Even Max looked like hell after the night they’d had. Seven in the morning came too fast and too furious for the headache piercing his skull. On top of that, he hadn’t been able to sleep a wink with thoughts of Stephanie dancing in his head. Through the night, he’d remembered her laughter over the phone when Ryan had told stupid stories. Her stress had been insane during her exams, but that guy could just wipe it all way. She’d been so loud that Ryan had held the phone away from his ear and grinned.

Hazy memories had come back from the night after the fire. Her hands had soothed him. And tears had run down her face as he begged her to find Ryan. The fire and concussion, the ability to see his best friend just beyond her shoulder, and whatever drugs they’d pumped him with, all of it had become one seemingly-never-ending nightmare.

“Grimes, what are you doing here?” His deputy chief looked as fresh as ever. Her dark skin shone bright against the sharp white collar of her uniform.

“I have to finish the safety inspection sheets for my firearm, and complete my report on Max’s contribution to the skate park case last night. Did Dallas PD give us anything?”

She nodded. “The file is already on Torres’s desk. Looks like you’re diving straight into the fast track. We’ll throw you a welcome party when you crack this one.”

Smart mouth from the day before laughed a little too loud. “She’s said that to all of us. Don’t hold your breath.”

The DC laughed and tucked her cap under her arm. She came up to him and stared up. “You’ll do no one any good if you ignore sleep. Catch a nap at lunch and pray that the fire junkies keep their noses clean for a few hours.”

“Yes ma’am.”

She eyed Max and shook her head. “What did he get into?”

Grimm licked his lips, and realized Max was still dirty from the night before. “That was from the crime scene.”

“He’s a member of our team, Grimes. He also needs to be neat and orderly. Get him taken care of and checked out. After every crime scene, you need to check in with his veterinarian. A cowboy tends his horse first. He’s your partner until stated otherwise.” She clicked her tongue. “And get him a fresh vest, at least.”

Shame burned through him. He heard sniggering from the investigation side and didn’t have to guess who was laughing at his expense. “Yes, ma’am.” He glanced at Max and stared over the dog. He had soot all over his body. When they got home, both of them had crashed into sleep, and he hadn’t even thought about cleaning up the mess. No wonder everyone had been staring at him as he brought Max upstairs. She was right. His partner needed to be cared for.

“Take him home at lunch and get him clean. I don’t want to see this again.”

“Yes ma’am.” So much for resting at lunch. For either one of them.

She clapped him lightly on the forearm. “If I didn’t say it before, good job last night. Torres told me you were a fantastic team. Keep up the great work.” That quiet compliment restored some of his pride. As she made her way around the room, he noticed that she took the time to connect with each member. She knew who had court hearings that day, and whose family member was sick. The DC was no-nonsense, but seemed to genuinely care about her people. He liked that.

He stared down at Max. The dog slept quietly by Alex’s old desk. “Traitor,” he muttered. He stalked to the coffee pot and poured a cup of liquid dark and thick enough to be considered a syrup. They must have known he was coming.

He sipped. Bitter, harsh, brutal, and perfect for waking his butt up.

First things, first, he needed to call Stephanie and discuss Max. And apologize. The throbbing in his head reinforced the ache in his heart. He’d talked to the woman on the phone countless times when she was just Ryan’s little cousin, the little sister he never had.

He could do this. Calling her and inviting her to dinner wouldn’t be out of the question.

First, he needed to finish his paperwork, then head over to Alex’s house for whatever he had lying around for the dog, and finally head home for a thorough dog washing. In the icy chill of winter. Did you wash a dog in the bathtub? That was a perfect question for Stephanie. And a perfect reason to keep talking to her if things took a turn for the awkward.

If not, maybe he’d invite her to dinner after he and Max overcame their bouts of pneumonia. Did dogs even get pneumonia?

Stephanie was enjoying the quiet ride to work as Keith drove.

“Thanks for letting me borrow your car today. Mine should be out of the shop tomorrow. I hope, anyway.” He glanced her way and gave her a soft smile.

“You’re forgiven this one time since you decided to actually go to the doctor and get that cough checked out.”

Keith coughed slightly and nodded. He pressed his mouth against his shirt to keep the worst of it muffled.

Stephanie’s cell rang and her car automatically connected through her stereo. “Do you mind if I—“

“Not at all, go ahead. It could be an emergency.”

She answered the call. “Hello, this is Dr. Lowe.”

“Hi, Stephanie?” Grimm’s voice came over the line and she immediately regretted not taking the call privately. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry for not recognizing you yesterday—“

Her heart froze in shock. She interrupted him before he could say anything else. “Hey Grimm. I’m in my car with Keith. You guys met before, right?”

“Hey, man. Long time no see.” Keith smirked at Stephanie. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment.

“Hey, Keith. Been a long time.” Did she detect a little disappointment in his voice as well? “I, uh, I know it’s terrible, but the last time I saw you was right after the accident. I don’t remember much.”

No, that couldn’t be disappointment burning through her. Or humiliation. Of course, their conversations were shared through Ryan, so what did she expect? She couldn’t remember a time when they’d actually talked on the phone like this.

She stared out the window at the scenery passing by. “It’s okay, Grimm. I didn’t take it personally.” She nailed the perfectly calm response that time.

Keith touched her hand and she glanced down. She noticed with a start that his bracelet was missing. Her fingernail tapped his wrist and he jerked away with a shrug.

Grimm cleared his throat. “No, I need to make it up to you. Let me take you to dinner. Both of you.”

“Sounds good, Gideon. This weekend would be the perfect chance to catch up on how you’ve been these past two years.”

Keith’s voice was tense and she could hear how much the extended conversation was stressing his lungs at the moment. “How’s Max doing?”

