Glynna Kaye - Look-Alike Lawman

“You need a degree to hang out with a six-year-old? Play games? Help with homework? Just talk?”

“No, but—”

She leaned forward, swallowing her pride as she appealed on her son’s behalf. “He admires you. Looks up to you. Maybe he’ll open up and tell you why he’s angry with the world.”

Grayson tapped a finger on the table, his frank gaze meeting hers. “I can already tell you why he’s angry with the world.”

He knew? It was so simple and she’d missed it?

“Why?”

“Because the world he trusted betrayed him. Turned itself upside down. Took his dad away from him and probably took you away from him in a number of ways as well.”

There had to be more to it than that. A reason why his anger was coming out now instead of in kindergarten. She quietly studied him, then took a stab in the dark. “For someone who isn’t degreed in kid psych, you seem sure of your assessment. Personal experience?”

He glanced away to stare out the window, beyond his own reflection, at the passing traffic headlights penetrating the last dregs of twilight. “I didn’t lose my father, but my mom died in a car accident when I was seven.”

“I’m sorry.” She shouldn’t have probed into his painful past. “That had to have been difficult.”

“It was a long time ago.”

“But you still remember.” She sensed it. Suspected it might play a role in his final decision on Cory’s behalf. “You weren’t much older than Cory. Maybe you can make him understand what’s going on down deep inside.”

“Maybe. But it sounds as if he needs someone to step in immediately, before things escalate.” He paused, his expression grave. “I don’t know what it entails for training and all, but it could easily take a month or more for me to get approved for the school’s mentoring program.”

“Then we don’t go through the mentoring program.”

Something she couldn’t decipher flickered through his eyes.

His words came carefully. “It’s a standard—and wise—practice to conduct a background check. Which could take—”

“I did my own background check.” She met his intent gaze with a challenging one of her own. “I contacted an old buddy of my husband’s who contacted someone in your division. You passed with flying colors.”

A brow quirked. “You didn’t waste any time.”

Did he approve? Disapprove? It didn’t matter. She’d done what she had to do. “I’ve already wasted too much time because I didn’t see this coming. Cory is too important to me to wait for weeks to go through official school district channels.”

“I’m still not—”

“Please? A few nights a week? Even a single hour this weekend?”

“I’ll be out of town this weekend.” He must have seen the disappointment in her eyes, for he cleared his throat and continued. “But I’m taking a few days off. Tomorrow and Wednesday.”

“I can’t impose on your vacation.”

“Personal business, not a true vacation. But I might have time available later in the afternoon.”

She could tell by the still-uncertain look that he had lingering concerns, but she pressed for a firm commitment. “So you will spend time with him? See if he’ll open up to you?”

He settled back in the booth, his eyes locked on hers. “I’ll give it a shot. Tomorrow? Three-thirty?”

Impulsively she reached across the table to grasp his hand, an unexpected bolt of awareness darting through her as skin touched skin. “Thank you.”

He gazed at their clasped hands a long moment, then back at her. “You’ll tell Cory I’m coming?”

She hesitated. It might not be a good idea to get her son’s hopes up. What if it didn’t work out for him to come after all?

Grayson shifted, turning his hand in hers to give it a reassuring squeeze. “You can tell him, Elise. I promise I won’t be a no-show.”

Relieved, she self-consciously withdrew her hand. Took a calming breath. “I’ve arranged for him to stay all day with his after-school sitter, Billie Jean. She lives in a ground-floor apartment directly below mine. I’ll let her know you’re coming.”

“Don’t expect any miracles, okay?” Grayson frowned as he massaged his injured shoulder. “We’ll hang out. Get to know each other. But you’ve got to be prepared that he could change his mind about me. May not want anything to do with me. Or it could backfire entirely—ramp up his anger or what you call his cop obsession.”

“That’s a risk I have to take, isn’t it?” She reluctantly drew her eyes from his too-magnetic gaze and stood, noting uneasily that the sky had fully darkened. “I have to go. I left Cory with Billie Jean. But I can’t thank you enough, Mr. Wallace...Grayson.”

She quickly turned away, hurried out the door and onto the street. Filling her lungs with the still-warm night air, she offered a silent word of thanks.

God was answering her tear-filled prayers.

But what was she getting Cory and herself into, allowing another police officer into their lives?

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