stars all look the same to me"

"It's not that hard You spot a piece of a constellation--like Orion's belt--and suddenly it's easier to find Rigel in his foot and Betelgeuse in his shoulder" He hesitates "But ninety percent of the universe is made of stuff we can't even see"

"Then how do you know it's there?"

He slows to a stop at a red light "Dark ravitational effect on other objects You can't see it, you can't feel it, but you can watch so pulled in its direction"

Ten seconds after Ca roo one of those bone-cleansing cries a wo a lunar cycle "Yeah," she said dryly "I can see this is a totally professional relationship"

I scowled at her "Were you eavesdropping?"

"Pardon h a thin wall"

"If you've got soested, "say it"

"Me?" Izzy frowned "Hey, it's none of my business, is it?"

"No, it's not"

"Right So I'll just keep my opinion to myself"

I rolled my eyes "Out with it, Isobel"

"Thought you'd never ask" She sat down besidesees that big purple zapper light, it looks like God The second time, he runs in the other direction"

"First, don't compare me to a mosquito Second, he'd fly in the other direction, not run Third, there is no second ti's dead"

Izzy smirked "You are such a lawyer"

"I a Campbell zap me"

"Then request a transfer"

"This isn't the Navy" I hugged one of the throw pillows from the couch "And I can't do that, not now It'll make him think that I'm such a wimp I can't balance my professional life with some stupid, silly, adolescentincident"

"You can't" Izzy shook her head "He's an egotistical dickhead who's going to chew you up and spit you out; and you have a really awful history of falling for assholes that you ought to run screa to you try to convince yourself you don't still feel so for Campbell Alexander when, in fact, you've spent the past fifteen years trying to fill in the hole he made inside you"

I stared at her "Wow"

She shrugged "Guess I had a lot to get off my chest, after all"

"Do you hate all men, or just Campbell?"

Izzy seemed to think about that for a while "Just Campbell," she said finally

What I wanted, at thatroolass vase or preferably my sister But I couldn't order Izzy out of a house she'd moved into just hours before I stood up and pluckedout," I told her "Don't wait up"

I'irl, which explains why I hadn't frequented Shakespeare's Cat before, although it was a mere four blocks from my condo The bar was dark and crowded and smelled of patchouli and cloves I pushed my way inside, hopped up on a stool, and s next to me

I was in the mood to make out in the back row of the movie theater with souys to fight for the honor of buying me a drink

I wanted to show Ca

The man beside rin He nodded politely at entleman flush on the mouth I looked around and sahat I had leup with each other

"What can I get you?" The bartender had fuchsia porcupine hair and an oxen ring pierced through his nose

"This is a gay bar?"

"No, it's the officers' club at West Point You want a drink or not?" I pointed over his shoulder to the bottle of tequila, and he reached for a shot glass

I rued in " Glancing down at the bottle, I frowned "I bet Shakespeare didn't even have a cat"

"Who peed in your coffee?" the bartender asked

Narrowing ay"

"Sure I am"

"Based on ay, I'd probably find you attractive As it is" I looked at the busy couple beside ed at the bartender He blanched, then handed me back my fifty I tucked it back into my wallet "Who says you can't buy friends," I murmured

Three hours later, I was the only person still there, unless you counted Seven, which hat the bartender had rechristened hi to jettison whatever sort of label the na, he had told me, which was exactly the way he liked it