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He’d love it especially if his best friend came along.
“Please, Mom,” Bryce said. “You can talk Dad into it.”
“I’ll try,” she said.
“Great!” His blue eyes lit up. “I can’t wait to get out of this damned town.”
“Bryce!” Evie admonished.
“Sorry,” he mumbled.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said to her. “I gave up trying to keep my boys from using those words years ago. Brad talks like a sailor most of the time.”
“So does Tom, but I do what I can.”
“I figure there’s more to worry about, you know? I’m raising good, decent young men who know right from wrong and who have amazing work ethics. What do a few words matter? Of course they know if they say them at school, they have to deal with whatever punishment their teachers decide on.”
I firmly believed that. Brad was a good father when he was around. He’d had the boys working on the ranch as soon as they could walk and talk, but he also taught them to value time with family.
A value he himself sometimes had issues with.
But at least he was teaching our sons how to be the man he tried to be.
I patted my pregnant belly absently. Our daughter. I’d been right about Jonah and Talon. Unfortunately, I didn’t remember Ryan’s pregnancy at all, but I’d bet I knew it was a boy.
And this one?
This was a girl. Not a doubt in my mind.
A girl that might have a rough start.
My skin chilled. Where had that thought come from?
All of my babies had been healthy as horses so far. No reason why this one would be any different. I was thirty-one years old, still a young woman.
“Dad’ll let me go, right?” Bryce interrupted.
“We’ll see,” Evie said. “Why don’t the two of you go play?”
“Play? We’re not kids, Mom.”
“Then…hang out, or whatever it is you do. I want to talk to Daphne about a few things.”
“That’s a cue,” Joe said. “They’re going to talk about boring mom stuff.”
“That’s right,” I said. “Boring mom stuff.”
The two preteens ambled into the house, most likely into Jonah’s room, where they’d either read comic books or talk about girls. Probably a little of both.
“What do you want to talk about?” I asked Evie.
She sighed. “You know my sister, Victoria Walker?”
“Sure. I mean, not personally, but I know of her.”
“She has a son. He’s Talon’s age. His name is Luke.”
“Oh. Talon’s never mentioned him.”
“They’re probably not friends. I don’t know. Luke is… Well, he’s been having some trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“I hesitated to bring this up, since it’s summer break and all, but school will be back in session before we know it. Luke is having trouble with some bullies.”
“Oh. I’m so sorry.”
“I’m worried. Remember what happened to that last little boy who was being bullied.”
“The boy who drowned?”
She nodded. “Tom has never gotten over that. It haunts him, Daphne.”
“I can imagine.”
“Luckily, his parents never blamed Tom. But that horrible time has been going through my mind since Vicki told me about Luke and his problems.”
“What happened to Justin was an accident,” I said. “There’s no reason to worry about Luke.”
“I just thought…”
“What?”
“Do you think you might…ask Talon to have Luke over or something?”
“I don’t know, Evie. I appreciate that he’s your nephew and all, but I don’t tell my kids who to be friends with.”
“I know. I don’t either. I’m just so worried about Luke. Vicki’s distraught. There’s nothing worse than knowing your child is in pain.”
I nodded. “You’re absolutely right. I’ll ask Talon if he knows Luke and wants to invite him over.”
“You will? Thank you so much!”
I smiled.
I had a soft spot in my heart for anyone who was bullied. It was a horrible thing, and I’d gone through it myself.
Though I didn’t remember it, so I didn’t talk about it.
Apparently I’d ended up in a depression—which led to my hospitalization my junior year of high school—because I’d been bullied by two girls.
That all seemed so long ago now.
“I’ll give you Vicki’s number before I leave,” Evie was saying. “This will mean so much to her. And to Luke.”
“I can’t make any promises,” I said, “but I’ll do what I can.”
“That’s all I can ask. Luke is so shy, and he’s kind of small for his age. He’s going through an awkward stage. He has a terrible overbite, and Chase and Vicki can’t afford orthodontia right now. I’ve told them I’d be happy to help financially, but they won’t hear of it.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Nothing I can do if they won’t let me help. Tom is even on board. He really loves that kid.”
Tom did seem to be a good father. I’d been grateful he took such an interest in Jonah when he was younger, taking him on all his father-son camping trips with Bryce. Jonah was upset when Brad stopped letting him go after that poor little boy had drowned, but I backed Brad up. Though Tom wasn’t at fault for what had happened, I couldn’t bear the thought of losing any of my boys.
