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She nodded, her face still buried against his chest. Joel felt a bit of moisture seep through the cotton. She was crying. Strangely, he wasn’t sorry about that. He’d spent too much of his life trying to make sure he never gave her a reason for tears. Truth was she’d always been sad, and he suspected she needed a good cry. She had probably held this one in for thirty-plus years.

He gently rocked her as she worked to pull herself together. Then she took a step away, the moment gone as his mother and her strict, stoic countenance was back in place.

“I’ll try, Joel. I will.”

He smiled. “Can I ask for one more thing?”

She nodded.

“Can you try to be nicer to Oakley? You scare the poor guy.”

To his surprise—hell, to his outright amazement—his mother laughed. Loudly. Joel was so entranced by the sound he simply stood and watched her.

Once she’d regained control, she turned to open her car door. “I’m leaving.”

“Is that a no?” Joel asked, relieved by the turn the conversation had taken. He’d had several weeks to fret over his budding feelings for Oakley and his mother’s reaction. As so often happens, the reality of it was nowhere near as bad as his fears.

“That’s a no,” she said as she climbed in her car. “That boy needs a little fear to keep him honest.”

As she closed the car door and started the engine, Joel began to laugh as well.

His mother was right.

Oakley did.

Sadie stepped out of the office and hitched her purse up on her arm. She’d left the bar last night with nothing more than her house keys, allowing Joel and Oakley to drive her home. It wasn’t as if she could have driven her motorcycle home in a ripped shirt with no buttons. She might have a wild streak, but that didn’t include flashing her tits to the whole town.

“Hot date, Sadie?” one of the patrons asked, clearly taking notice of her dressy outfit and makeup.

“Maybe. Maybe not,” she said nonchalantly. “Why? You jealous, Teddy?” She hoped the question would turn the attention away from her as she wasn’t about to feed the rumor mill. It worked. Teddy’s drinking buddies started teasing him about his interest in Sadie as she kept walking. So far she’d managed to avoid her dad who was in the back alley, pulling in boxes from a delivery truck. She wanted that lucky break to continue.

Sadie had almost made it to the door when Jenna Mitchum walked in, her five-year-old in tow and an infant in her arms.

Sadie raised her hands to stop her. “Hey, Jenna. I’m not so sure this is a good place for?—”

Before Sadie could say “kids,” Jenna had thrust the baby into her arms.

“Please, Sadie. Can you watch them for just a second? I have a bone to pick with my husband. He was supposed to be home two hours ago.”

Sadie glanced over her shoulder and caught sight of the back of Russell Mitchum, bent over the pool table, lining up a shot. Russ wasn’t a bad guy overall. He just wasn’t the most responsible dad…or particularly bright.

“Um…” Sadie had wanted to say no, but Jenna didn’t give her the chance as she left the baby and her young son, Billy, in her care.

Sadie looked around, hoping to find someone else to pawn off this task on. She had zero experience with kids and, as such, they sort of terrified her.

“You got any ice cream?” Billy asked.

Sadie shook her head, and then she was distracted by the raised voices coming from the back of the bar. Billy noticed as well. Sadie didn’t want the kid to see his parents fighting, so she grasped his hand and said, “Let’s go outside. Sometimes the ice cream truck drives by here.”

It was a lie, but the boy believed her just the same. They walked outside the door and claimed the bench set up there for the smokers. No one else was around.

Billy’s feet swung madly as he glanced up and down the street hopefully for a treat that was never going to come. Sadie felt bad, but figured not getting ice cream would be less traumatic than listening to his parents screaming at each other.

The baby stirred in her arms and, for the first time, Sadie was forced to turn her attention to the tiny little thing. She did some quick math and figured the infant couldn’t be more than two months old. “Boy or girl?” she asked Billy, unable to recall.

“That’s my sister, Jane. You can tell she’s a girl on account she doesn’t have a dinky.”

Sadie tried not to grin, though she decided right then, there were definitely worse things Oakley could call his penis than Woody.