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“Right. It was kind of fun for a little while.”

Something in Tori’s voice prevented Diana from teasing her. “Only a little while? Did something happen in the gym?”

“Not really. I don’t know. Maybe. When we got there, I went to change and there was this FBI woman in the locker room. It was so strange. I confronted her and made some pretty rude comments but instead of being offended, she smiled and told Guy she liked me. It was okay while Guy was showing me how to do stuff and even when he let me try what I’d learned. It made me feel good when he told me I did something right but then I snapped and lost control and wound up on the floor with Guy, crying all over him. I was so embarrassed but he wasn’t at all fazed. He carried me into the locker room, gave me a shower and got me dressed and then did the same, all with the FBI woman watching. He acted like it didn’t bother him, like it was something he did all the time.”

Diana wondered why Tori selected this particular example and realized it was because it took place in a neutral setting. She also realized there were things going on that Tori had no intention of telling her just yet. How could Tori discuss things when she was fighting so hard against what was happening to understand it herself?

“Do you remember when I told you Barry said that you could explain things to Guy just as you would with him? The man with you at the gym was the man he expected you to meet that night. He truly is that man, Tori. Why are you shaking your head like that?”

“Because you’re wrong. Yes, Guy is really great but no one could ever be that good all the time.”

“Some are. My Bill was. Carla would tell you Barry is. Old Mr. Fisher from the hardware is, just ask his wife. I bet you’d be surprised how many of them there are if you went looking for them.”

Tori turned back to looking out at the main library so Diana couldn’t see her face. “Okay, if you say so. I guess I’ll have to take your word on that since I don’t have a clue where I would even begin to search for them.”

“You’re deliberately avoiding the obvious. I suppose I’m to pretend not to notice so you can think you’re fooling me again?”

“Um.” Tori squirmed uncomfortably. “Could you?”

Diana nodded slowly. “For now. After all, you were sweet enough to bring my favorite lunch so I don’t want to seem ungrateful.”

Tori smiled warmly and gave Diana an extended hug. “You’re entirely too good to me. Want to hear about my kitten?”

Barry watched Guy pretend he wasn’t watching Tori. He was so pleased with the table he’d selected before Guy and Tori had arrived. From his vantage point, he could see both of them without turning his head. While Tori and Diana shared their lunch, he’d observed more animation on Tori’s face than he’d seen in all the years she’d been there. He was positive that Diana saw it too and looked forward to comparing notes.

When Tori moved to embrace Diana, Barry’s jaw dropped. “Well, I’ll be.”

Guy understood. “It’s as I thought then?”

“Oh yeah. I wasn’t sure she had it in her. Even Diana’s had doubts from time to time.”

“You’re both in for a big surprise. One of these days, Tori is going to quit hiding and let everyone see her big heart and saucy personality.”

“Due to your influence, I suppose.”

“Of course. Holy Christ, Bar, you can’t begin to imagine the woman she is.”

“Aw, fuck,” Barry said, leaning forward and clenching his fists on the table. “You seduced her. Damn it, Guy! What the hell did you do that for? Why didn’t you keep it zipped at least until this was over? It really wouldn’t have killed you to go without sex for a month or two.”

“I know but—”

“But nothing. Tori’s not the kind of woman you fuck a few times and kiss off when it gets inconvenient. She’s one who is worth waiting for.”

“Shut up, Barry,” Guy growled. “Just shut the fuck up before I forget that you’re my closest friend and that I respect you more than just about everyone else I know.” Guy’s tone was deadly as he fought to control his fury. “If you ever refer to Tori as a quick fuck again I swear I won’t be responsible for what I do to you.”

Barry stared mutely as Guy reined in his temper. He waited until his eyes lost some of the intensity they held when Guy had issued the threat before letting out the smile he’d been hiding. A minute later he was laughing heartily in spite of Guy’s scowl.

“You do know why I had to say that, don’t you, Guy? Personally, I have all the confidence in the world that you have only the best intentions in regards to Tori. You’d chop off your right nut before you’d intentionally harm even one hair on her head. I know you’ve been trying to figure out how get her to believe that you would give your life to love her.”

“Sure have a twisted way of showing that.”

