I opened my eyes again and Nancy was watching me.

“You okay?” she asked softly.

I nodded but said, just as softly, “I was going to ask you the same thing.”

“Stroke,” she answered, without hesitation. “Nearly nine months ago.”

I moved toward her and then stopped when Eddie came in my peripheral vision.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, not attempting to get any closer and feeling weirdly scared of Eddie.

“I’m getting better every day,” Nancy told me.

I smiled at her. “That’s fantastic.”

She smiled back, it was a glamorous smile, like her daughter’s.

“Holy cow, Nancy. Jet and you have the same smile,” I said.

“Don’t tel Jet.”

“Why not?”

“She won’t believe you.”

Eddie came in close to Nancy and took her weight off Tex when I heard Indy shout, “Let’s have a big old party!” Tex moved away and boomed. “Now you’re talkin’, woman!”

I looked at Eddie and he was watching me, his black eyes no longer blank but active. I glanced away, feeling that he knew my secrets and I wanted to keep them to myself.

It was then, I noticed with alarm, that the Witches of Eastwi ck had thrown themselves wholeheartedly into planning the impromptu party.

I wasn’t sure this was a good idea.

“I’m not getting a good feeling about this,” I said to Nancy (and Eddie, since he was there).

“I’m not either,” Eddie said in a tone that made a shiver go across my skin.

Nancy patted my arm quickly then grabbed on to Eddie again.

“It’l be fine,” she said, grinning at Tex.

“I’l make the caramel layer squares,” Jet said, walking up to Eddie, linking her arm through his and putting her head on his shoulder, obviously deciding their tiff was over.

“Damn straight, Loopy Loo,” Tex said.

“I’l get the booze,” Al y said, also arriving at our group.

“Where are we having it?” Indy asked, coming up beside me. Lee materialized next to her and his arm went across her shoulders as hers went around his waist. He was looking at me and he kind of scared me too, both in a general way and in an Eddie way.

“It can’t be at Tex’s place, we’l get cat hair in the caramel squares,” Al y said and I saw Hank come up behind her and he wrapped both of his arms around her neck and yanked her back into his chest, playful and rough.

Gil would do that to me: Gil had done that to me.

They were close, you could tel , al of them, everyone around me, even Mace, Vance and Matt who’d joined our enormous huddle. They were family, and they’d taken in Uncle Tex as one of their own. This made me simultaneously happy for Uncle Tex, because he final y had this, and sad for me, because I never would.

“Cats!” Tex boomed and turned to me. “Roxie, darlin’, you got to meet the cats.”

I looked up at him and grinned. “I can’t wait.” And this was the truth, Uncle Tex had been talking about his cats for years.

“Nancy, you okay with Jet?” Tex asked.

Nancy nodded.

“Good, you al figure it out, tel us where to be. Roxie and me got some catchin’ up to do,” Tex said, grabbing on to me. “Darlin’ girl, we’re goin’ to go meet the cats.” Then Uncle Tex dragged me out of the store.

I hadn’t taken even a sip of my caramel latte.

* * * * *

I did have the chance to turn around, I caught Indy’s eye and I mouthed, “Thank you.” She cocked her head and smiled a confused smile before I was pul ed through the door. She had no idea what I was talking about but I didn’t care, I had to say it al the same, for my Grams, my Mom, my aunts and myself.

* * * * *

I didn’t look at Hank. Hank had ceased to exist for me.

He had to.

For his own good and mine.

Chapter Three

Naughty Girl Martini

This is how it got better, and worse.

* * * * *

I met the cats. There were a lot of them. As in, a lot.

Some of them Uncle Tex was getting paid to watch, most of them were Uncle Tex’s.

“Is it legal to have this many cats?” I asked, jiggling a laser light on the wal and watching a cat named Petunia, who had splotches of ginger and splotches of white, try to crawl up the wal to get at the red dot.

“Nope,” Tex said standing by where I was sitting on his couch and gazing at my laser cat play like I was the Master Cat Queen and no one could jiggle a laser light as wel as me.

I couldn’t help myself, even with al that was on my mind, I laughed. After al these years, and al our letters, it was good to know Uncle Tex felt the same way about me as I felt about him.

“I thought Hank and Eddie were cops. Do they know about your cats?” I asked.

“Those boys have had bigger fish to fry these past months. What with Indy gettin’ kidnapped and shot at al the time and Jet wrestlin’ with a loan shark carryin’ a knife and runnin’ from a crazy ra**st.”

The red dot arrested on the wal as I blinked at Tex.

“Petunia’s goin’ loco, darlin’ girl, jiggle!” Tex said, staring at the wal .

“Kidnapped… shot at… rapist… ” I said, or kind of, spluttered.

Uncle Tex turned to me. “It’s a long story.”

“I think we have time.”

“It’s actual y two long stories” he said.

“I stil think we have time.”

He sat down next to me on the couch, took the laser light away from me and started jiggling it another direction, trying to get a cat named Rocky interested.

“Rocky’s too damn lazy, gettin’ fat,” he muttered.

“Uncle Tex.”

He sighed.

Then he told me two long stories.

* * * * *

“Can we cal Mom?” I asked after I’d gotten over Indy and Jet’s stories of murder, gunplay, pot farms, strip club mayhem, knife wielding men, rampant kidnapping and assault by taking a shot of Uncle Tex’s homemade, gut-dissolving hooch (okay, maybe it took two shots, one for each story). “Not ready for that,” Tex answered me.

I nodded. I’d give him time. Hopeful y, one day, when my love life was sorted out, we’d have al the time in the world.

Then I leaned into him and put my head on his shoulder and, surprise of surprises, he let me.

“You wanna tel me why you’re here?” he asked in his soft boom.

I stiffened then sighed.