To Trust a Friend. Lynn Bulock

to see why Kyra did things like take these kids to a show. It didn’t take all that much to make them happy, and watching them smile lifted his spirits as well.

      Once they had their snacks, Kyra ushered everybody into the theater, putting the girls in a short row on the left side of the theater, sitting next to them herself and leaving Josh the end seat. “Tricky,” he murmured as they settled in. “This way nobody gets out without you knowing about it.”

      “That’s the idea. We can all have a good time without me having to ride herd on the girls all afternoon. They’re pretty good kids for the most part, and I want to give them as many chances to succeed as I can.”

      “I like your attitude,” Josh told her. “I wish…more people I know felt that way.” He hoped Kyra didn’t catch his hesitation; he had almost said he wished that his own mother had felt that way. That was water under the bridge, though. No sense having Kyra feel sorry for him.

      After several previews the movie finally started, and Josh found himself actually enjoying it. Animation had improved a great deal since he’d seen a movie like this. A few minutes into the movie he was surprised to feel Kyra’s head resting on his shoulder. At first he didn’t look over toward her, wondering what she was doing. This was his boss; it was hard to think that she was relaxing by leaning on his shoulder. He had to admit that it felt good, though.

      Kyra still leaned against him and there was a weight to her as if she was very relaxed. The scent of her shampoo drifted over him, herbal and warm. When he turned his head a little, Joshua’s bubble was burst. Kyra’s eyes were closed and she was breathing softly, clearly having dozed off. Jasmine, sitting next to her, looked over at Kyra and smiled briefly at Josh, mouthing “Don’t wake her up” to him.

      It wasn’t often that he took advice from a fifteen-year-old, but this time Josh decided she was right. Kyra had been pushing herself incredibly hard in her quest to identify the skeletons in the lab. With her dozing on his shoulder, Josh felt a strong desire to protect her, take care of her and let her sleep. He slowly eased himself back in the seat to put her in the best position possible, settling in to watch the movie and listen to her soft, regular breathing.

      

      “I can’t believe you let me sleep through the movie,” Kyra said, still trying to clear her head half an hour after the lights came up in the theater. She felt so embarrassed that she could hardly talk. What was worse—that she’d failed to supervise the girls, or that she’d spent more than an hour sleeping soundly and comfortably while leaning against Josh? He didn’t seem to be upset over the incident, and in fact was still grinning slightly as they sat with the girls around a table in the food court eating frozen yogurt.

      “You’ve been working so hard you need the rest,” he said. “And I woke you up before the lights came back on, didn’t I?”

      “Yes, but you should have woken me up once you realized I was asleep. You shouldn’t have had to be in charge.”

      “Hey, I did a good job. Nobody got lost, or had too much popcorn or got in trouble. I think it was a good afternoon. And we all enjoyed the movie, too.”

      Kyra felt prickles of irritation. Why couldn’t he agree with her? She hadn’t fulfilled her responsibility and she’d fallen asleep on his shoulder. She looked hard at Josh’s shirt. Hopefully she hadn’t drooled on him while she slept. That was the only thing she could think of that would make the situation more embarrassing.

      She looked at Josh and noticed he was smiling. “What?” It almost felt as if he could read her mind.

      “You’re letting your yogurt melt,” he said, still grinning a little. “Should I have gotten you coffee instead?”

      Kyra shook her head and looked down at her chocolate frozen yogurt. It was hard to stay upset with somebody who was being that solicitous of her feelings. “No, I’m good. I still think you let me sleep way too long.”

      He reached over and patted her arm. “Really, don’t worry about it. Isn’t this supposed to be your day of rest, anyway?”

      Kyra wasn’t sure whether to be glad that Josh understood that much about her faith, or concerned that he didn’t quite get the whole concept. The girls were probably listening to them, so she tried to come up with an answer that would benefit them as well.

      “Yes, but it doesn’t mean napping when I’m supposed to be doing something else. The Sabbath is supposed to be spent doing things that give glory to God, and rest and renewal to me. I can actually see how taking the kids to a movie and out for frozen yogurt does that, but drooling on your shoulder, not so much.”

      “Now, you didn’t drool. Not at all.”

      Well, that was a relief, Kyra thought. She knew Josh was honest, and if he said she didn’t drool, then it was true. A giggle bordering on a shriek from the adjoining table drew her attention away from Josh. Ashley must have said something that tickled the other two, and they were getting fairly loud. “Let’s turn down the volume just a little,” Kyra told them. Ashley nodded and Jasmine and Marta busied themselves with their root beer floats.