Jenna's eyes flew open and immediately fixed on Seth's face. He looked very guilty.

"Mrs. Kasselbaum," Jenna said darkly. She could see the chain of events clearly now and it pissed her off. Temper flared and she was just too damn tired to clamp a lid on it.

"You know what a gossip she is," Seth said weakly.

"I know what a gossip you are," Jenna shot back, anger making her tongue loose, not caring when he flinched and hurt filled his eyes. She turned to Allison, fury making her body tremble. "And, Allison, even though it is absolutely none of your business, I made the man dinner last night."

Allison's lips thinned in disapproval. "At midnight?"

Jenna lurched to her feet, her palms narrowly missing her plate of meat loaf as she slapped them down on the table. "Yes, at midnight. As you so noted, he is a policeman. He got called to a case, so I made him dinner later so he wouldn't go hungry. Although if we'd screwed like weasels on Mrs. Kas-selbaum's welcome mat it wouldn't have been any of your damn business."

Allison's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. Charlie's eyes widened. Garrett looked like he'd swallowed his fork.

"Jenna," Seth started and Jenna held up her hand to stop him.

"I'm not finished. You say you want me to get on with my life. But the first chance I get, I'm disgraceful," she sputtered, then pointed her finger at Seth. "I am tired of your gossip and meddling." She turned her finger to Allison. "I am tired of your bossiness." She felt a sob building in her chest and fruitlessly battled it. "And I am tired of your damn Wednesday meat loaf." Leaving the table in stunned silence, she rushed out, managing to grab her purse as she barreled through the front door and down the steep driveway. She held off the tears until she got to Adam's car.

No, not Adam's car. Adam was dead. D-e-a-d, dead. Two years ago this Saturday. This was not Adam's car. This is my car. "My car," she gritted aloud. My car. My life. Her hands shook as she tried to put the key in the lock and the sob broke free. She leaned her forehead against the car and felt the waves of emotion crash in her head and the tears come. And come. And come.

My life. My totally out of control life.

A hand gently pulled the key from her fist and turned her body into his. Jenna felt Seth's arms wrap around her shoulders and his head pushing her cheek into his shoulder. And she cried.

Seth held her as she cried, rocking her, stroking her hair as her own father would have done. She cried over Adam, over the boys at school, over Steven. She even cried over the stupid meat loaf. And when her tears were spent, Seth held her a little longer, still stroking her hair.

"I understand you've had a rather taxing week, young lady," he said gently and she nodded, her cheek still pressed to his shoulder.

"My life sucks," she moaned and he chuckled. For some reason that made her feel better.

"You know, you've made me work pretty hard this week," he said and she pulled back to look at him. He pulled a cotton hankie from his pocket and she took it, mopping her wet face.

She sniffled. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, you told me about the tires and your ankle. But the rest I had to find out from Mrs. Kasselbaum and-" He closed his mouth. "And others," he added.

Her eyes narrowed. "What others?" she asked suspiciously.

His white brows lifted. "1 don't disclose my sources," he said loftily, then he sobered. "Why didn't you tell us about the problems at school, Jenna?" he asked. "The vandalism to your classroom. The water in your gas tank. The possum. We're your family. Why didn't you tell us?"

Jenna dropped her eyes. "I didn't want to worry you."

"So instead you keep it all in until you explode all over Allison's meat loaf?" he asked, a smile in his voice, and her lips quivered.

"That was bad of me," she admitted. "You are a meddling gossip and Allison is bossy, but I shouldn't have let it come out like that. I'm sorry, Dad."

"Accepted." Then he grinned. "But I didn't hear an apology about the meat loaf."

"I couldn't pull that one off with a straight face," Jenna returned, her own grin wobbly.

"Come on back, Jenna. You have a family that's worried about you." He lifted her chin so that she looked up the driveway to where Allison, Garrett, and Charlie stood watching intently.

So she climbed the driveway to the people that cared about her. They were her family. Despite their eccentricities and terrible food.

"I'm sorry, Jenna," said Allison and Jenna felt tears well again. Allison had been crying, too.

"I'm sorry I called you bossy," Jenna said and hugged Allison tightly.

"What about the meat loaf?" Charlie asked and Jenna hic-cuped a laugh.

"Shut up, Charlotte Anne," Jenna and Allison said in unison, then they both laughed and Jenna felt true peace for the first time in days.

And then, of course, the phone rang. Garrett answered it, his expression puzzled. "Yes, she's here." He cupped the phone. "Jenna, it's for you. It's a Father Leone and he says it's urgent."

The peace fizzled abruptly as she listened to Father Mike ask her to meet him at his parish.

Wednesday, October 5, 7:30 P.M.

"Where are we going?" Jenna asked after she'd strapped herself into Father Mike's car.

"Out past Shotwell Crossing," he answered, turning out of the rectory driveway. "We should just beat Steven and Brad there."

"So let me get this straight," Jenna said, holding up her hand. "Brad runs away." She ticked off one finger. "So Helen calls Steven who, thankfully, agrees to leave his job and come home." She ticked off another finger.

"So you've noticed Steven's propensity to work," Father Mike said, looking straight ahead.

"I've noticed Steven hides from his kids. I don't know why." Jenna studied Father Mike's profile. His perfect poker face. "And you're not going to tell me, are you? Even though you know."

"No."

Jenna sighed. "Okay, fine. So moving right along, Steven starts for home, but on his way Helen calls him back and tells him Brad's grandmother on his mother's side has called and Brad is there." She ticked off a third finger.

"Right so far."

"So Steven gets mad, surprise, surprise, and decides he'll go get Brad and teach him a lesson by, of all things, making him volunteer in the search for this missing teenager." She ticked off a fourth finger and frowned. "What is the man thinking?"

"That Brad needs to grow up and stop throwing childish tantrums," Father Mike responded.

"Hell of a way to grow up," Jenna said, then bit her tongue. "Sorry, Father. I just don't believe searching for a girl who's likely a corpse is the best way to effect maturity."

"And on that we agree," Father Mike said, maneuvering his car onto the highway.

"So wrapping things up"-she ticked off her thumb- "Helen gets upset and calls you. She tries to call me, thinking I have some magic wand I can wave to make Steven behave, and though I'm not home somehow she manages to figure out where I am. I still want to know how she tracked me down. And what possessed her to believe he'll listen to a blessed thing I have to say."

"He, Steven, or he, Brad?"

"Either. Both."

Father Mike glanced over. "Did you learn more than counting when you got your Ph.D.?"

Jenna smiled. "They taught me lots of stuff, but frankly, none of it of any great use lately."

"Your parents must be proud."

Jenna raised a brow. "If that's your way of inquiring into my past, you don't have to be so clever. I'll tell you what you want to know if you tell me how Helen tracked me down."

Father Mike grinned. "Fair enough. Where did you grow up?"