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wildly tempting. But she and Luc had plans to go apple-picking on Boston's North Shore on Saturday. She couldn't cancel on him to go off with another guy, could she? No.
    “I'm afraid I already have plans for Saturday.”
    “I understand, of course. Sorry to pull you out of class. We must have a do-over dinner. I insist.” Xander ducked in to give her a light kiss on each cheek, turned smoothly, and headed toward his office.
    She wandered back to Jasna's pod and found her student tapping away on Iris' laptop. Had she left the thing turned on with her password entered and everything?
    Jasna looked up and smiled. “I hope you don't mind. I found the photos of the Japanese courtyard building you were looking for.”
    Iris tried to refocus her attention on Jasna's project but her mind kept trying to parse the meaning of Xander's invitation. Maybe it was time to mention to him that she had a boyfriend.

CHAPTER NINE
    J asna squinted into the afternoon sun as she waited on the stoop of the tired old apartment building where she'd lived for the last year and a half. When she saw the slight form of the cyclist approaching, she stood up and waved.
    Twenty minutes later, in the safety of her kitchen, Jasna poured fragrant orange tea from a copper pot into a pair of small ceramic cups. Lara perched on her chair, silent.
    Jasna looked at the girl encouragingly. “You said you needed to ask me something?”
    The girl stared into her tea cup as she spoke. “Tata's mad that I won't wear a hijab to school. He says I have to honor my heritage.”
    Jasna stirred some honey into her tea then asked, “Why don't you want to wear one?”
    Lara looked at her wide-eyed. “Are you kidding? And be pointed out as 'the Arab kid'? Sure, my school has other non-Catholic students, but I don't want everyone to look at me like a weirdo.” Lara looked down at the floor. “But there's something worse. Now he's saying he's going to send me back to Bosnia this summer, after I turn thirteen, to marry some guy from his village—a guy as old as him.”
    Jasna slid her chair closer. “Damn,” she said under her breath.
    Tears leaked from Lara's eyes. “Do you believe it? He said that's the only way I can stay unsullied. He said that was how old my mother was when they married.”
    The girl looked at Jasna with desperation. “I have to run away. I can cook. I'll go to California and he'll never find me. But I need some money. If you could lend me something to take the bus to California I would pay you back when I get a job as a cook. I promise I'll send you the money.”
    Jasna covered Lara's hands with her fingers. “We'll figure something out.”
    “Tata says he'll kill me if I tell anyone about this. It will disgrace the family. I'm supposed to follow the path that Allah set out for women. But I'll kill myself if he makes me do this!”
    “No you won't. Let me ask you, if you did disappear, how hard would he look for you?”
    “Very hard. The man in Bosnia is going to give him a lot of money for me. Tata says I must repay him for feeding me and giving me a place to live. He has lots of friends in Watertown and they would help him hunt me down. That's why I have to go to California. I need to be far away.”
    Jasna nodded. “Would he go to the police to tell them you're missing?”
    “I don't know. He doesn't trust the police.” Lara rubbed her finger along the scarred edge of the wooden table. “He might, though.” She looked past Jasna to the microwave's clock and rose. “I should go. I skipped chess club and he'll be expecting me.”
    Jasna rested a hand on Lara's shoulder. “Hang on. Let me think about this for a minute.” She got up and stared out the window at nothing. She thought about the plans she'd been making for the last six months and how this development would complicate everything.
    After fifteen minutes Jasna returned to the table, far calmer than she had any reason to be. “I will help you Lara, but I need to explain