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Logan cleared his throat. “She...uh...passed away not too long ago. A brain aneurysm.”

  Molly’s face flushed. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “You couldn’t have known,” he assured her. And unless his parents were keeping her informed, and he doubted they were, she really couldn’t have known, since he’d stayed well away from Whispering Pines ever since—well, ever since Judah had been born and he’d married Brianna.

  Doing it backward, his mother had told him at the time, not at all happy with the way things had turned out. He tended to agree, though by that time he’d thought he had very little choice in the matter except to do the right thing.

  He might not have loved Brianna on the day they wed, but he loved Judah with all his heart, and he’d eventually come to care for Brianna. They’d made a decent go of it.

  But what about Molly?

  She wasn’t supposed to be here, either. Back in high school when they were dating, hadn’t her dream been to live anywhere except in Whispering Pines? What had happened to the girl with stars in her eyes, desperately wanting to reach for the moon?

  She was sitting across from him now. But she didn’t have stars in her eyes anymore. Rather, there was the hint of an angry glitter, although she quickly worked to erase it from her expression.

  His heart had nearly leaped out of his chest when he’d walked into the principal’s office and Molly had turned to meet his gaze. She’d been a beautiful teenager, but she’d grown into a stunning woman with high cheekbones, thick dark hair and those glimmering emerald eyes he’d never been able to forget no matter how hard he tried and no matter how many years passed by.

  Becky’s cell phone buzzed, and she looked at the screen. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I have to step out and take this. Logan, why don’t you fill out the necessary paperwork while you’re waiting?”

  “And I’ll spend a few minutes with Judah,” Molly suggested.

  He curled the rim of his hat in his fist and nodded, trying not to gape when Becky slid a pile of darkly lined pages in front of him and offered a black ballpoint pen.

  He wasn’t used to having to do all the paperwork. Brianna had always taken care of those things. Names, dates, Social Security numbers. He clenched his teeth against the sudden overwhelmingness.

  He was a single dad now and this was all on him, whether he liked it or not.

  “Rufus, with me.” Molly disappeared for a moment and then reappeared with a plastic play set of Noah’s ark.

  She sat down cross-legged next to Judah and put the play set before him. He immediately set his video game aside and stared at the game, not raising his eyes to Molly’s. That didn’t appear to faze her as she set up the animals two by two.

  This time, Molly didn’t try to introduce Judah to the puppy, but simply let the dog sit quietly by her heel.

  Logan started to fill out the information on the long form but kept one ear on Molly’s conversation with Judah.

  “What’s your favorite animal, Judah?” Molly asked, her attention entirely on the child. “Did you know God sent two of every kind of animal onto Noah’s ark before a big flood of water covered the whole earth? Have you heard this story before?”

  Judah made a guttural sound and shook his head.

  “I—er—never told him the story,” Logan admitted, heat rising to his cheeks.

  Her gaze widened on him, and no wonder.

  What kind of parent didn’t tell their child the story of Noah’s ark? It was a classic Bible story that nearly every kid knew.

  The truth was, Logan had been angry with God when things went so poorly for him, even though in his heart he knew it was all his own doing and he’d deserved every bit of what he’d received. It wasn’t God who’d forced him to run wild in college, ruining any chance of happiness in his life.

  If anything, the Lord had been good to him, giving him His most precious treasure in Judah.

  Even so, it had seemed easier to ignore God and try to fix his mistakes on his own than to seek the Almighty’s help and guidance to make his life better. He’d been stubborn and proud, and look how that had turned out for him. At age twenty-six, he was a single father back home staying with his parents because he couldn’t handle living on his own.

  How humiliating.

  He groaned in frustration and dropped the pen onto the pile of papers, pushing it aside. Some things were more important than paperwork.

  Moving home to Whispering Pines was the first step in what he suspected was going to be a very long process of making things right in his life, but boy, was this one a doozy. Way worse than he could ever have imagined—and he had imagined dozens of ways he might run into Molly again someday, none of them good.

  “Um, okay,” Molly responded belatedly, still looking bemused. “Do you want to join us here, Daddy?” she asked, addressing Logan. “Crisscross applesauce?”

  “Crisscross what?”

  She gestured. “Cross-legged.”

  “Oh.” He looked down at the floor and grimaced. There was no way he was going to get his legs to do that, so he dropped to his knees. Judah immediately scrambled onto his lap and curled into his chest.

  Molly lifted one eyebrow before turning her attention back to the boy. “Noah’s ark is a really fun story. Now, tell me—what’s your favorite animal? Or you can let me guess. Is it an elephant?”

  Judah shook his head and a dark lock of hair dropped over his forehead, which Logan tenderly brushed back.

  “A giraffe,” Logan started to say, but Molly held up a finger to keep him from speaking.

  “A tiger?” she guessed. “Rrrroww!” She made a tickling motion but stopped just short of actually touching Judah, which would have been a total disaster. Somehow, he suspected she already knew that, even without him telling her so.

  Logan knew his son might very well scream and run at the mere thought of being touched. It had happened before.

