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“Can Wally stay for breakfast? Please, Ma.”

Wally’s gaze darted between them, taking in her hesitancy. “Nah, that’s okay, Theodore. I don’t think your dad would like that.”

Sadie’s heart stammered behind her ribs.

“My dad is d—”

“Mr. Doyle has important business. He can’t be wasting any time with us, Teddy. He has a village to save or some such. Isn’t that right, Mr. Doyle?”

Wally frowned. “Something like that. But I did come back here for a reason, Mrs., er, Sadie. I picked up a signal from my missing thingamabob and it was coming from this direction.”

“A signal?” Sadie furrowed her brow as she parted her wet hair and began to braid it. “You mean it talks to you?”

“Well, in a manner of speaking,” Wally said, standing on long legs. She couldn’t help but notice how nicely he filled out his jeans.

Giving him serious side-eye, she moved to the kitchen to start working on the food. “I told you it wasn’t here. It must’ve been a mistake,” she said firmly.

“That’s not likely, Ma’am,” he said, trailing her around like a dog. The man was more stubborn than Darcy.

“Well, then that’s a problem, Mr. Doyle, because I’ve been more than kind in letting you wander around my property, and you abused that kindness by coming uninvited into my home.” She turned, a frying pan held menacingly in her hand as she stepped up to his chest.

“He didn’t come in uninvited,” Teddy said, standing at the side of the wooden table. “I let him in, Ma. Did you know Wally’s an inventor like me?”

Sadie pressed her eyes closed. This was everything she’d been afraid of for two years. But she couldn’t deny Teddy. She never could.

“Mr. Doyle.” His name came out like a sigh.

“Call me Wally,” he said in a soft voice that made her open her eyes and look at him.

He was so close she could smell his fresh yet foreign scent. Was that what Washington smelled like? Fresh mint and something she couldn’t put a name on filled her senses. She nearly forgot what she’d been saying.

“Wally then, you aren’t welcome here.”

“Why not, Ma?” Teddy asked. “Wally showed me some nifty tricks to help with the clock I’ve been working on.”

“You have a smart kid there,” Wally said, an awkward yet endearing smile hanging on his lips.

Sadie returned to fixing the food. She needed to keep busy or risk screaming at this strange man. Still, as she busied her hands with the familiar work, heat filled her cheeks, this time out of frustration instead of embarrassment. She’d been polite and clear. Maybe she ought to give him the metal thing and be done with it.

“Lord, that smells divine,” Wally said.

Sadie turned, ready to be honest about the odd device she found, when she realized he was back at the table with Teddy, bent over whatever contraption currently held his fascination. She bit her tongue when she spotted Teddy, wide-eyed, lit from within, and smiling bigger than she’d seen him do since his father had passed away.

“I hope you like it,” she said, making up her mind in that moment to keep her little secret. After all, what could it hurt to keep him around for a while?