Summer Lovin'

vested, I figured he'd have more success.'

Zoe nodded. 'Okay, so with a little luck, it's your emotions that'll get Patty to open up now.'

'I hope you're right.' He rang the doorbell, which set off an interesting combination of chimes. Then they waited.

Soon the door opened and a familiar face appeared before him. His sister's friend looked older, but she was still an attractive brunette, who'd obviously outgrown the punk stage.

'Patty?'

She blinked, staring at him until he saw the recognition dawn in her eyes. 'Ryan Baldwin?'

'It's me.'

'Wow. It's good to see you!' She sounded genuine, but he also caught the wariness in her expression.

'Patty, this is a friend of mine, Zoe Costas.' He gestured to Zoe. 'Could we come in and talk to you? It's about Faith.'

The other woman shook her head. 'I don't know. It's been so long and I probably can't be of any help to you.'

'Faith had a child,' Zoe blurted out. 'Can we please talk? It's important.'

Patty's eyes grew wide. Obviously whatever she might know about Faith, she had had no idea about Sam.

'We won't keep you long,' Ryan promised.

Patty stepped back and eased the door open wide. 'Of course. Come in.'

They followed her into a modern kitchen, with white cabinets and dark Formica countertops, and joined her at the table.

'You have to understand how hard this is. Faith was my best friend. My loyalty ran pretty deep.' Patty intertwined her fingers as she tried to explain.

'Nobody would be upset if you knew something and didn't tell my parents,' Ryan assured her. 'At the time, who knows what, if anything, would have brought Faith home and who knows if my parents could have made it work a second time. I appreciate your loyalty to my sister. She didn't have much of that, so I'm not angry if you didn't tell my P.I. something, either.'

Patty nodded, obviously grateful. 'How did you find out Faith had a child?' she asked, sounding stunned.

'Eventually we got a lucky break that led to her ex-boyfriend who's serving a life sentence. Once I found out that Faith died, we were able to track her last whereabouts and it led to the fact that she had a child.'

Patty shook her head. 'I had no idea. I wasn't lying when I said I didn't hear from Faith after she ran away. Where is her daughter now?'

'Sam's been living with my family in New Jersey,' Zoe explained.

'So what made you look me up now?' Patty asked.

While Zoe reached for the keys in her purse, Ryan pulled the old paperwork out of his pocket. 'All this,' he said. 'We're hoping that somehow you were called before they dumped the contents of Faith's locker.'

As Patty looked at the paper, her hands shook. 'I was. And I picked up a stack of papers from the bus terminal years ago.'

Hope flared in Ryan's chest. 'What did you do with them?'

'Well I kept them, because I thought maybe Faith would come back one day.' She blinked and he noticed her glassy eyes. 'She didn't, of course.'

'I'm guessing the papers are long gone by now?' Zoe asked.

'Actually…'

Patty stood and started walking, so Ryan rose and followed, Zoe behind him.

'I'm a pack rat,' Patty explained as she headed into the hallway and paused at a closed door. 'We've moved since I received the papers, but I kept all my old things in boxes. I never could bring myself to part with anything and since those items were my only link to Faith, I held on to them. I can't promise you that the papers are there, but if you don't mind dust, there's a good chance you'll find it if you dig around in the basement.' She opened the door and flicked on an overhead light.

Ryan glanced at Zoe in her pink skirt and white halter top and asked, 'Are you up for another dusty recovery mission?'

'I'm game if you are.' In her eyes, he saw the same glimmer of hope and excitement that had flared to life inside him.

They shared this goal. He hoped in time they'd share many more. He didn't know what he'd find here, but he was glad she'd be with him no matter the outcome.

'Go right ahead,' Patty told them.

He clasped her hand. 'I can't tell you how much I appreciate this.'

She waved away his words. 'I wish I could have done more. I wish I had done more. Then maybe- '

'Don't go there,' Ryan warned her. 'I've learned it does no good. You were Faith's friend. The best kind of friend. Nobody could have asked any more of you.'

Patty nodded. 'Thanks, Ryan. You two stay as long as you need to.'

'We appreciate that,' Zoe said.

He led the way, helping Zoe down the long stairs in her heels and together they began to search through the large, unfinished basement. Hours later, they were only halfway through the unmarked, unlabeled boxes.

'Patty's not only a pack rat, she's an unorganized one,' Zoe said, wiping her dirty hands against her light- colored skirt. 'The bus depot was a breeze compared to this.'

As he took in the dirt marks on her clothing and the smudges on her cheeks, she sneezed with gusto. 'You're being a great sport.'

She shrugged. 'It's no big deal. I want to help you find whatever your sister left behind. Besides, the alternative is hanging out at the house with Grandma Vivian.' Zoe gave an exaggerated shudder. 'And I don't think she likes me very much.'

Ryan shook his head. He needed to dispel that notion immediately. Although he hadn't thought his mother would take to Zoe, her turnaround where Faith and Sam were concerned gave him hope that she'd soften her ideas about what kind of woman made suitable marriage material for a Baldwin.

Personally, he didn't care what his mother thought, since his life was his own and he'd long since stopped doing what his parents desired. Yes, this woman could potentially cause a rift in the family, but then, so what? They weren't all that loving on the best of days.

Until very recently he'd feared the family shutting him out the way they had Faith, but he'd grown in the short time since meeting Zoe. He feared losing her much, much more.

'My mother doesn't know what to make of you. There's a difference between confusion and hate. If she can come to understand Sam, you'll be a piece of cake.' He winked and, watching the blush suffuse her cheeks, he chuckled.

Zoe rolled her eyes. 'Are you saying to know me is to love me?' she asked teasingly.

'You said it, I didn't.'

Realizing her word choice, she glanced down and began rifling through her next box. Obviously love wasn't a term she wanted to discuss at the moment. He refused to take those concerns of hers too seriously right now. He'd already decided to keep things between them light and normal in the hopes she'd see how easy they were as a couple. So he began digging through his own treasure chest looking for something, anything, familiar.

Hours passed. His lower back hurt from bending, his shoulders ached from remaining hunched over and his neck was strained from tension and frustration. He was about ready to give up for good.

Zoe had already finished her share of boxes and now sat on the dirty floor leaning back against the cement wall, eyes closed. She appeared so fragile, a complete contrast to the strong woman he knew her to be. But seeing her this way made the ache inside him grow, made him want to take care of her.

He shook the fantasy out of his head and forced his gaze to the bottom of his last box. Unexpectedly, a sheath of papers caught his eye. At first glance they were just numbers on computer paper. Old computer paper, that looked as if it had come from a dot matrix printer, with the perforated edges still attached.

He pulled the papers out and, though the text and ink had faded, the words Baldwin's Department Stores headed the page.

His heart began to race. 'Bingo!' he said, excitement rushing through him.