“Stop being so pissed off over nothing and think for a minute, would you? I said I trust that you know what you’re doing. Diana, on the other hand, doesn’t know you as well as I do.”

“Christ.” Guy’s tension vanished.

“Hold on before you get all worked up again. She may not know you like I do but she’s willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. Even more so now that she’s seen firsthand how good you are for Tori. I haven’t told you this but Diana came to the station the day Tori asked to take this time off. She was loaded for bear, to put it mildly.”

“That bad?”

“Worse.”

“I’m surprised she didn’t break down Tori’s door and toss me out on my ear if she felt that strongly about it.”

“Yeah, that’s another one you owe me for. I defended you until I was blue in the face. Even had Todd stop by and vouch for you later on. Diana was a little more comfortable after she saw you with Tori at dinner. She wants to believe that you’re good for Tori. She’s trying to accept you.”

“But Tori is the daughter she never had and I’m the man who is trying to capture her heart so she can’t squash the urge to protect her little girl from the possibility that I might break it instead.”

“Give the man a prize. You can’t let it get to you because she will come around. Once you can put this mess behind you, you can focus exclusively on Tori. When Diana sees that you make her genuinely happy and that you intend to do whatever it takes to keep her that way, she’ll lighten up some.”

“But not entirely.”

“Hell no. No matter how much your mother-in-law adores you, nothing could stop her from turning on you the instant you screw up with her baby. It’s one of the laws of nature. I’m surprised your family hasn’t already taught you that. Hell, even mothers and daughters who usually despise each other close ranks when the husband becomes the enemy.”

“How did I miss this so completely?”

“Simple. You never considered having a mother-in-law before. When you don’t plan on keeping the daughter, there’s no reason to concern yourself with the mother’s opinion of you. Look, I know I’m stretching it because Diana’s not really Tori’s mother but—”

“She’s the closest thing she’s got. Tori values Diana’s opinion. She trusts her judgment as much as she can let herself. Diana’s important to Tori. She might also be the only other person who recognizes some of what Tori holds inside so that qualifies her as Tori’s mother much more than her real one does.”

“Not the ideal?”

“Not even close. I can’t give you specifics but I will say that getting away from those people was the second-best decision of Tori’s life.”

“And the first would be?”

“Admitting she loves me and doesn’t want to spend another minute not being the center of my life.”

“Damn, I hope she doesn’t take too long to figure that out. You’re going to be impossible if she keeps you hanging.”

“I won’t even bother denying that. But I swear I’ll be patient and wait as long as it takes even though it might kill me.”

Barry chuckled. “At least you already figured out that you have to hang in there. Think of how thrown you’d be when you hit some resistance if you hadn’t.”

“Already did and I was still thrown,” Guy stated. “I knew what she’s doing and why and I could even see it coming but I haven’t learned to deflect it yet. Christ, I knew this wasn’t going to be easy but I wasn’t even remotely prepared for it. Even Diana warned me, which I now see as a good sign but so far, I’ve fallen into just about every trap Tori’s set.”

“Man, I don’t envy you. I was so damn lucky that Carla didn’t put me through any of that.”

“You’ve developed selective memory. I recall plenty of times you had to decide which hoop to jump through.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. But since the end of the rainbow is so damn incredible, it’s easy to forget most of the storms. You’ll see.”

“He’ll see what?” Tori asked, jolting them out of their revelry.

“Hey.” Guy stood and kissed her cheek.

“Hey yourself. You haven’t answered me, Barry.”

“We were just talking about Sunday,” Barry sputtered. “I asked if you would be coming over to watch the game with us and Guy wasn’t sure how you felt about football. I don’t think it makes a difference, either way, since Carla would rather do just about anything than watch a whole game although she does from time to time anyway. I said that you girls are perfectly capable of entertaining yourselves for a few hours if you share her opinion and I told Guy he’d see that I’m right if he finds the balls to suggest it to you.”

“Oh God, not another one,” Tori groaned.

“I’m sorry?” Barry didn’t understand Tori’s comment.

“You’re one of them.”

“Tori?” He looked to Guy for an explanation but all he got was a sheepish grin.

