Chapter 1

"Hey, can you reach around there and get me a towel?"

"Huh?" Ciara turned her head to the young boy, smiling at his dripping wet hands. "Oh, yeah...sure." She peeked around the corner to the shelves stocked with white towels, pulling one from the top. "Here you go."

"Thanks. You're new here. What's your name?"

"Ciara. Yeah, I just started volunteering today. You're kinda young to be..."

"Oh! Ciara! I see you've met my son, Nick. He's not giving you grief already is he?"

"No, Mrs. Carter. He's just being a big drip." She winked at the boy and he returned her tease by sticking out his tongue and heading back into the kitchen to finish the final lunch dishes.

"Ah, I see you're going to fit in here perfectly. Come on, let me finish showing you around."

The older woman wrapped her arm around Ciara's shoulder to finish her guided tour of her new place of "employment." Sure it was only volunteering at a nursing home, but if she wanted to be a nurse, this was definitely something she could be doing to get some experiences under her belt.

Ciara glanced back to the doorway where Nick had first appeared and chuckled as she saw his blonde head slipping back behind the frame. He'd been caught staring. What a cutie. "So, your son Nick. How old is he?"

"He's 11. Been here working or wreaking havoc...whatever you want to call it, since we opened up. He was 4 when we started. This is like his second home."

"He's a doll."

"Yeah, and he knows it. Sounds like you'll be good for him. Don't take his crap. The patients here think the sun rises and sets on him. A little ribbing ought to do him some good."

Ciara watched the woman's eyes as she spoke of her son. It was obvious she also thought the sun rose and set on him. As it should be. It's her boy. Her sunshine. "Well, I've always wanted a little brother. Just have annoying sisters."

"Oh, we have some of those traipsing about too. Nick's my oldest. He works hard here. Whines about it sometimes, but with where he thinks he's going in life, hard work needs to be second nature. So, we put him to work."

The women made their way to the supply cabinet going over the location of items Jane thought Ciara would be called upon most often. The rest she could learn as she went along. "Okay, I think that's everything. I really don't have any assignment for you today. You can take off it you want."

"Really? Oh, okay...um, same time tomorrow?"

"Yeah, that sounds good. We're really busy early in the mornings so this works out. We'll give you half hour or so for lunch. I'm not real strict about hours. Just so you're learning and we're getting the help we need, everyone stays happy."

Ciara grabbed her purse from the lounge and started out to her car. Well, okay, her dad's car. "I'm not buying you a car when you're completely capable of working and buying one on your own." She rolled her eyes at the memory of his words, inwardly grateful that he too was going to make her work for what she wanted. Now it was time to volunteer, though, so a car of her own would have to wait. She could wait.

As she approached the huge front door, she saw that familiar tuft of blonde hair also heading out. "Hey, blondie...where are YOU going so early in the day?"

He looked back and smiled in recognition of his new friend. "I'm going home for lunch. Wanna come?"

"To your house? How far away is that?"

"Across the street. I get sick of the food here, so Mom lets me grab a sandwich at home sometimes. Come on."

She couldn't help but smile at the boy. There was an engaging shyness about him, but yet his comfort, even at their obvious age difference was very welcoming. Almost made her forget how young he really was. Until she looked at him. And what a cute kid he was. Blonde, blonde, blonde hair, dancing blue eyes, freckles dotting all over his nose and cheeks and a smile to beat all. No wonder he had all the older ladies wrapped around his little finger. She was already under his spell.

"Alright. I thought I'd be here later anyway. Don't have anywhere to be. What are you gonna serve me?"

"Peanut butter and jelly is about all I can manage. Hope that's okay."

"Sounds great."

They approached the curb, he took her hand and jerked forward as he pulled them to a run across the street. She squealed in surprise, almost falling from the sudden movement. They breathlessly reached the other side and he looked over at her heaving body. "You okay?"

"What the heck was THAT for? You 'bout ripped my arm out of its socket!" She had to chuckle as she rubbed her shoulder and readjusted her shirt.

"You can't WALK across a street! Gotta run! Come on...I want you to meet my dog."

Dog? Shit. "Ohhh...okay..." Sound excited Ci. He's a kid.

He let her in the house and she instantly "met" the animal. Could barely get in the fool door because of him. Huge mother. What was it anyway? She took a gulp and reached down to pet the large black creature. He seemed friendly enough, although good god, wasn't he a Doberman or something? "Hey, Buddy..."

"That's Sabboth. He's a big old teddy bear."

She stood back up and smiled weakly. "Good. Looks meaner than hell...uh, sorry. I mean, he's big, isn't he?"

Nick giggled and walked into the kitchen. "Don't like dogs, huh?"

"Well, now that you mention it, no, I don't. But, uh...if you SAY he's friendly?" She meekly looked back at the creature who was happily sniffing her purse.

"He is, trust me. What do you want to drink?" He looked at the bar stools and invited her to take a seat without a word. She sat down, but kept her eye on that animal. Huge. Insanely huge.

"Diet pop is good. Can I help?" It somehow seemed odd to have a kid serving her lunch. Shouldn't she be doing that?

"Nope. You're my guest. Heavy or light on the peanut butter?"

"HEAVY! You mean there's a choice?"

He looked back from the freezer where he was retrieving ice for drinks and smiled. Damn. Killer on such a young face. "Not in MY book, no."

"Good. You scared me there. So, uh...like I said before, you're awful young to be working at the nursing home. Shouldn't you be out riding dirt bikes or something?"

"I don't like dirt bikes, but yeah. I get to play. I like basketball and water stuff mostly. What about you? What do you do when you're not working?" He served the drinks and started on the sandwiches with HUGE scoops of peanut butter on the knife. She secretly wondered if she'd actually be able to swallow with all the goop he was slathering on the bread.

"I love water sports too. Swimming, jet skiing, scuba diving, all of it. Love to fish with my daddy too. I suck at it, but..."

"That's what's great about fishing. You don't have to be good at it. You just have to like it. Grape jelly good?"

"Perfect...and uh, not too much, please."

"You sure are picky!"

"Sorry. It's looking good though." She offered a wink and quickly changed the subject again. "And yeah, it's a good thing you don't have to be good at fishing. I just like being on a boat with my dad more than anything."

He stopped spreading and looked up at her. Okay, so he was only 11 years old, but he surely knew a pretty girl when he saw her. Yeah, she was too old and a GIRL. They were normally still kinda icky, but this one?very nice to look at. And how perfect was this? She liked fishing and being in the water. This was going to be a GREAT summer.

"Yep. That's the best part. Maybe we can go fishing sometime together, huh?" He plopped the two slices of bread together and slid the plate over to his new friend. "Eat up. I've got 20 minutes before Mom expects me back."

"Oh crap! I almost forgot. Uh, where did I put my purse?"

"Over by the door. I'm gonna start without you."

"That's okay." She hopped off the bar stool and shooed the dog away from her purse.

"C'mere, Sabbath. Leave her alone."

The dog listened to its master and trotted to the boy's side as Ciara dug in her purse for something. Nick kept eating but didn't take his eyes off of her...how old was she? He had no idea that would only be one of many questions to ask this girl over the summer.

She pulled out an orange bag of sorts and opened the Velcro carefully. Laying it on the couch, she fiddled with its contents out of his range of sight. Suddenly, she lifted up a bottle of medicine and carefully extracted some of the its contents into a syringe. A few taps on the plastic tube, the rolling up of her sleeve and a sharp stab to her arm followed. She turned to the young boy and smiled as she pulled the needle out of her arm quickly covering the spot with her finger.

"Ciara...what are you doing?"

***

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