Elisa shook her head and took a seat at her farmhouse-style breakfast table. “I just finished up.”

Kelly’s jade green eyes danced around the room and landed on some pictures. “Are those your latest pictures?”

Elisa followed her attention to the black-and-white photos propped on the mantel. “Yeah, I did those a few weeks ago.”

“This one is stunning.” Kelly picked up a photo of an old windmill.

“That one took me all day to get.”

Kelly glanced at her. “All day? For a windmill?”

“I needed the right light,” Elisa answered with a shrug. “You can have it if you want it.”

“Really? How much to you want?”

Elisa had given Kelly several pictures over the past year, and the woman still tried to give her money. “I do those for fun. Just take it.”

Kelly’s eyes lit up with delight. “Thanks. I think I’ll frame it and put it in Colin’s office. He loves this stuff.”

Elisa waited until the other woman joined her at the table. “So how’s it going?”

“Not so well, actually.” Kelly’s fingers ran over the edges of the photo. “My mother fell this morning and broke her hip. She has to have surgery. And since she lives alone and has no other family except me, and Colin can’t take a lot of time off work, I have to go and stay with her for a while and take care of her, at least until we can find a live-in nurse. Then we’ll probably have to start researching places for her to live.”

“I’m sorry. That’s never an easy thing to do.” Elisa’s parents died before she had to make that kind of decision. Her heart squeezed painfully whenever she thought of the emptiness their deaths had left in her life.

Kelly fingered her pearl earring. “She’s getting up there in years anyway—she had me when she was older; I was a surprise baby. And she hasn’t been moving around that well. I don’t know if she’ll be able to walk after this.” Sorrow darkened her eyes. “Colin left first thing this morning, but can’t stay there for more than a few days. I had some things to do before I head out there this afternoon. My dilemma is Tyler. I can’t take him out of school that long, and his dad can’t get off work that early to pick him up.”

Kelly hardly ever brought up the subject of her ex-husband. All Elisa knew was that Kelly had divorced the man a few years ago and had joint custody of Tyler.

“Do you need me to pick him up and take him somewhere?” Elisa had been around the boy a few times. Hair as blond as his mother’s was always a bit too long so that it curled just over the top of his ears. Mother and son were equally well mannered and soft spoken.

Kelly twisted her wedding ring around her finger. “That’s the other thing. No one he’s comfortable with is home during the day. There would be no place to take him. Since we live so close together and he’s used to walking anyway, I was hoping you’d be okay with him walking here after school and hanging out for a few hours. It would only be for a few hours after school during the week. And it would only be for a few weeks, a month tops,” Kelly rushed on as though she suspected Elisa would object. “And I would be happy to pay you.”

Elisa shook her head. “I don’t want your money, Kelly. You have enough to deal with.”

“Please let me. It would be the least I can do.” The pleading look in Kelly’s green eyes told Elisa she wouldn’t accept anything less.

“We can talk about that later,” she replied.

Though she’d met the boy on a few occasions, she didn’t really know him that well. He always called her Senorita Cardoso because he’d heard her say something in Portuguese once and mistook it for Spanish. The nickname had been given so innocently, Elisa hadn’t had the heart to correct him. A sweet smile always lit up his green eyes when he addressed her that way.

“Would Tyler be okay with that? He doesn’t know me that well,” Elisa added.

“I’ve already talked to him and he seemed to be pretty excited.” Kelly leaned forward over the table. “Just between you and me, I think he’s sporting a little crush on you. Something about the whole foreign-language thing has him intrigued.”

Ah, youth. A giggle bubbled up in Elisa’s throat. “Maybe I’ll teach him some Portuguese while he’s here. We could have our own secret language.”

“Just don’t teach him any curse words. His dad would kill me.”

Elisa couldn’t help but ask. “Speaking of Tyler’s dad, would he be okay with Tyler being here?”

Kelly leaned back in her chair and lifted her eyes to the ceiling. “Trust me, he’ll be okay with it. The hard part will be talking him into leaving work a little early. He has a habit of disappearing sometimes.”

Was that resentment Elisa heard? Without any information on the man Kelly was once married to, it was difficult to make an assessment. Maybe he was a workaholic who ignored them, and that’s why Kelly divorced him? Or maybe he’d cheated? Kelly was around Elisa’s age, so she could only guess that she’d been young when she’d had Tyler. She could imagine a scenario in which she and Tyler’s father had married out of obligation.

