All In: Raising the Stakes by Lane Hart Page A

miss her?" I ask, unable to help myself from prying since he’s being so open and honest.
    "Yeah I do. I hate that she moved, but even if she was still in town, we would never be together as a couple. Her and Will are really happy together, and I'm happy for them."
    "You are?"
    "Definitely. Besides, Lacy's always known that she's not the woman I want," he says, and when he looks up at me, my breath catches at the intensity in his blue eyes. That's when the intercom announces they’re now boarding our plane.
    "Are you ready for Florida?" I ask, standing up to head for the line forming at the gate.
    "Damn right, I am," he replies with a tight smile.
    I send Candace a quick text message asking how Drew did waking up without me there this morning. As soon as she says he was fine and having breakfast, I relax, turn my phone off, and prepare for the flight. I’m actually a little disappointed that Joe wasn't assigned a seat closer to mine.            
    …
    Joe
    I watch Katie as she sleeps with her head on the plane window, her breathing slow and regular. I asked the one other lady in her row to switch seats with me, giving the sweet, elderly grandma three seats to herself across the aisle. I didn't know Katie was so wiped out that she'd sleep the whole four hours. She’s probably exhausted from the trial she just finished. She won a guilty verdict of course. She always wins.
    "No!" the exclaimed word escapes her lips. She’s dreaming. Apparently it isn’t a good one based on her furrowed brow.
    "Drew, don't! Please don’t…nothing like him," she mutters.
    Who’s Drew? Is that her boyfriend? I grow even more concerned when I see the tear slide down her cheek, so I shake her shoulders, trying to wake her. We’re only about ten minutes from landing anyway.
    "Katie?" I say, taking advantage of the opportunity to put my hands on her. I rub down her shoulder and arm over her burgundy blouse, shaking her again. "Katie?"
    "Stop!" she yells as she startles awake. I jerk my hand away from her, unsure if she was talking to me or her dream.
    "Are you okay?" I ask.
    She looks over at me and blinks her beautiful greenish-yellow cat eyes a few times before glancing around the plane.
    "Oh shit. I was having a nightmare. Sorry." She swipes her knuckles under her eye to wipe away the tear.
    "Hey, you don't have to apologize to me for your nightmare. We're about to land, so I thought you might want to start waking up."
    "Thanks. What are you doing over here?"
    "Oh, I switched seats with the woman who was sitting here. I didn't know you'd sleep the whole time."
    "Oh, sorry," she says softly, sitting up straighter in her seat.   
    "You don't have to keep apologizing."
    This new kinder, gentler Katie is concerning me. I’m used to the abrasive Katie and know what to expect from her. This Katie, well, it’s a whole new ball game. Seeing this more vulnerable side of her makes me want to pull her on my lap and wrap my arms around her. Except she hates me, and very likely has a boyfriend.
    "Who's Drew?" I ask.
    She looks at me, eyes wide in surprise. "How-how'd you know about him?"
    "You said his name when you were dreaming, or having a nightmare."
    "Oh," she mutters, lowering her eyes from mine. "Ah, he's my sister's little boy."
    "Oh," I say in relief, glad that there's not another man in her life, even if there is one in mine. "Do you have an older or younger sister?"
    "Younger."
    "So Drew's your nephew?"
    "Uh-huh."
    "How old is he?" I ask since I'd never heard her talk about her family before. Hell, she's never talked to me before unless it's about a case, or she’s insulting me.
    "He just turned three on November first." 
    "Well, then I bet he's a handful."
    "You have no idea," she replies with a smile, her love and adoration of him showing clearly on her face.  
    The mention of kids has me thinking of Lacy, wondering how she’s holding up. She’s had a lot on her with her mom's suicide and now the pregnancy. Her