“One of the guys who will manipulate things to take the heat off his buddy. First Todd, now you. I’m almost impressed with how realistic that sounded. Too bad I know you’re not telling the truth about what Guy’s going to see but I won’t call you on it because that would ruin the nice feeling I have from spending time with Diana,” Tori paused for effect. “Don’t expect to get away with it again because this feels like a once and done thing to me.”

“Well, son of a bitch,” Barry muttered. “Where have you been hiding those claws all this time?”

“Men can be such boys,” Diana stated. “Don’t encourage them and they’ll quit soon enough. I’m so glad you came by, Tori girl.” Diana hugged her and winked at Guy behind her back. “I know you’re tired of hearing this but I have to say it again. As much as I miss you I absolutely refuse to let you come back to work until this is over and done with. I can come to you or Guy can bring you in for a chat whenever he feels it’s safe, either here or at home if you’re going stir crazy. I’d much rather do without you for another month than lose you forever.”

Tori sniffled and dropped her chin. “Me too.”

Guy snagged her waist and gently urged her head to his shoulder. “Tori will be back before you know it,” he declared. “Todd has everything under control. Still, you better get used to the idea of me hanging around anyway because I plan on making a lifelong habit of it.”

“How the mighty have fallen,” Barry teased. “Seriously, come to the house Sunday. It’ll give Carla a chance for a little girl talk. No offense, Diana.”

“None taken.” She smiled. “I do understand the need for female friends who aren’t relatives.”

“Good.” Barry shifted. “I should go. Please think about it. No need to call. There’s always plenty to munch on and you’re both welcome anytime.”

“Thanks, Barry,” Tori replied. “We need to go too since I would like to stop and see Harry if you don’t mind, Guy.”

“Not at all.” Guy let her slip from his arm but not before catching her hand. “We’ll see you both soon.”

They said their goodbyes. Since they didn’t look back they didn’t see Diana and Barry grinning happily behind them as the pair discussed the changes in both Guy and Tori.

Chapter Nineteen

The sound of soft laughter could be heard from the kitchen during a momentary lull in the noisy football game. Guy knew he had a silly grin on his face again but didn’t attempt to hide it. Barry was someone who understood what he was feeling. He was even looking forward to the teasing comments Barry would make sooner or later.

“Damn, this feels great,” Guy sighed contentedly, knowing he was adding to Barry’s amusement.

“I wish I had a camera. Next time I heard you referred to as a cold-hearted bastard with ice water in your veins I could flash a picture of you sitting here looking like a love-sick puppy,” Barry chuckled. “Nah, wouldn’t work. They’d think I drugged you or something because no way would they believe it was the real you.”

“They will when I can’t stop thinking about her long enough to get rid of the stupid grin on my face. I know I must look like an idiot but I can’t help it.”

“You don’t look like an idiot. You look like a guy who just found the secret key to the universe. It’s called being in love with the right woman. Whole different ball game from this side, isn’t it? Even for you, the guy who always went out of your way to be supportive when the rest of us needed a boost to keep us from falling apart while our heads and our hearts were way out of sync.”

“Sure is. I don’t know why but I always thought I’d handle it better than the rest of you.”

“You might if you didn’t need to keep looking over your shoulder for a pair of serial killers who are expecting your woman to welcome them with open arms when they show up.”

“Thanks for trying to humor me but we both know I’d be a mess anyway. If Tori didn’t have that to hide behind she’d just come up with some excuse for why I’m temporarily deluding myself into wanting to be with her. I bet she’ll have a new one as soon as we have them in handcuffs. I know she’s pretty stressed right now and that’s part of the reason she switches gears so often but I have a strong feeling that it won’t be much different after we get them. She’s quick and I suspect she has one hell of an imagination.”

“Hate to say it but I’m looking forward to watching you work your way through this. Not that I want to see you squirm because I’m sure you’re going to be suffering. You do know I’m here if you need me, right?”

“Right and don’t be surprised if you find me cowering at your door in the middle of the night.”

“Anytime. Now what I meant by that is that it’ll be good to see a less reserved side of Tori. She’s never been here without Diana before even though we have asked her. She was always chatty and interesting but, I don’t know, unapproachable maybe? Even though she was pleasant and joined right in with whatever was going on, I had the impression that there was an invisible boundary around her that no one could get through. I mentioned it to Carla either the second or third time Tori was here and she agreed.”