Her question came out as a rough whisper. "What did Michael mean when he said he'd 'pound' on her?"

Quinn brushed Audie's hair away from her face and tucked a handful of waves behind her ear, and she saw his green eyes flicker with tenderness.

"They have to percuss her chest-pound on it-a couple times a day. We all went to classes to learn how to do it-Mike and Sheila, Da, Pat, and me. Percussing breaks up all the gunk in her lungs so she can breathe."

She turned her face away from him.

"It's OK, Audie. It's just part of her life. We do what we have to so Kiley's comfortable and happy. Then we just pray a lot."

She turned to stare at him, suddenly very angry. "Pray for what?"

"Well, a breakthrough. The way things stand right now, people with cystic fibrosis are lucky if they live to the age of thirty or so."

Audie's mouth fell open.

"We just try to have faith."

"I can't deal with this." She stood up and began to walk down the sidewalk.

Quinn was behind her. "A walk sounds good," he offered.

She didn't respond, but she didn't resist when Quinn reached for her hand.

"You've got a tender heart, Audie. That's one of the things I like about you. But please don't be sad. Kiley doesn't like it when people are sad for her-it pisses her off, in fact." Quinn started laughing.

"My God!" Audie pulled away her hand. "Do you have any idea how bizarre this whole thing is for me? That your family laughs so much? That they love each other so much? Like the way Michael was with Sheila in there-do you have any idea how strange this all is to me? How overwhelmed I am? How surprised?"

"No. I didn't know." Quinn inclined his head a bit and studied her, his green eyes intense yet warm. The man was so beautiful, Audie's breath hitched.

She started to walk again.

"Hey. Wait."

"How can everyone pretend they're not sad?" She whirled on him. "Aren't your hearts broken?"

"Hell, yes, they are."

She shook her head. "I don't get it."

"Audie." Quinn laid his palm gently against the side of her face. "We're not pretending anything, but if there's a choice between laughing and crying, the Quinns pick laughing every time. It's better for the soul."

She blinked at him, her mind reeling, her heart twisting in big, mysterious knots of emotion-for this man, his niece, the rest of his family, and her own huge, immeasurable emptiness.

"Why did you give me your mother's handkerchiefs?"

Quinn watched as she propped her fists on her hips and jutted out her chin before she continued.

"Stanny-O told me they were Trish's. Why did you give them to me? You hardly know me. I'm nobody to you."

He dropped his hand from her cheek and looked at her for a long time. It was a good question-a damn good question-and for the life of him, he couldn't come up with a logical answer. He was beginning to realize that logic had little to do with his feelings for Audie.

"It freaked me out, Quinn. Tell me why you gave me your mother's handkerchiefs!"

He nodded slowly and took a breath. Her rich brown eyes were fixed on his and she wasn't letting go. This was a big moment, and he didn't want to blow it. Not too much, he told himself. Not too fast or she'd bolt.

"Because I'm tired of washing your snot out of mine?"

Audie closed her eyes and shook her head, trying not to laugh.

"All right, fine. They're actually my grandmother Stacey's, and I gave them to you because I think you're special and I wanted you to have something that was special to me, personal to me. But you already know that's how I feel about you."

Her eyes flew open and she started marching away from him down the sidewalk. At least she wasn't running or flipping him off,Quinn thought. He stayed at her side.

She suddenly wheeled on him. "Your grandmother's? God! That's even worse! When we get back to the North Side, I'm giving them back to you."

"I wish you wouldn't."

"I have no business with them."

"And why is that?" He grabbed her by her upper arms. "Isn't it my choice what I do with them? Lace doesn't go with my shoulder holster, anyway."

She blinked, and Quinn watched as a single tear rolled down her left cheek. "What in the hell is happening here?" she whispered, her eyes scanning his face. "I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone of love or something, and it's making me panicky, like I've got to get out of here, like you're too much for me, your family is too much for me."

Quinn was tempted to pull her close to him and smother her doubt with kisses-but he knew that would only make things worse. He dropped his hands from her body. "Then count to ten and stop your crying, Audie, because I need you for something important."

She frowned and propped her fists on her hips again. "Need me for what?"

"Do you want to do something nice for Kiley? Would you like to see her laugh?"

She nodded. "Of course I would."

"Then come back to the house with me. Pat said the boys want to get a game going down at Kennedy Park. Want to go kick some ass with me?"

Audie's eyes got wide. "Soccer?"

"Yep. I figure we tell them you've never played before, but you want to learn. That ought to be good for a few laughs." He took her hand and they were walking with purpose back down the street.

"And we let Kiley in on the joke from the beginning?" Audie was smiling.

"My plan exactly."

Quinn watched Sheila and Audie trade shoes-even Audie couldn't get off a decent kick in a pair of flimsy little sandals, he supposed.

And from the sidelines, he watched Kiley squeal and giggle and yell as Audie pretended to be confused and scared of the ball. It was a fine performance, too.

The little girl's eyes nearly popped from her head when Audie finally let loose and jumped and twirled and ran in her short skirt, the sweat running down her face, blowing everyone out of the water.

When Audie scored the first time, Quinn laughed so damn hard at Michael's stunned expression that he thought he'd busted an artery. It was priceless. The other times she scored he just felt proud and cheered her on.

And when she jumped on his back, and took a victory lap-God, Quinn felt like the luckiest man on earth to be holding her, to have her with him.

"Good Christ," Pat whispered to him at one point, slapping his brother's back. "Did you have a chance to winterize her yet?"

"Pogue mahone, Stacey," Michael quipped, trying not to laugh in appreciation. "I'll find a way to get you back for this one, believe me."

It was eight-thirty when Quinn and Audie said they needed to head back, and after nine by the time they made it to the car-there were a lot of people who wanted to hug Audie good-bye. Sheila had a difficult time removing Kiley's arms from around Audie's neck.

Jamie walked them down thestreet.

"Keep safe, lad. See you Wednesday at the Academy for rehearsal." Jamie gave Quinn a peck on the cheek as his son got in the car.

"Audie?" He walked over to the passenger side and placed his big hands on her shoulders. "You, my dear, are a complete joy. Please come back soon."

"I'd like that."

Jamie wrapped her up in his arms again and gently patted her back. "Take good care of each other," he whispered. Then he kissed her cheek, too.

All she could do was nod.