Rebecca flipped off the bathroom light and ran a hand through her hair, sending droplets of water flying. She really should get back in the habit of wearing a headband when she washed her face, but she’d stashed all her long hair accoutrements away when she’d gone super short two years ago. Did she even know where that box was anymore?

She crossed her bedroom and checked her phone one last time. How did she get an email in the five minutes it took her to get ready for bed? She flicked the screen and poked the app, eyebrows lifting. Well, well, he really was the email king, wasn’t he? She tapped the message:

From: Benjamin Taylor

To: Rebecca Marie Fischer

Re: Bread of Heaven/DC Mission Joint Project

Ms. Fischer,

Thank you for agreeing to be a part of the Bread of Heaven (B of H) project with the DC Mission. Please see the attached files for background information on this project. I look forward to working closely with you over the coming months.

Sincerely,

Benjamin Taylor

Oo-kay? She had a file from them already, the one they’d given Jerry. What on earth had he needed to send right away? She dropped to the bed and criss-crossed her legs before tapping the first attachment. Some kind of video? There was a pause as her phone opened a video player and Princess Leia strode down the hallway of, was it the Death Star? Shouting, “I am NOT a committee!”

Rebecca laughed. “Good one, Ben. Though in this case, Leia, I am the committee.”

She poked the next attachment. Her heart fluttered as a slide show of photos from camp started up. How did he put that together so quickly? It wasn’t possible. But that would mean...

“Not possible.” Her voice was a whisper, but even so it startled her. “Great. Now I’m talking to myself.”

Rebecca swallowed and eyed the final attachment with suspicion. He’d effectively said he was still in love with her at the sandwich shop, but she hadn’t taken him seriously. Ten years was a long time without contact. But the pictures...

Steeling herself, she tapped the last file, laughing as a picture of a debonair, silver-haired man leaning casually against the back of a dark restaurant booth filled her screen. The caption said: I don’t always send email right after hanging up the phone...Oh who am I kidding, yes I do. All Hail the King of Email.

Still chuckling, she plugged her phone in and crawled into bed with a book and a silly smile.

“Thanks for meeting me.” Rebecca slapped her menu down on the table as Sara slid into the booth opposite her. Her feet were on fire after a day tromping around D.C. with her mom. Thankfully, Mom and Dad had that dinner meeting this evening which meant she could have a little break and relax with her friend.

“Sure. Beats going home to a townhouse full of airheads whose only saving grace is that they pay their portion of the rent on time. Honestly, I’m not sure what I was thinking taking a room with a bunch of college students.” Sara made a gagging motion. “Were we ever that young?”

“Probably.” Rebecca shrugged. “It’s not like we’re old now, you realize.”

“Yeah, I guess. But working full time and being out of school...it’s a whole new world. You know?”

Rebecca nodded. And not having roommates was one of the major reasons she lived in Springfield instead of closer to work. If she had waited until she could afford to live single in Fairfax, she’d still be waiting. “How long is your lease?”

“I’ve got another six months. They’re already pressuring me to at least commit until the end of the school year. Thankfully for GMU that means May, so only two months past when I was planning on bailing. But I don’t know.”

“Have you even started looking at other options?”

“Of course not. If I was one of those people who planned ahead, I probably wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with.” Sara unrolled her silverware and aligned them on the paper placemat in front of her. “Doesn’t mean I want to sign on for two extra months with the drama queens.”

Rebecca laughed. “So how was work today?”

“Mmmmm. I suspect you don’t actually care how sweet, eighty-six-year-old Mr. Thompson is doing recovering from his hip replacement or how Melinda managed to create yet another scheduling disaster that took the whole office to unravel.”

“Again? How many second chances is she going to get? I have house plants that could run the appointment desk better than she does.”

Sara snickered. “Probably true. And yet, none of those houseplants are the niece of owner’s wife.”

“I forgot about the family connection. She’s never going anywhere, is she?”

“Unlikely. Though I don’t think she’s going to be on appointments much longer. She was in the back organizing the supply room after lunch. Worst case there is it takes us longer to find things.”

“Let’s hope she gets stuck there. That room could use some consistent management.” Rebecca opened her mouth to ask about Ben, but snapped it shut when the server appeared at their table. The hole-in-the-wall Mexican place was a favorite for the two of them on nights Jen couldn’t join them, so they rattled off their orders. “Now...”

“All right, all right. He’s fine.”

Rebecca scowled at her friend.

Sara laughed. “You should see...hang on a sec.” She picked her phone up off the table and snapped a picture, flipping the screen around so Rebecca could see. Definitely needed to remember not to make that face again. Ever. “I take it that means you need more details than fine?”

“Why do I hang out with you?”

“Because of my sparkling wit and personality, coupled with the fact that Jen is Mexican food intolerant, so if you want chips and salsa and don’t want to eat alone, I’m it?” Sara gestured to the basket and bowl that the server deposited, along with their drinks.

Rebecca dunked a chip in the thick red puree and crunched down. Heat singed across her tongue. Oh, yeah. This just might let her forget that she had four more days of sightseeing with her mom looming on the horizon. “Probably part of it. Don’t make me beg.”

Sara drummed her finger on the side of the glass. “He’s a nice guy. Of course, I figured that out on Friday when he invited us along to the movie. And I say ‘us’ because, while it was clear you were who he’s interested in, he didn’t make me, or Jen, feel like an imposition. There were no veiled hints or attempts to get you to move somewhere else with him. It was just a group of friends hanging out at the movies together. And honestly, for that alone, I’m already jealous of you.”

