"You have every right to be angry," he said, but then he turned back to me and the faint hint I'd had of his usual reticence was gone. "I'll make it up to you. I'm sorry I disappeared. I'm glad you came up to Chicago." He gave me a wide, engaging grin, so unlike anything I'd ever seen from Lucas that I found myself grinning back. "Did Marjorie -- "

"Christopher!" Marjorie shouted from behind me, interrupting. I turned to look her way. "Stop harassing my staff!"

"But I need a book!" I shouted back, well-aware that everyone in the store was staring at us. Enjoying it, actually.

"You need your ears boxed, come over here," she ordered.

I raised an eyebrow at Lucas and crossed the floor, bending to hug her before dropping into the chair next to her desk. Lucas leaned against the side, beaming at both of us.

"You, layabout, back to work," she said, and he shot her an indulgent look.

"Find me before you leave," he said to me, and wandered off to interrupt a pair of students browsing the history textbooks.

"This is a nice surprise," Marjorie continued, offering me her half-finished crossword puzzle. "Forty-five across. You never tell me when you're coming to town."

"Mm," I said, writing in the answer and handing it back. "I didn't want you fussing over me at the hospital. Next time I'll give you a warning."

"Oh -- how did that go?" she asked.

"Pretty well. I think I baffled them," I said with a grin. "And you, Marj, you're in trouble."

"For what!" she asked, indignant already.

"You didn't tell me Lucas was here."

"Well, I did tell you to come see me," she said. "He didn't seem like he wanted you to know, and it's not my business I'm sure."

"Everything's your business. That's why we get along so well," I scolded.

"Besides, it was good to give him some settling-in time," she continued, ignoring me.

"How long's he been here, Marj?"

"A little over a week. Showed up here with a change of clothes and a box of masks. I'm given to understand some of your Travelers dropped him off."

"Good people."

"No doubt. You can ask him where they took him before he stepped off in Chicago; he hasn't told me much about it. He traded on his friendship with you and coerced me into hiring him."

I laughed. "Another protégé? You're starting a collection."

" I needed an assistant. I can't run this place on my own forever, and you won't come back, so. Someone's got to show you youngsters how it's done. He's a good boy, Christopher," she told me, as if I weren't aware of the fact. "Much more charming when he's not recently out of the hospital. Besides, I thought someone ought to keep an eye on him."

"I'm glad he found you again."

"So am I, he's very useful. All the patrons adore him."

"Has he seen his parents?" I asked. She frowned.

"I'm not his keeper, Christopher. Ask him."

"I plan to. In fact, I'm about to take him to dinner, I think. Do you mind?"

"If you can tear him away," she said, tipping her head at Lucas. He was leaning over someone's shoulder at one of the desks at the front of the shop, pointing out a passage in a book.

"Lucas," I called. People all over the shop turned to look my way, but I was only watching Lucas, whose head shot up. I felt a little smug when he smiled at the customer he was helping and excused himself.

"Had your gossip?" he asked, cheerfully.

"Just a bit," I said. "How's Gwen?"

He ducked his head a little – that was more like the Lucas I knew. "She's fine. They all say hello."

"Good," I said, standing up. "Come on, Marjorie's giving you the evening off."

He looked to her for confirmation, then turned and followed me towards the door. Chicago was chilly, but not quite heavy-coat weather; he took his old tan jacket off a hook near the door of the shop and shrugged into it as we stepped outside.

"Where are we going?" he asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Dinner," I said. "Know anywhere good around here?"

"Yeah, this way." He guided me down the street and then north along the park, a wide stretch of greenbelt that skirts Lake Michigan from the near south all the way up through downtown. There were joggers and tourists out, people walking their dogs, and plenty of children playing near the weathered old circle of Buckingham Fountain. He turned east when we reached the fountain's plaza and I shot him a questioning look but he just kept walking, nodding at a hot-dog vendor in the corner.

"I did tell you I was paying, didn't I?" I said, as we made our way to the greasy little stand.

"I like it here," he answered. "Two, everything," he told the man behind the cart, and I passed over a ridiculous amount of money for two hot dogs.