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“It’s been six years. A couple more days isn’t going to make any difference.”
J.T. leaned back on the couch. “You expect me to wait a couple of days to talk to her about this?”
Jake shook his head. “No. That’s just my dad advice.”
“And what’s your man to man advice?”
“Go ask her what the hell is going on.”
Sage was leaning on the fence, watching the kids with the baby animals. She was thinking about J.T. and worried about how things were going to turn out. She couldn’t really see any happy ending coming out of all of this. If that boy is J.T.’s and Joey kept the news from him, he’d never be able to forgive her.
When she saw a new bunch of kids go through the gate, she recognized them as the kids in the bakery. She glanced at the entrance and saw Xander standing at the gate. When he noticed her, he walked over to her.
“Hey.”
“Hi. Um…you need to tell me how you’re related to those kids. Are they yours?”
He smiled. “Yes and no. They’re my nephews and nieces.”
She felt suddenly relieved. “Oh. That makes more sense.”
“Why?”
“You don’t seem old enough to have kids as old as at least two of them. Are they here visiting?”
“No. That’s where the yes part comes in. They live with me. I’m their legal guardian.”
“Really?” She took a beat. “Sorry. I mean, how did that happen?”
He watched the kids for a moment. “My brother and his wife died in a car accident a year and a half ago.”
She put a hand on his arm. “Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry.”
He looked away from her for a moment, but not before she saw the pain in his eyes. “We’re all still trying to figure out how to deal with that. But I was all they had. It would’ve been too much for my parents. They're older and not in the best of health.”
Sage shook her head. “You are a special person to take that on.”
He shrugged and looked at her again. “They’re family.”
“How do you work and take care of five kids?”
“Well, fortunately, Olivia is fourteen and a great help. I get up and go to the bakery at five and bake until seven-thirty. Then I go home and she already has everyone up and ready for school. I take them to school, then I close at three when they get off. It works for now.”
“What do you do on the weekends?”
“I’m closed on Sunday, and on Saturdays I bring at least two of the younger kids with me, and Olivia is in charge of the other two or three.”
“You have your hands full.”
“I guess I do. But now we’re looking at summer and I have no idea what I’m going to do. I don’t want Olivia to have to babysit every day. That wouldn’t be right.”
Sage thought for a moment. “There’s the day camp.”
“Day camp?”
“It’s not all summer. There are two sessions, a month each. So most of the summer. It’s a horse camp. And it’s on the Three Oaks.”
“Your family ranch?”
