“You can pick some if you want,” offered Jake. “Eema won’t mind.”

“Sure. Why not?” Eric said, plucking a few oranges. “Nothing better to do.”

As the kids busied themselves with harvesting, Decker walked over to the side of the house and stared at Rina’s front door. He felt like pounding the shit out of it. He despised being left in the dark. It was one of the reasons he obsessed on his cases; he needed a sense of closure. He hated vacuums and was angry at Rina for creating one.

A minute later, the door opened. Rina and a young woman emerged, linked arm-in-arm. They spoke briefly, and Rina leaned over and kissed the woman’s cheek. Decker squinted as he studied her profile, and a second later he recognized the face.

It was Sarah Libba Adler. She looked so different from the last time he had seen her. Much younger and not as frail. Her posture was erect and her dress was stylish. The blond wig she wore fell gracefully to her shoulders, framing a delicate face no longer cut and bruised. No one would ever suspect that she had been an assault victim. The scars that remained were internal.

Rina watched Sarah walk away, then rejoined the others in the backyard.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I’ll get you kids a sack. Take as many as you want.”

She noticed immediately that Peter and Cindy had changed their clothes. Cindy had put on a short-sleeve shirt and a lightweight cotton skirt. Peter was wearing a polo shirt and a pair of designer jeans that looked brand new. Although the clothing hugged his body, showing off his muscular build, he appeared odd in it-like a kid dressed up for a birthday party. She left for the house; then, returning a moment later with the sack, a stack of cups, and a pitcher of iced tea, she began to play hostess.

“It was a close game,” she said to Sammy.

“It was a good game,” he said emphatically between slurps of tea. “But you know what else happened?”

“We heard a robbery on the police radio, Eema,” Jake said, his eyes gleaming.

She looked at Peter. “What?”

“An armed robbery happened a couple of blocks from the stadium,” he explained. “We heard the whole thing over the radio. The kids thought it was pretty neat.”

“I wanted to go see it, but Peter wouldn’t let us,” Sammy complained, handing Rina his empty cup.

“Detective Decker,” Rina corrected. “And he showed good judgment.”

“They caught the guy,” Cindy added. “They had to tear gas the place to get him out.”

“You know what else we heard, Eema? A disturbing the peace call, a disorderly conduct, another robbery, a purse snatching, and something else…”

“A battery victim,” Eric answered.

“There’s no shortage of crime in this city,” Peter said and shrugged.

“It was so neat!” Sammy exclaimed, pounding his fist into the glove with excitement.

“It sounds like Detective Decker’s police radio was as big a hit as the game.”

“The game was great,” Sammy said. “Can I have some more tea please?”

“Sure.” She poured him another cup and refilled the others.

“We stopped off at Peter’s ranch,” Jake said. “He has horses. Can we go ride them today?”

“Detective Decker,” she scolded. “Where are your manners?”

“He told us to call him Peter,” Sammy said, irritatedly.

“Can we go ride the horses?” Jake asked again.

Rina hesitated.

“It’s fine with me,” Decker said.

“Not today. It’s getting late.”

“I’m not tired,” Sammy protested.

“Not today, Shmuel.” She tousled his hair. “Some other time, okay?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Sammy, I promised you a ball game, you got your ball game. I keep my word. If I say some other time, it will be some other time, all right?”

He nodded.

“You boys thank Peter for taking you.”

“Thank you,” Sammy said glumly.

Peter held out his hand. When Sammy gave him his own, Decker flipped him into the air, caught him, and placed him on the ground. Then he did the same series of acrobatics with Jake. The giggling boys charged him, but Decker threw them up as quickly as they pounced.

The whole day had left Rina feeling inadequate. The useless conversation with Moshe. Being put on the defensive by her friends. But mostly it was Peter. Why did she trust this strange goy as if he were a lifelong friend? And why did he have to be so good with the children? As much as she tried, she couldn’t be both a father and a mother to her boys. They required roughhousing that was just too physically demanding for her. They needed a constant male figure. The boys at the yeshiva were nice, but didn’t provide consistency. She had tried a Jewish Big Brother once, but it hadn’t worked out. It was nearly impossible to get someone who had an understanding of her religious views.

She let them horse around for a minute, then said: “Boys, that’s enough.”

“It’s okay,” Decker said holding Jake upside down. “I can use the workout.”

“They’re a little overexcited, Peter. Time to quiet it down.”

He recognized the tone of voice. Like Jan. You’re working her up, Peter. He reminded himself that these weren’t his kids, he had no say-so in their rearing. He stopped wrestling.

“You two want to go out to dinner?” Decker asked the teenagers.

“Uh, we sort of made some plans with our friends, Dad.”

“Fine,” Decker said, then raised his eyebrows to Rina. “They hit the teens and they’re gone.”

“Dad?”

“What?”

“Can we borrow the Plymouth?”

Peter laughed. “No, you can’t borrow the Plymouth.”

“Just for about a half hour? We’ll be real careful.”

“Cynthia, that’s outrageous. You can’t borrow a police car to go cruising with your friends. Give me a break, honey.”

“Just asking.” She shrugged. “We’ll wait for you back at the car.”

“Fine.”

“Nice meeting you again,” she said to Rina.

Rina said good-bye and handed them the bag of oranges.

Eric dragged Cindy out of the backyard, and the two of them exploded into laughter as soon as they were out of sight.

Decker looked puzzled.

“I must have missed some private joke.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’ll miss many more in your day.” She turned to her sons. “Boys, go inside. I want to talk to Peter alone for a moment.”

“Do we have to?” Sammy asked.

“Yes, you have to. Now.” After they had left, Rina said, “I’m sorry for shooing you away like that.”

“It’s all right. You had your reasons.”

“Sarah Libba was over when you came back from the ballgame. We were talking and lost track of time. She couldn’t bear to see you face-to-face.”

“I certainly don’t remind her of good times.”

“That, and she’s embarrassed. But she does appreciate what you’re doing.”

“I’m glad,” he said. “How’s she holding up psychologically?”

“Better.”

“That’s good.”

“You changed your clothes,” Rina commented.

“You’re an open book Mrs. Lazarus. Disapproval was painted all over your face.”

“It’s the yeshiva, Peter. The people here have standards…”

Decker said nothing.

“And it’s me, also,” she admitted. “I should be more tolerant, I guess.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

They stared at each other for a moment.

“The kids are waiting,” Decker said.

“Thank you for everything.”

“Sure. Take care, Rina. And don’t ever hesitate to call me if you need something, even just to say hello.”

“I won’t.”

It was close to eleven o’clock, and she thought she heard something outside. It wasn’t loud or clear enough to alarm her, but it alerted her to her own vulnerability.

She thought of calling Peter, but changed her mind. She was beginning to wonder if she heard the noises at all. Was she just using them as an excuse to talk to him?

That was ridiculous. Why should a grown woman need an excuse to talk to another adult? If she wanted to call him, she should call him. After all, he’d said to phone anytime.