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Brad stared him down.Whatever.Lukas stared right back. He wasn’t a poor kid anymore with a bad job and no prospects, and he would never again allow anyone to make him feel like he was. Brad seemed to have taken up right where they’d left off six years ago. He was the dog chomping on the rope toy for dear life and not about to let go.

Well, too bad. Sam was a big girl, capable of making her own choices. And maybe it was time her family saw it. Were they all really so in love with that Harris guy? How could such an obvious phony have pulled the wool so completely over everyone’s eyes?

“Hey you all,” Alex called from the back deck. “Less beer drinking and more kid watching, okay?” Two of the kids were getting into it with each other and little Sophie had fallen in the grass and was crying. Chagrined, the men did as told. Lukas wandered over to the swing set, in earshot of where Stevie was sitting on a railroad tie talking to a boy around his age. They were both eating red Popsicles. Lukas stayed back far enough that he could listen but not be seen.

“Where’s your mommy and daddy?” the boy asked. Lukas thought he might be one of Alex’s six-year-old twins. Popsicle juice dripped down Stevie’s chin and all over the front of his good shirt. And onto his balled-up blanket, which was between his feet. TheGQfor Cuties look had lasted all of five minutes.

Stevie kept sucking on the Popsicle.

“Don’t you have any?” the boy persisted. Definitely one of Alex’s.

A cute little red-haired girl, older than Stevie by a year or two, in a green dotted dress and pigtails walked up to the two kids. “Back off, Daniel,” she said to the boy. “It’s okay,” she said, taking Stevie’s hand. “I’m ’dopted too.”

“What’s ’dopted?” Stevie asked.

“My mommy says it’s something that when kids don’t have their regular parents, some other people want them so bad they get them adopted.”

“Where are your parents?” Stevie asked.

“They had to go to heaven early. How about yours?”

Stevie shrugged. “My mom died and my dad couldn’t take care of me so he left me with my Uncle Lukas for a little while.”

“Is he going to adopt you?”

Lukas stepped forward ready to say, yeah, of course he was. As fast as yesterday, if he had his way.

“He can’t ’cause my dad’s coming back for me,” Stevie said.

Oh, shit. Lukas’s blood ran North Pole cold. He’d had no idea Stevie was waiting. Of course he was! It explained the backpack, all ready to go. The toothbrush that always got tucked back in. The clothes that never made it into drawers.

Lukas himself had said nothing to Stevie about their arrangement—Stevie hadn’t asked and he’d assumed ...

Well, he’d assumed nothing. Because he hadn’t had the slightest idea how to even bring up the discussion.Hey, kid, your dad’s too effed up to take care of you, so you’re stuck with me now, like, forever. That okay?

Lukas didn’t know how to talk to a five year old about life-shattering events. But he did know one thing. He wanted to give him everything. A home, cool toys, friends. The world. Because he loved him. He didn’t want anything to hurt him, especially the news that his dad was in all likelihood never coming back.

Lukas felt a sudden hand on his arm. “The clown is drunk,” Sam said, a knife blade of urgency cutting her voice.

Lukas laughed. “Oh, this is going to be good.”

“Bring on the show,” Tom said, rubbing his hands together.

“Now things are getting interesting,” Brad said.

Sam’s voice rose an octave. “You guys don’t understand. He showed up drunk and right now Alex and Olivia are trying to sober him up with coffee.”

“That’s urban legend,” Ben said. “Coffee can’t really sober you up. The alcohol has to be metabolized out of the system.”

“Thanks, like I didn’t know that.” Sam rolled her eyes. “The point is we need a replacement. Now which one of you is going to step up?”

“I’m too tall for the clown suit,” Ben said, holding his hands up in defense. “Besides, I’m on call today.”

“Great excuse,” Brad said, holding his hand up for a high-five.

Tom’s way of getting out of it was to start walking away. “I’ve got to go make sure he’s not harassing the women. And other things like cite the guy for showing up drunk and make sure he doesn’t drive himself home. Excuse me.”

Sam crossed her arms. “Okay. Ireallyneed someone to juggle, do magic, paint faces, and make balloon animals.”

“Sorry, sweetheart,” Brad said, holding up his hands in defense. “Not in my skill set.”

“I’ll do it.” The words were out of Lukas’s mouth before he could stop them. Which he totally should have if he had any sense at all. “If Sam agrees to be my assistant,” he added. He might as well get something good out of it for all the humiliation.

Sam gasped.

“You can juggle?” Tom asked. The bros eyeballed Lukas incredulously.

He shrugged, keeping it cool. “I can do those things.” Because that’s the kind of stuff you learn when you were basically forced to do any job you can grab from age thirteen on to avoid starvation. You got skilled in weird shit.

Sam smiled and, for a second, he was super glad he’d spoken up to save the day. Until she grabbed his arm and started dragging him across the yard to the kitchen. There, next to the giant island covered with food, the three sisters-in-law were gathered around a bald guy with a white face and smeary red lips. He was sitting slumped on a wooden chair snoring. Olivia held an oversized horn, Meg a giant red shoe, and Alex a purple wig. On seeing him, Alex seized his arm and grinned broadly. “Right this way, Lukas. Right this way.”