Page 53 of The Fixer and the Fugitive

“Our boss is weirdly picky about us actually showing up to work. But Montana is freaking fantastic. How about if we come back sometime?” Leo suggested.

“Anytime. My door is always open. Literally, apparently, because Sam stumbled through it in the middle of the night,” Celeste said, snaking her arm through Sam’s, unconsciously mimicking Esther’s pose.

“In my defense, I’m really good at breaking into places. Criminally so,” Sam said.

“La, la, la,” Leo said, mashing his palms over his ears.

“You should come to DC to visit us,” Esther said. “Especially because we’re going to be living in the same house now.”

“At long last,” Leo said, giving her another squeeze. “Also, I second the invitation.”

“We’ll keep it in mind,” Sam answered for them, as if they really were a couple. He held out his hand for Leo to shake and then Celeste hugged both of them goodbye. They followed them to their car, remaining on the porch as they loaded up.

Esther paused with her hand on the door and faced Celeste. “Next time I see you, you’re going to beeffulgent.”

“What’s that one?” Celeste asked.

“Look it up,” Esther replied.

“That’s how you know you’ve breached the inner sanctum, when she starts making you do the work yourself,” Leo said. With a final wave, they got in the car and drove away.

Celeste pulled out her phone and looked up the word. Effulgent: shining forth brilliantly, radiant. “Why can’t Esther be my mom?” she said, tucking her phone away.

“Because she’s many years younger than you?” Sam guessed.

“The use of the word ‘many’ in this case is extraneous and hurtful,” Celeste replied.

He picked her up and gave her a squeeze. “Sorry. Also, I missed you.”

“We’ve only been apart a couple of hours,” she said.

“But it hasn’t been the same. Don’t get me wrong, I liked having Esther and Leo here, post-interrogation, but I also liked it when it was Sam and Celeste time.”

“Sam and Celeste time makes it sound like we’re a seventies jazz lounge duo,” she said.

“Not to brag, but I can actually play the triangle and the recorder, in case you’d like to learn to back me up on ‘Hot Cross Buns’ and take the show on the road.”

“We should probably wait until you’re no longer being hunted by all the people who want to kill you,” she said.

“That’s a good point. We’ll have plenty of time to practice.”

“Maybe years and years,” she said.

He sucked a sharp breath. “I kind of like the sound of that, more and more. Also, I want to kiss you very much. I’m having lip withdrawal. It might deadly.”

“Probably best not to take chances,” Celeste agreed. She angled her face upward, startling when the oven timer beeped loudly.

“Is that the kissing alarm?” Sam asked, taking a step back as he set her down.

“It’s my bread.”

“Your bread,” Sam said, following close on her heels as they hurried to the kitchen. He hovered nearby, making appropriate noises of awe when she pulled a perfect loaf from the oven.

“It’s so pretty,” Celeste whispered. She couldn’t believe she had actually made bread. Esther pretty much instructed her on a molecular level, but still. She made food, completely from scratch like a real person.

“Are…are we allowed to eat it?” Sam asked as they continued to stand still and stare at it for several long moments. “You’re not going to scream and snatch it out of my hands and tell me I’m eating your baby or anything, are you?”

“Yes, but I do that with all bread, not just the ones I’ve made,” she clarified.

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