“If you’re sure everyone’s okay with it, I’d be happy to help.” Plus Kelly had come through for Elisa big time when she’d been in a major predicament. About six months ago Elisa’s car had been making a funny noise, which had landed it in the shop. Turns out the thing had needed a major repair, and the mechanic had needed to keep it for three days. Unfortunately they hadn’t had a loaner car, and Elisa had needed transportation to get to a photo shoot for a recurring client. Kelly had swooped in and saved Elisa’s backside by lending her her car. She’d told Elisa to use it for whatever she’d needed. And she’d even driven Elisa back to the mechanic to pick her newly fixed car. For a long time after that, Elisa had tried to think of a way to repay the woman for her generosity. This was her chance.

Kelly’s slim shoulders slumped over in relief. “You are literally saving my life. If you wouldn’t be able to, I’d probably have to withdraw him from school then reenroll him after I got back. Then his dad would really kill me.” The woman turned her wrist over and gave her slender gold watch a glance. “I’m on my way over to talk to him right now. It’ll be fine with him, but if there are any snags I’ll let you know.” Kelly stood from the table and gathered the picture along with her purse. “My plane leaves at six, so I’ll pick Tyler up from school so I can explain things to him, then I’ll drop him off here. Oh, I almost forgot.” She pulled an envelope from her purse and passed it to Elisa. “This is my contact information just in case anything comes up. I also gave you the number for Tyler’s doctor and his dad’s cell phone number.”

Elisa felt for Kelly. It could not have been easy making a decision to put a parent in a retirement home. A lot of children must feel like they were letting their parents down by entertaining the idea of community living. Elisa’s heart went out to the woman.

“There’s just one thing,” Elisa started before Kelly let herself out the door. “There will be afternoons when I might have to go on a photo shoot or just out taking pictures. I just want to make sure it’s okay with you to bring him along. I wouldn’t feel right leaving him here alone.”

Kelly slid her aviator sunglasses over her green eyes. “As long as you don’t mind him tagging along. In fact, it might interest him.” Then, as if on second thought, she reached her arms out and wrapped Elisa in a tight hug. “I really appreciate this,” she whispered in Elisa’s ear. “I don’t know what I would have done.” She stepped back, retrieved a tissue from her pants pocket, and dabbed it beneath her sunglasses. “Sorry. I’ve never been apart from Tyler this long before, and it’s making me crazy.” She waved the wadded-up tissue in the air. “I mean, I know he’s in good hands and everything. I just can’t stand the idea of being three states away from him. Plus I’m so worried about my mom.” She made a mad dash to wipe away some tears that rolled below her sunglasses

“Don’t apologize,” Elisa replied, feeling heartsick for the woman. “I don’t have kids but I can imagine how you feel. Tyler’s dad and I will keep everything under control.” She closed the door after Kelly left. With no work to do, now was the perfect time to place a call to Marcello. He probably wouldn’t answer, but just hearing his voice on the answering machine was enough for her. Just as she was about to pick up the phone, it rang. Again.

With a groan of annoyance, she snatched it off the base and muttered a cheerful hello.

“Did I drag you out of your darkroom?”

The familiar voice on the other end sent a zing of excitement through her. “Professor Harper?”

“What have I told you, young lady?” he scolded in that typical way of his.

She grinned and sank to the couch. “Sorry, Samuel. It’s an old habit.”

“Hey, don’t mention it. Listen, I don’t have a lot of time to talk, so I’ll get to the reason I called. I’ve been offered a job by Time Magazine in Mongolia. They’re doing a piece on the nomadic shepherds who herd through the Mongolian steppes. It’s a huge job that I won’t be able to do on my own. Would you be up for that?”

Would she be up for that? This was only what she’d been waiting for since college. To shoot photographs in countries like Mongolia for Time Magazine was every photographer’s dream. How could she pass up an opportunity like this?

“Of course I’m up for it,” she replied. “When are you supposed to go?”

“Not until the end of summer. I wanted to give you enough time to update your passport, if you need to, and get all the necessary vaccinations. I also wanted to give you time to clear your schedule. The whole piece will take several months to complete. Will you be able to be gone for that long?”