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“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that. The people with money for this kind of thing are likely a different crowd from the ones you’re used to schmoozing.”

Lori huffed lightly. “Schmoozing? Is that what you think I do?”

“I do, yes. Schmoozing. Lori the Super Schmoozer. That’s you.”

Lori giggled then caught herself. Since when did she giggle? Was she a fourteen-year-old girl again? “What does that make you? Gabe the Garage Go—” She stopped herself short, not wanting to offend her.

“Were you just about to call me a gorilla?”

Too late. “No?” she said.

“That sounds like you’re asking me.”

“No,” she said with more conviction. “Gopher. I was going to say, Gabe the Garage Gopher.”

“No, you weren’t.”

Lori giggled. Again. “No, I wasn’t. I’m so sorry!”

“I don’t know what to say to that. I’m wounded. That’s more hurtful than any bullet I’ve ever taken.”

Lori gasped. “How many times have you been shot?”

“Too many to count.”

Lori drew in another short breath. She was lucky Gabe was still alive. No. Well, yes, but Gabe was lucky she was still alive.

“I’m just kidding,” Gabe said. “I’ve actually never caught a bullet—just a bomb.”

“Because that’s so much better?”

“I don’t know. I don’t have a bullet wound to compare it to… Just the wounds from your words.”

“Stop it. I have to go,” Lori said, remembering she was here to pick Cash up and finally take him home. “But seriously, are you sure about the car work?”

“We’re positive, honestly,” Gabe said. “Besides, I’m not their superior officer anymore; I can’t make them do anything they don’t want to.”

The comment made Lori wonder if Gabe still had her uniform…and what she looked like taking it off. Stop it. Now that she’d opened the floodgates to Possibility River, she couldn’t seem to stem its flow. But with Gabe already proving herself to be as wonderful and trustworthy as Lori had hoped, she was becoming more at ease with her own progress and happy that Gabe was in the picture as motivation, even if she wasn’t the end game.

“And you’re still good to help me babysit the Trouble Town Triplets?” Gabe laughed. “Maybe that’s not how I should describe them when I’m trying to enlist your help. Think of it as saving first responders work, because if I do this on my own, it’ll be worse than an earthquake.”

“Of course. You don’t have to convince me. I love babies,” she said. “I’ve always dreamed of having my own someday, so this will be good practice.”

“Oh.” Gabe sounded surprised. “This’ll be good for you then. I can relax on the couch and watch the game.”

Lori felt herself begin to slide into unpleasant memories of conversations with the lawyer about making a family, and she pulled the brakes. “Hey now, don’t think that me coming means you get to abdicate responsibility for the little humans.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive. I’ll see you on Wednesday. I’m looking forward to it. Bye.” She ended the call. She couldn’t wait to meet Solo’s triplets, and of course, she was looking forward to spending more time with Gabe in yet another environment. This friend thing was going well so far, although Rosie didn’t seem impressed with Gabe. She suspected there might be a little jealousy brewing. Lori had disappeared on her for months and now that she was back, Gabe was around too. By her own admission, Rosie never had been good at sharing, which was a residue of her childhood.

She got out of the truck and headed into the clinic’s reception area, putting Gabe and Rosie to the back of her mind and focusing on why she was here.

“Hi, Lori,” Mark said as he emerged from a treatment room, followed by an older man with a cat box.

She waved and approached the front desk.

“Thank you so much, Mark,” the old guy said. “You’ve saved both our lives.”