Six weeks later
He wasn’t exactly sure why, but Morgan was nervous about their arrival. His hands wouldn’t stop shaking, and he paced from one room to another just to keep busy. It was an odd feeling to anticipate something like this with such dread, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t excited too. It didn’t help that Robin was with a babysitter for only the second time in his life.
“Will you stop moving around?” Rachel said, laughing. She shoved a stack of paper plates into his chest and swept her arm around the dining room. “Here, why don’t you make yourself useful and distribute those?”
Morgan took them and grumbled, but he did as he was told. He spread them out evenly, leaving room for their four extra guests. The last one he set down was Gary’s—he’d be late as always, but that was okay. It was the other three that interested him right now.
Just then, the doorbell rang. Rachel’s footsteps echoed through the hallway and then the door popped open. There were greetings of joy and a whole lot of different voices, but Rachel’s was the only audible one. She was welcoming them.
Morgan stood up straight and adjusted his tie, watching the shadows creep along the hallway. They stretched out across the carpet, and Morgan couldn’t help but think of a monster coming to get him. Only it wasn’t a monster—quite the opposite, in fact.
Mason was the first one into the room, smiling with his teeth on show. He stormed toward him with an outstretched hand, shaking Morgan’s. “Good to see you again. Happy Birthday.”
“Thanks. Good to see you too.” Morgan forgot to smile, feeling flustered at the amount of people entering the room. Amy stood in the doorway with her arms folded, slipping a hand away to wave softly as she smiled. He hadn’t met their other guest yet, but she was nothing like he expected; she was tall and slender with the smoothest dark skin and sharp, piercing eyes. But they were pleasant eyes. The kind that made you feel like everything would be okay.
Mason spun around. “This is my wife, Diane.”
“It’s a pleasure,” she said with the perfect grin. “Truly.”
But Morgan felt as though it was really his pleasure. There was something kind and comforting about her, and it was no wonder Mason had fallen for her. Morgan stood back now, admiring them as a whole. They seemed to be the perfect family, and although he knew they’d had their problems, it felt like an unbreakable bond was present in the room.
“Don’t I get the pleasure of meeting young MJ?”
“He’s spending some time with my sister in New York for the weekend,” Mason said, turning toward Rachel. “Can I steal your hubby for a second? We have some important business to discuss.”
“Sure, use the office.”
Intrigued, Morgan excused them and led Mason upstairs to his office, which had seen no action since the events surrounding Erika Givens. He let Mason in and offered him a chair, then slung open the curtain. It screeched across the rail and sunlight bled in. “So, what’s this about? Nothing serious I hope?”
Mason clasped his hands over his stomach, leaning back into the chair. “Depends what you make of it. I was thinking, how’s work been for you lately?”
“Work? Uh, lazy. Why do you ask?”
“Because I might have something for you.”
“Oh.” Morgan pulled out the office chair and slumped into it, doing all he could to ignore the coat of dust over his closed laptop. “Dare I ask for more information?”
Mason paused and smirked, then looked around the room. “It’s a nice setup you have here. Personally, I used to rent an office across town. Made it easier for me to separate work from my personal life. That is, if anything could ever do that.”
“I know what you mean,” Morgan said, wishing he’d make his point.
“And here, there’s no room for a second desk.”
“Why would I need a…” Morgan thought he understood. “Oh.”
Mason watched his reaction, then ventured on. “I’m thinking about taking a step back from the SFPD. I’m getting a little older now, and it’s time I settled into something less stressful. Thing is, investigation is all I know. Diane and I have had the conversation, and she’s prepared to see how things go.”
The insinuation left Morgan with mixed feelings. Having only recently agreed with Rachel that he’d take it easy for a while, it was hard to tell which way to look at this. A partner could always be useful, especially when it came to delegating tasks, but what about the other difficulties? “Just to confirm, you’re suggesting a team-up?”
“I’m suggesting a partnership. Equal responsibility, equal pay.”
“But you live in San Francisco.”
“We could move.”
“I thought Washington wasn’t your scene?”
Mason laughed. “It’s not, but for the sake of a job, I can make allowances.”
“What will you do if I say no?”
“Probably think of something else.”
“Right.” Morgan mulled this over. Having a partner couldn’t be all bad, but he’d feel guilty shifting their whole family over here. On the other hand, he’d always liked San Francisco and wouldn’t mind spending some time there. What would Rachel think, he wondered? “Sounds interesting. Can I think about it?”
Mason nodded and stood. “Of course. Just thought I’d run it by you. A new venture.”
“Young and Black’s Investigation Agency,” he mused aloud.
“But I’m neither of those things.”
“It’s a little on the nose.” Morgan shrugged and stood with him, edging toward the door so they could return downstairs to continue his birthday celebration and so he could catch up with Amy and get to know Diane a little more. “Just give me a few days to think about it.”
“No problem,” Mason said, heading out the door. “No problem at all.”