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He and Monica groaned. He pulled the phone off the bedside table, saw it was work, and knew it couldn’t be good news. “Yeah? What’s up?”

“You need to come in to fill in for two troopers with the flu.”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll be right in.” Andy climbed out of bed, wishing he hadn’t had to leave Monica alone for the day. “Sorry, hon. A couple of the guys are sick, and I need to help cover for them.”

“It’ll be fine. I’ll straighten up and break down the rest of the packing boxes. It drives me crazy when boxes are stacked all over the rooms. When you get home, everything will be neat and orderly.” She stretched lazily on the bed, her naked breasts on display.

She was all his. He leaned down and kissed her mouth, then each of her breasts. “It will be a long day.”

She cupped his face and pulled him down for a penetrating kiss. “That’s okay. I’ll visit with the ladies if I can arrange it. I’ll keep busy.”

“No going after Pierre on your own.” Andy feared she would try to track him down. Though she didn’t have a car here to go after him.

“Nope.” She climbed out of bed in all her naked glory and hugged him. “You are my backup, always.”

He hugged her back, wishing they could return to bed. But he had to get going. Then she pulled out her clothes while he hurried to dress.

They made breakfast together: oatmeal topped with flax seed, bananas, and brown sugar, eggs over easy, pork sausage, and coffee. She made him a hot thermos of coffee while he set the table, glancing at her, wondering how he’d ever gotten so lucky to meet up with her again.

Before long, he was bundled up, kissing her goodbye, knowing that returning home would be a delight when he saw her, and not that he would return to a cold, empty house. What a wonderful difference she had made in his life. She had turned his life around into something extra special.

“Stay safe.” She hugged him as if she were in her bear coat.

He gave her one that was even firmer. “Call Roger, the family, anyone, if Pierre tries to get hold of you while I’m gone.”

“I will.”

“Maybe I should have Craig or Rob drop by and stay with you.”

“Absolutely not. I will see if I can visit with the ladies, which means no guys.”

He smiled. “All right. I’ll keep in touch.”

“You had better.”

Feeling some apprehension at leaving Monica alone while the situation with Pierre was unresolved, Andy had to get hismind on the game and waved goodbye, hopinghewouldn’t get into trouble while on patrol!

Once Andy left,Monica cleaned up the breakfast dishes and was in a quandary about whom to contact to get together. Margo was childless, so it would probably be a more restful day. Alicia had two-year-old toddlers, and Robyn had her six-year-old twins and seven-month-old twins.

Yet Monica didn’t want to exclude anyone. Some or none of them might be able to meet for an impromptu play date, either, so she decided to hold a conference call with all the ladies.

“Hey, it’s me, Monica. Andy got called in for duty, so depending on your schedules, maybe we can get together and have brunch or lunch today at Andy’s house?” That would give Monica time to finish unpacking and clearing the house, make a large lunch, and just enjoy the ladies and their children’s company for a few hours.

“Yes!” Garrett and Bryan said in the background.

The older boys seemed to like her or wanted to leave their house for a while.

“Yes, that works well for me,” Robyn said immediately. “We can take the kids out to play in the snow after the meal, give them some exercise, and then I’ll take mine home to nap. I needed to have something to do for them today.”

“Me, too,” Alicia said. “I have the same routine with my kiddos.”

“Well, I would love to. What do you want us to bring?” Margot asked.

Monica was delighted that everyone could do this on such short notice. “How does shrimp salad sound? Maybe crescent rolls and something to drink?”

“I’ll bring some hot dogs for the finicky kids,” Robyn said.

Monica realized that she would have to learn to adjust to eating meals somewhat when she had children.