“Actually, I need to bring him by or check in with you or something. My deputy chief told me I have to connect with you every time Max is in the field.”

“Oh, sure. Bring him by later today, and I’ll be happy to look at him.” It didn’t take much to admit how she was looking forward to seeing him again. Him, and Max.

“I’ll try, if he doesn’t drown me first. I have to give him a bath. We hit a crime scene last night, and he got pretty dirty.” Grimm’s voice was a lot lighter than the way he’d spoken yesterday.

“Was it anywhere we know?”

“Probably not anywhere you’d visit, but he had an awesome night. I just need to get him bathed before I can come back to the office.”

“You sound upset about that.” Keith coughed into his sleeve again.

“I’ve never had a dog before, man. Not as an adult anyway. I’ve got a ton of paperwork to do this morning. Torres told me most of Max’s stuff is still at Alex’s place, so I’ll be heading over there and then to lunch. Hopefully he has some dog shampoo or something.”

Stephanie couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her lips.

“Are you laughing at me? I’m seriously in duress here.” Grimm sounded anything but his regular grim and serious self.

“It’s not that bad. Watch some videos and you’ll figure it out.”

“I thought veterinarians were sympathetic.”

Her laugh escaped at full intensity. She covered her mouth, but it was too late. A glance at Keith’s face told her that her brother seemed focused.

“That’s the laugh I remember.” The laugh died almost instantly at the softness in Grimm’s voice. He was her college-girl crush. And it seemed even worse than before.

“I’ve got an idea.” Keith concentrated on a tricky turn for a moment, then continued. “Why don’t you go to, what’s his name, Alex’s place?”

Stephanie nodded.

“Yeah, Max’s former owner.”

“Head over there, pick up whatever you can, and then come back and take my sister out to lunch.”

“Keith!” She stared at her brother as though he’d grown an extra head. He never encouraged her to go out. With anyone. That didn’t stop the spark of excitement from lighting inside her.

“No, it’s a great idea. My sister has nagged me into going to the doctor, so the least she could do is suffer the wrath of a giant dog bath.”

“Are you sure?” Grimm asked.

“Yeah, man. I was worried anyway, since these doctors appointments can last a lifetime. I didn’t want to leave her stranded, so if you could bring her home, too, that would be great.”

“Sure. Do you want to help me with the monster dog?” Grimm sounded relieved, and maybe a little hopeful.

“Sounds good. I’ll direct, though. I’m not washing him.”

“We’ll negotiate.”

“Like hell we will,” she started to laugh again.

“Just take care of her better than you did Ryan.”

Icy shock hit Stephanie instantly. Then anger rolled right in. “Keith!”

Keith’s eyes widened. “Sorry, that’s not what I meant. I was talking about all the practical jokes you used to play on each other.”

“It’s cool.” The defeated tone of Grimm’s voice tore at Stephanie.

“I get off work today at one. It’s a short day and I’m not the doc on call this weekend.”

“I’ll swing by the vet clinic and pick you up as soon as I grab Max’s things.” He hesitated a moment more. “Thanks for helping me, Stephanie.”

His thanks warmed the chill away, and for a moment, it was almost like those crazy days and nights while she crammed for one test after another. Just normal. Like it was before Ryan had been taken from them.

“No problem. Try not to get him into any trouble in the meantime.”

“Hey—“

“See you later.” She hung up before he could counter her insult.

The moment silence fell, she glanced over at Keith.

“I can feel your disproval from there. The joke sucked. I didn’t think about what I was saying.”

“Do you really feel that way?”

“Yeah, I think he’ll play practical jokes on you every chance he gets.”

Stephanie tapped her fingernails on the armrest. “Do you blame Grimm for Ryan’s death.”

“No.” He pulled into the front of her vet clinic and put the car in park. “No more than I blame myself, I guess. Ryan always looked out for us, for all of us. And then he wasn’t there anymore.”

She squeezed his arm gently. “Grimm became an arson investigator to find out who killed Ryan and all those people in the apartment fire.”

Keith searched her gaze with his own, piercing her in her spot with its intensity. “How do you know this?”

“The station chief gave me a call. I haven’t heard anything since then.”

“Giddy found a lead? I’ve been searching for two years, and he found one? How long have you known?”

She hated the way he used that nickname. Stephanie shrugged off his question, suddenly realizing she’d kept it from him for a while. “Not long, I guess. He found a witness at the apartment across the street. Some kid who saw someone making the fire. I don’t know any more than that.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” His voice rose and the words ended in a powerful cough that racked his frame.

“Because of this.” She touched his back and he shrugged her off. “You blame yourself too much for his death, Keith. This wasn’t your fault, and you getting worked up about it right now is only going to make the coughing worse.”

He waved her off and breathed carefully and slowly as the coughing subsided. “Quit nagging and get inside before the dragon lady yells at me for making you late.”

“Fine. And she’s not a dragon. She’s just a schedule junkie.”

Stephanie climbed out of the car and grabbed her purse. She leaned down to look at her brother. The pallor in his face had lessened slightly. “Why don’t you come in and rest a bit.”

“And get nagged at by the nurse at the doctor’s office? No thanks.” He blew her kiss. “Get out of here and let me get poked and prodded on my own. Have fun at lunch.”

“Will do. Call me when you get out of the hospital.” She shut the door before he could tell her no and then watched him pull away. She climbed up the stairs and wished that she had something nice to change into at the clinic. Not that their lunch was really a date, anyway. They were going to bathe a dog.

But still.

Her gaze wandered back to the street and the departing taillights of her car. Maybe Grimm would be willing to stop by one of the drug supply stores or pharmacies so she could get Keith a new COPD alert bracelet.

And maybe extend their lunch a little longer.