  He was shocked when Judah’s lips turned up into a grin, something Logan saw precious little of since his mother had passed—or, if he were honest, even before. Judah wasn’t a happy boy by any stretch of the imagination.

  But with Molly, he’d smiled. The boy even chuckled a little as he shook his head again. Clearly, he wanted Molly to keep guessing.

  “Hmm,” continued Molly, tapping her index finger to her lips. “Okay. So—not an elephant. Not a tiger. How about...a Rufus?”

  Rufus barked at the sound of his name, which startled Judah and the smile dropped from his face.

  “Rufus, down.” Molly grimaced and shrugged at Logan. “Whoops. Sorry. I should have anticipated that. Rufus here is still very much a work in progress.”

  “You’re still working with your brothers and sisters in dog rescue?” he asked, even though the answer to the question was obvious with the presence of Rufus.

  “I’m even more involved now than I used to be. Once I decided to make my life here in town, I felt like I needed to do my part.”

  “Hmm,” he answered. That was a story he wanted to hear, but he had no right even to ask.

  “Have you ever considered getting a service dog for Judah?”

  He immediately shook his head. It wasn’t a bad idea. He’d heard of service dogs helping autistic kids before, and he was aware of what the Winslows had done with their program.

  But when he’d returned to Whispering Pines, he had taken a job as a bookkeeper for Whispering Pines Community Church. The pay wasn’t great, but being able to work at home and be around whenever his son needed him made up for what he lost with his tight pocketbook.

  “Well, if you ever change your mind...”

  “I won’t,” he said, his jaw tightening.

  “We were talking about Judah’s favorite animal,” she reminded him, turning her attention back to Judah. “And I’ve been thinking. I’ll bet you like—hold on just a moment.”

  Molly paused for a few seconds, reaching out first for one animal, then another. After a moment, she plucked up a long-necked giraffe and held it out to Judah.

  Judah beamed. “R-r-raffe!”

  “That’s right. It’s a giraffe. What an awesome animal. You can hold on to that while I help Daddy finish filling out his papers, okay?”

  Despite his own discomfort, Logan found himself smiling at the pretty second-grade schoolteacher, as well. She did have a way about her.

  But then, she always had. He’d just have to get used to seeing her again.

  Chapter Two

  Molly took a deep breath and combed her fingers back through her hair, but her long bangs fell right back down in her eyes. It was Monday morning, and she was following up on the meeting she’d had with Logan and Judah last week. She shouldn’t be nervous. Home visits were a regular thing with all of her students, especially new ones. She needed to find out where Judah was academically, and he’d be more comfortable in his own home than at the school.

  But she couldn’t help the way her nerves crackled along her spine.

  She would have to get used to seeing Logan again. Set aside the memories of the way he’d crushed her heart when he’d gone off to college and forgotten their promises to each other.

  They’d both been kids back then. Could she really hold him accountable for breaking her heart? Just because she had been faithful...

  She snorted and shook her head. This was exactly what she shouldn’t be thinking about just now.

  She lifted her hand to knock on the door, but Logan opened it before her fist connected. He must have been waiting for her.

  “Um, hi,” he said, stepping aside and gesturing her through. “Judah’s waiting for you at the kitchen table.”

  “Super.”

  Logan ran a hand across his jaw. He looked as nervous as if he were the one about to be examined. She didn’t have to ask where the kitchen was. She’d spent dozens of hours in this house back in high school when she’d been dating Logan.

  “Where are your folks?” she asked.

  “Out for the day. Nearly thirty years of marriage and they still manage to get away for an occasional date.”

  Molly signed inwardly. That was the kind of relationship she’d always dreamed of. That the dream had included Logan felt like the ultimate irony.

  “I’ll bet you like computers,” she said, smiling widely at the boy as she entered the kitchen and laid a laptop in front of him, flipping open the lid so he could see the screen.

  Judah didn’t answer. Rather, he scooted his chair closer to the laptop and grabbed the computer mouse.

  “There are a couple of—” she started to say, but she stopped as Judah quickly clicked through a number of screens and selected a game that challenged him on multiplication rather than addition, as Molly had intended to begin with.

  “Oh, I don’t think—” Molly stammered, worrying Judah would fail and become quickly frustrated by selecting a game that was too hard for him to process. The kind of multiplication on the screen was slated for the latter end of the second-grade curriculum. Most of the children entering this class were still working on their zeros-and-ones times tables. They wouldn’t have a clue what to do with higher-end multiplication.

  But she closed her mouth and watched in awe as Judah punched in one correct answer after another, and very quickly, to boot. It was apparent he’d memorized the whole multiplication table all the way up to the twelves.

  Logan leaned back on his heels and crossed his arms, his wide grin indicating he was clearly enjoying the bewilderment on Molly’s face. He’d known perfectly well that his son was capable of playing this game on the computer.

  Way to go, Judah!

  “Wow, Judah, that’s super impressive,” she said at last. “I’m surprised you already know your multiplication tables so well. Most second graders your age are just starting to learn how to do times with numbers. Look how fast you’re answering those questions and growing your dragon egg. It gets bigger every time you get one right.”

