Page 52 of A Forever Kind of Rancher

“I won’t act that way when I’m fifteen.”

Her heart squeezed tight. Oh, Mikey. You will.

“Thanks, honey.”

“What are you making?”

“Lasagna.”

“Yum.”

At least she was doing something right in Mikey’s world. Right now, she’d take it.

And after she was done with dinner and it was time to head to Boone’s, Sadie appeared in a hoodie, with her hands stuffed in her kangaroo pouch pockets and the hood firmly over her head. But she appeared.

“Lasagna?” she asked.

“Yes. I can dish you a plate and you can go back to your cave, or you can come over for a little while.”

She shrugged. “I’ll come over.”

So they made their way over to Boone’s with a big bowl of salad, a pan of lasagna and no small amount of resentment from Sadie, like a parade. If only a very small one.

Boone opened the door and grinned. “Thanks for the dinner party.”

And she noticed Sadie was charmed by him, even if reluctantly.

The house was better organized now, even though they’d spent the last two days having sex, which had taken up a good portion of her cleaning time. Apparently when she was motivated she could get a lot done.

But to his credit, Boone had set the table nicely for them, and he had an array of soft drinks in the fridge, which she knew was for the girls.

“Thank you,” she said softly, as the girls dished their plates and took their seats.

“How is everything?” Boone asked.

Thankfully Sadie didn’t implode and Mikey took the lead, talking about her art classes and her new friends with a lot of enthusiasm.

It made Wendy feel conflicted because Mikey was clearly finding a group she enjoyed here, even after four days, and Wendy was planning on going somewhere else after the month ended.

You were planning on getting away from Boone’s charity, it doesn’t mean you have to leave.

No, it didn’t.

But how could she live near him without...

Why was she so afraid of that? Why couldn’t she entertain the idea of a future with him?

She knew why. She knew all the logical reasons why. You shouldn’t go from being married to being with someone new, and the stakes were so high. Her daughters had been through enough and she didn’t want to drag them through any extra instability. And it was possible she felt pressure to be the most perfect parent so they would always stay on her side.

Well. She wasn’t going to win that game. She was the parent most actively parenting, so she was going to be the bad one sometimes and there was nothing she could do about that.

She looked across the table and met Boone’s gaze.

And resisted the feeling of rightness that washed through her.

This had been a weird mistake.

A form of torture.

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