"I didn't mean-"

"Hey-we've got a line for the freezer pops out here!" Bonnie's voice was coming closer. Obviously she was giving them ample warning that she was on her way to the back. She was a good woman.

"Damn!" Charlotte straightened up and turned toward the doorway. Joe pressed his pelvis against the cold, reached inside for the pops, and handed them back to Charlotte without turning around. He hoped the commercial-sized freezer would be sufficient cover for his raging erection.

"Here you go!" Charlotte's voice sounded overly enthusiastic as she handed the pops to Bonnie, and Joe let his head hang into the frozen food and laughed. They were like teenagers. It felt so reckless. It felt so damn good.

"All righty, kids," Bonnie said. "You two can take off. Ned and I will close up."

"Thanks, Bonnie."

"Don't forget your children, Charlotte. Matt's game just ended and Hank is running around here somewhere. I've got her ballet bag in my car."

"Right"

"See you, Joe." Bonnie was obviously enjoying herself. "Everything all right down there?"

"Better than ever" Joe answered.

The ride home was magic. The kids reached up into the wind, laughing and shouting as their fingers played in the rush of cool night air. Charlotte leaned back on the headrest and gazed at the stars above. Joe held her hand. And it dawned on her that the Mustang was the first convertible she'd been in since that day thirteen years ago.

The stars raced by, like time did, and it made her dizzy. She thought of holding Matt and Hank for the first time, just seconds after they were born. She thought of the feel of Kurt against her at night. The scent of honeysuckle hit her nostrils, and Charlotte recalled the way Joe had looked deep into her eyes when he took her.

She found herself saying a silent prayer to Kurt. She hoped that God was eavesdropping and that both of them would understand.

I will always love you, but it's time to let you go.

"Mama! Look!" Hank and Matt screamed in amazement as a shooting star flashed on the horizon.

Charlotte felt a smile curl her lips.

"Shooting stars are actually small asteroids burning up in the earth's atmosphere," Joe said. "They're not really stars at all."

"Coolio," Matt said.

"Guess how many fingers I'm holding up," Hank said.

Joe laughed. "I have no idea."

"I'll give you a hint," Matt said. "She's holding up all the fingers on her left hand,"

'That would be four fingers then." was Joe's answer.

Charlotte turned around in time to see her children stare at each other in shock, their mouths open, then start to howl with laughter.

Joe pulled into Charlotte's drive instead of his own, which made her smile, and the kids tumbled from the backseat and raced for the door. Charlotte had barely gotten out of the car when Hoover bounded toward them, barking like a hound from hell. His nose immediately went to Joe's crotch.

"Your dog needs obedience classes, Charlotte."

"I took him. He flunked."

Then Joe had his arms around her, and she felt herself melt against him with a sigh. What would life be like if she could end every day in this man's arms? Hoover shoved his big head between their knees.

"It's damn hard to be alone with you," Joe said, chuckling.

"I know. I'm popular." Charlotte pulled away from his embrace. "Anyway, you smell like a giant number five with cheese."

Joe grinned down upon her and planted a sweet kiss full on her lips. "How about I take a shower and come back over?"

This was the part that was going to be the most difficult, but Charlotte knew she had to get it over with. Yes, she was falling for Joe, and yes, she'd decided to give in to her unbearable need for him. And no, she wasn't a damn bit ashamed of herself for doing either.

But she wouldn't do anything that would harm her children.

"Joe? I don't feel comfortable having you in my… well, my bedroom. Because of the kids. It's just-"

"I understand."

Sometimes she thought Joe was too good to be true. This was one of those times. He looked down at her with affection even though she'd just put the kibosh on his plans. How could a man be so carried away by passion one moment and so patient the next? What made a man like Joe tick?

She looked forward to spending a long time finding out.

"I'd like to make it really special for us-like, when it's not a school night and the kids can sleep over with friends. I'll make you dinner. We won't be rushed. We can-"

"I've waited thirteen years. I can wait a couple more days."

"Mama!" Hank's face was pressed up against Charlotte's bedroom window and she peered down on them. "Matt won't let me take a shower first and it's always my turn to go first on Tuesdays!"

"Creepy little cow-butt tattletale!" Matt's voice rang out from somewhere inside the house.

Charlotte looked up at Joe and sighed. "Good night." She planted a kiss on his cheek, which felt clenched tight beneath her lips. "I guess this mixing fantasy with reality isn't an easy thing to do."

"We'll find a way, Charlotte. Just you watch."

"I want a turn, Matt."

Justin applied the brakes and waited for his friend to stop his bike. "It's not fair-you've been getting all the good pictures this week: the one of Lisa Bertucci's mom's slip hanging out of her skirt on Tuesday, and then on Thursday the mean guy outside the library who looked like a mental patient, and then yesterday that dude at the gas station kissing that fat lady. It's my turn."

"Whatever." Matt lifted the spy camera strap off his neck and passed it over to Justin. "Just don't waste any film."

They rode for a while down Main Street, avoiding pedestrians and parking meters and the occasional suggestion that they ride their bikes somewhere other than the sidewalk.

The boys rounded the corner of Queen and Main and were debating whether they had enough money between them to split a blueberry freezee from the Creamy Whip and whether they had enough time to eat it before dinner when Justin skidded to a stop.

"Check out those guys," he said, nodding casually toward two men sitting in a car parked at the curb. "Man-oh-man."

"CIA, do you think?" Matt motioned for Justin to walk his bike into the side door of Garson's Glass, where they could monitor the situation discreetly. Matt pulled out his binoculars to get a good look.

"Too creepy looking for the CIA. I think they're hit men or spies." Justin started snapping pictures.

"I don't know. CIA agents can be pretty creepy look-mg."

Justin took one last picture and laughed at Matt. "Like you've ever met a CIA agent in real life?"

Matt snatched the camera away. "Like you ever met a hit man or a spy?"

The two boys walked their bikes back up to Main Street, then hopped on and began pedaling.

"I think we should show these pictures to Ned," Justin said.

"And how we gonna do that?" Matt asked. "I can't have my mom develop these pictures-she'd have a spaz attack. You know I'm not supposed to be spying."

"Then give 'em to me. I'll have my dad get 'em developed."

"No," Matt sighed heavily. "This should stay on a need-to-know basis. I'll figure something out."

It was turning out to be one of those weeks that went by in a blur. Charlotte had as many clients as she could juggle, Hank's ballet recital was that weekend and the kid had a rehearsal schedule more suited to the Kirov Ballet than The Minton Dance Factory, and both Matt's and Hank's teams had advanced to the play-offs.