When I got back from the art class, Georgie took one look at my face and knew what had happened. In an instant, she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, and called Sara for emergency backup, and the two of them sat on either side of me while I cried.

I allowed myself this day of wallowing.

And then I tried to harden my heart and move on. I had experienced "moving on" from Carlos, back when I was a teenager. I knew how to toughen up and set my emotions aside.

But I couldn't help but hope that Jake and I would get a second chance.

A week passed. I bought Christmas presents for Roberto, my friends, and my family. I saw things that would be wonderful for Jake: a blue scarf that would match his eyes, art supplies, books of photography of Santa Barbara. I didn't buy him anything, but I kept thinking about him. Rob and I put up a little Christmas tree. We decorated. I went to Rob's Winter Pageant, where he wore a Santa hat and sang "Jingle Bell Rock."

But I never saw Jake. Each day, I heard him leave, following his regular routine of early morning workout, then early to work. But he came back later and later, and he never knocked on my door. I made sure never to go out when I heard him coming or going.

I missed him.

The guy in the car outside my house stayed parked there, watching my door most days. I was almost used to him now. I'm sure it was pretty boring watching my door. Still, Carlos could spend his money however he liked.

About one o'clock on the Monday of the first day of Roberto's winter break, my phone rang. I was writing and Rob was reading a book. It was Amelia.

"Lucy, is there any chance that you can come in today? Carlos's attorney set an emergency ex parte hearing for tomorrow, and we need to prepare."

"What?"

"He filed a request for emergency orders that he gets Rob over Christmas break."

Why? Why would he do this? That asshole. "He goes twelve years without having him on Christmas and he wants him now? You can't be serious."

"I am. Can you come in?"

I thought for a second. I needed a babysitter. But I couldn't call my mom. She was at work and this was the busy season for grocery stores. Sara would be busy at Macy's, working overtime. Georgie was going crazy at work doing year-end bookkeeping for the automotive parts dealer she worked for. "I don't have a babysitter. Can Rob come and wait in the lobby?"

"It's probably going to be most of the day and into the evening. Let me see if Jake can do it. He just finished up a case." Before I could stop her, she had put the me on hold. I stewed about my legal troubles with Carlos. I didn't have time to think about Jake right now. I trusted him with my kid for a few hours. I just didn't trust him with my heart.

"He'll be over in a few," she said. "I'll see you when you get here."

And before I could protest, she hung up. Shit. What have I done?

About a half hour later, there was a knock on the door and Jake was there, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt.

"Hi," he said. "I hear you need an emergency babysitter."

I nodded. "Thanks. Come in."

He walked in my home and looked at me. I looked at him and did not know what to say. The last time he was in my entrance way, I kicked him out. The time before, I fucked him.

I let out a breath. "You had time to change out of your suit?"

"I figured I shouldn't watch Rob in a tie."

And we looked at each other for another moment.

After a pause, I said, "Well, let me show you where things are." And I walked him in the kitchen and showed him where Rob's snacks were stored, where the emergency phone numbers list hung, and how to work the television, just like any other babysitter.

Unlike any other babysitter, however, he still looked like he belonged in an underwear ad and, worse, he had hurt my heart.

"Roberto," I called down the hallway.

He came padding out, wearing socks and sweatpants and a Minecraft t-shirt with a creeper on it. "Jake is going to watch you while I got to a meeting, okay?"

Jake looked down at Rob. "We'll be fine," he assured me. Then he turned to Rob. "Why don't you show me what you like to do."

I needed to get going. I had no time to worry about this. "Listen, call me if you need anything. Either my cell or, well, I'll be at your office."

Jake nodded. Rob looked uncertain.

"Okay, I'm going to go now," I said awkwardly, and picked up my purse and keys and walked to my car, past the guy sitting in the parked car.

He didn't follow me. Weird. Maybe he wasn't watching me at all. Maybe he was following someone else. I saw him talking on his cell phone as I took off.

When I got to the law firm, Amelia greeted me warmly and handed me a stack of papers. "Mr. Castro has petitioned for the Court to allow him extra time with Roberto over winter break because he says that since Roberto is out of school, he has more time to spend with his father."