“I...but...”

Sara held up her hand. “I didn’t say it was reasonable. But if you don’t scoop him up, you’re an idiot and, after a day or two to mourn you, I’ll totally be moving in on him.”

Rebecca’s eyes widened. “Hey. Who said I wasn’t scooping him up?”

“Aha.” She grinned. “I wondered if you were as nonchalant as you’ve been acting. He’s wondering too, in case you were curious.”

“He said that?” Rebecca dropped the chip she held back into the basket. Empty calories. Delicious. But still empty.

Sara lifted a shoulder. “Not in so many words. He’s in love with you.”

“He’s in love with ten-years-ago me.” Rebecca shook her head. “There’s a difference.”

“I don’t think so. It might have started out that way, and that definitely fed the attraction, but it’s not just that anymore.”

Rebecca clasped her hands in her lap, her fingers twining together. Her throat went dry and raspy. He might have moved from loving Marie to loving Rebecca...but he still didn’t know who she was. Not really. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Unless you’re an idiot, you love him back, get married, have babies, and live happily ever after. Preferably sooner than later, ‘cause he’s a keeper.” Sara frowned. “Why isn’t this making you happy? I thought for sure this would have you giddy with delight.”

Rebecca gulped half of the contents of her water glass. This wasn’t supposed to happen. She was supposed to change her name, establish a life, and only deal with her past when she went home once a year for Christmas. “Do you know, really know, who my dad is?”

Sara pursed her lips. “I have my suspicions.”

“Yeah, well, Ben doesn’t even have those.”

“So, where are we headed today?” Rebecca’s mom adjusted the strap of her purse across her chest and offered an expectant look.

The morning of her third straight day of touring, and her mom still looked perky and ready to go. If Rebecca’s mirror was any indication, neither of those adjectives described her. A little break from walking around all day would be welcome. Rebecca pulled her lip between her teeth. This was either going to be a great idea or a horrible one. Her gut said it was more likely to be the latter. “Um. Would you like to see the homeless mission where I volunteer?”

“Sure. But honey, you told me you hadn’t told them.” Eleanor pointed at her chest. “I’m not as recognizable as your father but it’s not like I have a low profile. Especially when it comes to something like this.”

“As it turns out, Jerry, he’s the director, already pieced it together. He’s promised to keep it quiet and since the Board shouldn’t be around...I can’t imagine anyone else who’s there is going to notice or care. Particularly since the reason we’re going is Jerry sent out a 9-1-1. Most of their staff is down with some kind of flu-like thing. They’re really shorthanded today.”

“In that case, let’s go. Or should I change? I don’t mind getting grubby in this, but if you think I should...?”

“You’re fine. Thanks, Mom.”

Rebecca took the scenic route, if you could call it that, to the mission, pointing out the few statues along the way. It wasn’t fair to drag her mom along, but if she’d begged off, Rebecca knew Mom would have just spent the day in the hotel room waiting for Dad. And Jerry had been desperate, so saying no wasn’t really an option there, either. She probably would’ve used a sick day to come down and volunteer if she hadn’t already taken vacation.

Eleanor tapped on the window. “This is lovely. It’s a little slice of green in the middle of broken.”

Rebecca followed her mother’s gaze to the fenced in lot the mission set up as a garden. They did a lot of gardening to supplement the donations and reduce the cost of food they had to purchase. “This was one of the projects they started shortly after I came on board. They’d been getting donations of fruit and vegetables that the markets deemed unsalable, but it didn’t seem right that people couldn’t have fresh now and then, too.”

“Do they own the block?”

“They were able to get a good deal from the city. It’d been derelict for so long, they really only objected for form.” Rebecca’s attorney had handled the purchase, using funds from her trust to complete the transaction. Once she owned it, she sold it to the mission for a fraction of what she paid. Jerry and the board thought they’d snared a deal from the city. With no one the wiser, everyone was happy. It was so little in the overall scheme of things.

Her mother shot her a look from the side of her eye but nodded. “I see. The residents work the gardens?”

“The ones who are interested do. Sometimes we end up using a little friendly coercion on the less interested, but generally speaking there are enough folks who enjoy spending a couple hours out there that it hasn’t been an issue. And it’s never a bad thing to look at the meal on your plate and know you contributed to it. Come on, I’ll take you to meet Jerry and we can find out where we’re needed.”

Rebecca led her mom into the shelter, waving to the harried woman at the reception desk on her way back to Jerry’s office. She gave a quick rap on the door-frame and poked her head in.

“Oh thank goodness.” Jerry rounded his desk, hand extended. “I’ve got everyone I could rope into it scrubbing the common areas to do what we can to ensure those germs cease flying through the shelter and infecting everyone. We really can’t afford to spread something like the flu to the people who come to us for help. But that’s left Kira on her own with all the pre-school kids. She’s doing okay, she loves kids, but...”

Rebecca shook her head. “Aren’t there close to thirty kids here during the day? We’ll head right over. I wanted you to meet my mother. Mom, this is Jerry, the mission’s director. Jerry, Eleanor MacDonald.”

“Call me El, please. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I hear so much about the wonderful things you’re doing here.” Eleanor extended her hand.

Jerry shook it, offering Rebecca a curious glance. “The pleasure’s mine. I didn’t realize...?”

“They’re in town for the week. We were going to hang around the museums. This seemed more important.”

Jerry’s face fell. “You shouldn’t have...”

“Don’t be ridiculous. My only goal was to spend time with Becca. This is just as good—maybe better.” Eleanor rubbed her hands together. “Now, where are those kiddos?”