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Then everything made sense. In one of those blinding flashes of truth, she knew why she hadn’t been able to figure him out. Why he appeared so perfect all the time. Jim had decided to spend his life making up for what he saw as the failures of a thirteen-year-old boy. He couldn’t fix his mother, but he was determined to fix everything else in his world. He was making up for the past. Unfortunately, until he understood he had done nothing wrong, he was destined to search for a forgiveness that could only come from within himself.

There weren’t any dark secrets save the one he’d just shared. He was exactly who he appeared to be—a real, live, genuine hero. He really was one of the good guys, and Lord help her, now there was nothing to keep her from falling helplessly in love with him.

Chapter Nine

“You didn’t eat much dinner,” Jim said as he collected the plates and carried them into the kitchen.

“It wasn’t the cooking, I swear. The steaks were delicious.”

Heather wasn’t lying. The meat had been perfectly prepared. She’d microwaved potatoes and fixed a salad while Jim had barbecued the steaks. But her lack of appetite wasn’t because of a problem with the food and they both knew that.

“I’m sorry,” he said when he returned to the table and took the seat across from hers. “I shouldn’t have told you.”

“No.” She shook her head. “I’m glad you did. We’re friends and you’re very important to me. I’m just having a little trouble absorbing everything you said.”

Images and questions swirled in her head. The horror of Jim’s past made her want to hold him close and somehow make it better. Which wasn’t all that different from his own need to fix. As a new mother who deeply loved her child, Heather couldn’t understand how either of Jim’s parents could have treated him that way. First his father deserting his son and his stricken wife, then his mother with her impossible request. No one should have to deal with that kind of situation, let alone a young boy.

She could feel tears forming again. She’d have to stop thinking about it so much or she would spend the evening sobbing hysterically. Hardly the relaxing good time they’d both planned.

“Let’s change the subject,” she said. “It’s summer, right? So how are the Dodgers doing?”

Jim gave her a lazy grin. “You really want to talk about baseball?”

“Sure.”

“Prove it. Name one Dodger player.”

She opened her mouth, then closed it. “I know their uniforms are blue and white. That should count for something.”

“It should, but it doesn’t. I have a different topic suggestion.”

“At this point I’m willing to accept anything.”

“How about coming with me to Rick and Lupe’s wedding?” He held up his hand. “Not as a date, but as friends. I think it would be fun.”

“I’d like that,” she said without hesitating.

She would enjoy spending time with Jim away from the office. She always had. His clarification that it wasn’t a date meant she could relax and not worry about subtle or not-so-subtle tension flaring between them.

“Do you dance?” she asked teasingly.

“I think I can shuffle my way around the floor well enough to keep you happy.”

“Yes, but will I be embarrassed?”

He laughed. “Probably.”

At the sound of his laughter, tears formed in her eyes. Before she could control them, one slipped down her cheek. Jim swore under his breath, reached across the small table and brushed her skin.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I’m really fine.”

“Yeah, I can tell.”

“No, I mean it. Some of it’s because I’m still a little emotional these days, and some of it’s because of what you told me. Regardless, I refuse to regret knowing the truth about your past. You’ve had a lifetime to get used to it, but I’ve only had an hour. Give me a little time and I’ll be fine.” His hand lay close to hers. She touched it. “I’m very proud to know you.”

He stiffened in his chair, straightening and pulling back. “Don’t start anything like that. Don’t be proud because I survived a difficult childhood. I can name a dozen people who overcame a lot worse.”

“It’s not that you survived,” she said. “It’s that you thrived. Look at what you’ve done with your life. All the people you help every day.”