Seth looked at the scene surrounding the high school. He was grateful it hadn’t been a full-scale war, but even that didn’t lessen the impact.

Mac McCain walked toward him. Mac was still in civilian clothes, but Seth noticed his department car was parked at the back of a long line of emergency vehicles. “So it was a kid,” he said. “Lucky.”

Seth shook his head. “Lucky. Mac, I don’t want to ever see my school surrounded like this again. Never again.”

“I hear that. On the other hand, it was a damn good drill. Excellent response, outstanding performance. It’s always good to know we’re ready for anything.”

Seth looked over at Brett, who was being loaded into the back of Pritkus’s car. He was going to the headquarters in Coquille where he would be booked on every charge Seth could think of.

* * *

Robbie Delaney was a smart guy, Seth decided. He’d gotten himself derailed when Sue Marie got pregnant in their first semester of college. He wanted to marry her, make a family with her; he loved her. He still loved her, but he realized there were issues. In fact, he told Seth, Rachel might have come by some of her problems through her parents’ dysfunctional relationship.

“Rachel sees the light where Brett’s concerned, but that doesn’t mean she’s a hundred percent ready to have a healthy relationship—she needs some help with that. We all need a little help with that. Rachel’s going to start in a teen group in the new year, and the boys and I will get a little family counseling. Sue Marie can join us if she wants to, but if she has better things to do, we’re pressing on. We’re celebrating Christmas here at our house. We’re putting up the tree, laying in the Christmas ham and we’ll invite Sue to be here. We’re going easy on presents this year—everyone gets forty dollars to spend. But you know what? It might be our best Christmas yet.”

“It sounds like you’re making progress.”

“I think the kids are changing schools,” Robbie said. “Rachel was the last holdout, but she doesn’t think she can be in the same school with Brett. And if she changes right after Christmas, she can try out for cheerleading in the spring.”

Seth laughed. “Sounds like the timing is on your side.”

“We have to get it together by spring,” Robbie said. “When the weather lightens up and spring hits, I do a real good business—painting lines and trimming trees. Running back and forth to Thunder Point really cuts into my time. There are more things like a computer and some cheap cell phones when Papa makes money!”

Papa. Seth smiled to himself. Robbie might have some serious problems to resolve, but he was devoted to his kids and did the best he could. A lot of guys just succumbed when the problems looked bigger than they were. Robbie, he realized, had always been focused. Nobody’s perfect, but he was a loving dad.

Brett Davis faced a number of charges, all misdemeanors. He served thirty days in county and, thanks to the committed caseworkers in DHS, they were working on an intervention to get him into a program of some kind, which was required during his probation. Whether it was anger management or domestic battery intervention, Seth had no idea. But there was still hope for Brett. How much hope would depend on a lot of things, mostly his desire to change.

The Davis family, allegedly headed by an abuser, was not so lucky. There were no charges and no probation of any kind. Mrs. Davis was encouraged to phone for help if she needed assistance, but that was all anyone could do. Right before Christmas, the house was vacated and listed for sale. As Seth well knew, getting people in situations like this to reach out was difficult. Brett’s advantage had been a judge.

All was peaceful once again. Families were ready to celebrate Christmas in their individual ways. Carrie James did all the cooking at the McCain household for the usual large crowd. Rawley spent part of his day there and the later part with Cooper and Sarah, Spencer and Devon and all the kids—two families bonded by the children they shared. Lucky’s, the gas station, was open but for a shorter day because Al Michel, his three foster boys, his girlfriend, Ray Anne, Lucky’s owner, Eric, and his fiancée, Laine, were all at the McCains’ for Christmas Eve and at Ray Anne’s small house for Christmas day. Al cooked a magnificent meal. Peyton Lacoumette, Dr. Scott Grant and Scott’s kids were up north—he’d invited the two grandmothers to join them with about a million other people at the Lacoumette family farm. It was so crowded they had to sleep in shifts, but there were many contributors to the planning of a spring wedding.

For Seth and Iris, the events of the previous week were transforming. It was their town that had the traumatic experience, even though it had all played out fine. Seth had always thought of himself as just a working man and Iris admitted she thought of her life as pretty ordinary, even if the implications of her work with kids could have a huge impact. Now they were changed.

On Christmas morning, while they were still in bed, he nuzzled her awake and gave her a small box to open.

“Well, I never expected this,” she said, ripping into it. “I thought we decided we’d be each other’s presents this year.”

“Just a detail that really couldn’t be ignored,” he said.

Inside was a diamond ring and band, a beautiful platinum-and-diamond wedding set. “Oh, my God, how could you pick something this perfect without even asking me what I like?” she asked.

“I don’t really know how,” he said. “Everything about you seems completely right and easy to me.”

“We’ve come a long way, then,” she said. She handed him the box. “Put it on me? Say the words again?”

He slid the engagement ring on her finger. “Please, Iris, be my forever wife. Let me be your forever husband.”

“Okay,” she said. “If you’re sure.”

“I’m going to be in love with you until I die. I think at least ninety years. And then some.”

“Are you ready for today?”

“Oh, yeah. And I want you to know, it’s hard to get Christmas off when you’re the new guy.”

“You probably had to have a really good excuse, huh?”

“I had to scramble, that’s for sure.”

They had decided that Friday night, after the school emergency, they didn’t want to go forward separately. They couldn’t wait any longer.