Page 63 of Alec’s Dream

“Oh yeah. I was so bummed when I ran out of the jam.” I nodded.

“That was Kennedy’s.”

“Oh my God. I totally forgot, yes, now I remember. The jam was so good, best I ever had as a matter of fact. And the honey is so sweet.”

Kennedy beamed and a sweet blush hit her cheeks. Man, the woman was so pretty—long golden hair that was enough to give a girl a complex. She was the perfect light to Jameson’s dark. And not just their coloring. Jameson was broody, watchful, but Kennedy was bright and cheerful.

“You can come over anytime. I’ll show you my hives and of course I always have extra jars of jam around. We live right behind Alec. As a matter of fact, our properties meet. We talked Alec into getting a four-wheeler and he and Jameson cleared a path between the two houses. Next time you’re over at his place, give me a call.” My eyes must’ve given away how uncomfortable I was feeling because she rushed to continue. “I mean, if you want to.”

Yes, I wanted to go to Kennedy’s and see her beehives and I really wanted to get another jar of jam, but I didn’t think there’d be a next time. I had no intention of going to Alec’s house ever again.

“I bet Rory and Caleb would like to check out your set-up and meet Tank, too,” Alec cut in.

“Yes! We have a German Shepherd puppy,” Kennedy explained, then turned to Caleb. “Do you like dogs?”

That was an understatement. My son loved animals and had been begging me to get a dog for years. But things were tight enough already without another mouth to feed, not to mention all the added responsibility.

“Yeah, German Shepherds are my favorite,” Caleb shared. “My friend’s Doberman had puppies a while ago but mom said we couldn’t get a dog.”

Shit, that stung and it was a little embarrassing he’d tell strangers I’d denied him something he wanted.

“Dogs are a lot of work,” Alec put in smoothly. “Especially puppies.”

“Alec’s right. I work from home so I can keep an eye on him all the time and Tank still finds time to chew all of our shoes.” Kennedy smiled at Caleb. “If it’s all right with your mom, you can come over and run around with Tank all you like. You’d be doing me a favor if you could wear him out.”

Caleb’s eyes swung to me and I knew what he was going to ask. Part of me was happy to see my son’s face light up, especially after such a shit day, but I didn’t want to get entangled with Alec’s friends.

“Can we go over, Mom?”

“Sure. We’ll work out a time.” I feigned happiness even though I dreaded the visit. Not because Kennedy wasn’t perfectly lovely and friendly, because she was.

But a visit to Kennedy’s would draw us into Alec’s crew. I reminded myself Kennedy was Becky’s friend, too, and it made me feel a little better.

“Awesome. Rory!” Caleb shouted and Jocelyn who’d fallen asleep on my shoulder startled. “Oops, sorry,” Caleb whispered and pushed himself away from the table, no doubt to go tell his sister we were going to Kennedy’s where they’d get to play with a puppy called Tank. The dog would be adorable of course, which would lead to Caleb begging me to buy one.

Which would mean I’d have to break my kid’s heart—again—when I told him no.

Fucking Doug!

I was blaming that on him, too. Me not being able to afford to get my son something he really wanted because his father couldn’t be bothered to help out financially. Not that the jerk had the money. Not with him gambling away his paychecks and going twenty-thousand dollars in debt. Which further reminded me, the first payment had been taken out on my face.

“I’m sorry,” Kennedy whispered.

“For what?”

“I have a big mouth. I didn’t think to talk to you in private before inviting you over. I didn’t—”

“You don’t need to apologize.” I waved away her concern. “Caleb loves dogs. Like he said, he’s been asking for a long time but I can’t afford it.”

“You could get one from the shelter,” Alec suggested.

“Really? I can? Doesn’t solve the problem of having to buy food for an animal when I can barely afford to feed my kids,” I snapped.

I heard Becky gasp and I closed my eyes. Damn. Not only was that incredibly rude but I was humiliated to admit that. Forget I did it in front of two strangers. Becky knew I was struggling to stay afloat and I was sure she didn’t keep that from Rob, but it wasn’t something we talked about.

“Macy—”

“No.” I opened my eyes to find Alec staring at me. Not with pity, not even with concern. He looked pissed, and of course he would be after I bit his head off. “That was… I don’t even know what that was. I’m sorry Alec, I was out of line. I shouldn’t have said that.”