  Molly had found boys and girls alike enjoyed this computer program, where the right answers made dragon eggs grow and hatch into colorful baby dragons.

  “He knows division and fractions, too,” Logan said, preening like a rooster. He was definitely one proud papa.

  As well he should be.

  “Wow,” Molly said again. “Look! Your baby dragon already hatched. I’ve never seen one pop out that fast. There he goes, flying around on your screen.”

  “P-p-purple,” Judah exclaimed.

  “I know, right? Awesome! Do you like the color purple?” she asked.

  Judah nodded voraciously and once again, a lock of his dark hair, so much like his father’s, dropped onto his forehead. This time Molly was the one who tenderly brushed it back.

  “What’s your favorite color, dude?”

  Judah’s gaze widened but he didn’t try to answer.

  “Bs are especially hard for him,” Logan explained in a low whisper. “Especially in a blend. He doesn’t like to use them if he can avoid them.”

  “That’s okay.” Molly crouched before the boy. She understood it would be hard for Judah, but she also knew he had to try, or he’d never get past his fear. “Take your time. I don’t mind.”

  “B-b-b...”

  When it looked as if Logan was going to answer for Judah, Molly shook her head at him, smiling her encouragement at the boy.

  “Try again, sweetheart.”

  “B-b-blue,” Judah finally blurted, then grinned, clearly proud of himself.

  “High five, buddy,” Molly exclaimed, holding up her hand, palm out. Judah kicked out with his legs, wiggling his whole body as he slapped her hand.

  “Why don’t you grow another egg?” Molly suggested. “Maybe this time when it hatches, you’ll get a blue dragon.”

  Judah immediately reengaged with the computer game, and Molly pulled Logan aside to speak with him privately.

  “I am really impressed with everything Judah knows,” she told him. “Not just the multiplication tables, but how well he handles the computer. I can tell you spend a lot of time with him.”

  “Yeah. He’s really good at some things. It doesn’t take him much time to learn anything new on the computer.” His voice was lined with a warning she wasn’t sure how to interpret. “He really likes flash cards and has a great memory. Numbers are nothing more than a game to him, and as you can see, he loves playing on the computer and his video game system.”

  “D-don’t like r-r-reading,” Judah said.

  Molly chuckled. “I guess he was listening to our conversation.”

  One side of Logan’s mouth kicked up, and Molly’s heart flipped, as it had always done when he smiled that way. Apparently, some things never changed, no matter how much time or how many life events had gone by.

  “Guess so,” he said.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll work on his reading skills. He’ll get better with practice. It’ll help if you read with him at home every night.”

  “Oh, I already do. I know how important it is for him to conquer reading. And I appreciate the suggestion.”

  Her eyes widened in surprise as they caught Logan’s gaze, and for a moment she found herself lost in those blue depths. The mischievous twinkle his gaze had carried back when they’d been freshmen in high school was gone, replaced by the solemnity and stress of adulthood.

  Even so, the glitter in his eyes made her throat so dry she was unable to swallow.

  There was a long pause, and then both spoke at once.

  “Why are you here?” they asked simultaneously.

  Confused by the question, she glanced at Judah.

  “Not here, as in assessing Judah. Here as in Whispering Pines. I gotta say, it was a real shock seeing you at the school.”

  “I’m sorry—why?”

  “Because the last time I spoke with you, all you talked about was getting out of town. Of not being just one of the Winslow siblings. Of making your own way in the world.”

  “Oh. That.” Heat rose to her cheeks.

  How immature she’d been back then, thinking that only by leaving town could she find happiness. It was only when she was in college and had discovered her purpose in psychology and sociology that she’d realized where she lived didn’t matter. It was what she did that made a difference in the world.

  “I got my degree and got over myself. Then I decided to come back home and work at Riverbend Elementary. I spend weekends and summer vacation helping with the family’s dog rescue and service training program, A New Leash on Love, and I usually have a dog with me even during the school year, like Rufus here.”

  He shook his head and crossed his arms. “I really thought you’d be traveling the world or something.”

  “Hmm. Nope.” She shook her head. Odd, but as she searched her heart, there wasn’t a trace of that wanderlust. She was truly content living in Whispering Pines with her extended family. “And you?”

  “I tried to do it all on my own after Brianna died, but it was just too much for me. I’m no good as a single father. I came back to town so I could live near my parents—although at the moment I’m living with them until I find something more permanent.

  “And my parents told me about the special program at Riverbend. Of course, they want to be nearby as Judah grows up, so they were trying to seal the deal.”

  “But they didn’t mention my name.”

  “No, they did not.”

  He looked as if he’d just swallowed a walrus whole, without salt.

  It was bad enough that he’d moved back to town at all. Under normal circumstances, they would be able to stay out of each other’s way and do their best to avoid each other.

  But these weren’t normal circumstances.

  No—for Judah’s sake, they’d have to bury the hatchet.

  Hopefully, just not in each other’s backs.

  * * *