"That's ridiculous," I responded. "Carlos is working. He just wants to get a precedent set so that it looks like Rob spends more time with him."

"We need to prepare your testimony for the hearing tomorrow and go through his declaration to plan our defense."

Four hours later, we were still going through documents. We had ordered food and worked in a conference room, practicing my testimony, coming up with new strategies, and preparing my case. No wonder Jake worked such long hours. It took a lot of time to prepare.

Another hour and a half later, I pulled up in my parking lot at home. It was dark and there was no private investigator sitting in a car outside.

I opened my door, figuring that Roberto had played Minecraft the entire time and Jake was bored out of his skull wanting out of there.

My living room looked like a hurricane had hit it; it was a complete disaster. Cushions were piled up on top of chairs and propped against each other, all over the place. Jake was sitting on the floor underneath the table, doing something with a blanket. Rob was sitting, surrounded by cushions in another part of the room, connected to Jake with pillows and blankets.

They had made a fort.

Jake was playing with my son.

The top of the table was covered with construction paper, crayons, scissors, tape, glue, and drawings. It looked like they had created all of the characters of Minecraft in three dimensional paper sculptures. There were several pizza boxes next to it and a two liter bottle of soda.

Rob was smiling, building, playing, and in heaven.

I had never felt more relieved. And like the Grinch, my heart grew several sizes.

Jake clambered up from underneath the table, looking a little sheepish. "I'll, uh, just help clean up," he said. "We were making a village in Minecraft."

I looked at him. "Stay. Have a drink with me." Then I said to Rob, "Time for bath and bed, mijo."

Rob nodded. "Thanks, Mr. Jake," he said. "It was fun playing with you."

And my heart grew another size.

Rob padded down the hall, and I heard him turn on the shower. Jake and I put the living room back together, putting cushions back on the couches and chairs, and folding blankets and putting them back in the hallway closet. He took the pizza box outside and threw it away, and I put the craft supplies away. I left the art projects out, though, displaying them on the mantle next to the Christmas stuff. So my house wasn't going to be in a magazine. Who cares? My son was more important.

I heard the shower turn off. I went in and once Rob was dressed, I tucked him in bed.

"How was your babysitter?" I asked.

"So cool," he said. "We played Minecraft, then made the village, and made the zombies and the creepers and Steve and everything."

I leaned over and kissed him, pulling up his blanket. "Good. I love you, mijo."

"Love you, mom."

Turning off his light, I paused in his doorway and looked at him, all cuddled in his bed. Then I went back out to Jake, who was now sitting on the couch, which had returned to its normal status.

"Want a drink?"

"Yeah."

I went into the kitchen and opened a beer for Jake and poured a Skinny Girl margarita for me. I may have kept Jake's favorite 805 beer on hand. Then I went out to the living area and handed the bottle to Jake, sitting in the arm chair next to him. I took a sip of my drink.

"How was watching Roberto?" I asked, trying to be casual.

He smiled, but it was a sad smile. "It was fun. He's a good kid."

I looked at him, questioning.

He took a drink of the beer and leaned closer to me. "Here's the truth. I see a kid like that and I think it's my brother. My long-lost, beautiful, smiling, laughing, perfect brother. So it's hard for me to be around kids. But Roberto is a great kid. You're a good mother. When I first got here, it was a little weird. I kept thinking about the accident and he reminded me of my brother. I'm never going to get over that."

"Oh, Jake."

"But then I realized that I had a living, breathing kid here now, and we had fun."

Just then there was a knock at the door.

Since Jake was in my house, it had better not be a process server. I opened the door. It was the guy who had been sitting in his car for days looking at my door.

"Is Jake Slausen here? He wasn't next door."

"Who is asking?" I said, my hand on my hip.

"I'm here to serve him with a subpoena to testify tomorrow at an ex parte hearing in the matter Carlos Castro versus Lucinda Figueroa—"

Jake interrupted him. "Give me that," he said, grabbing the papers.

Shit.