“You are not allowed to flirt with me when I’ve forgotten to set the alarm and my kids are going to be late for school.”
“I think that’s the perfect time to flirt.”
“Mom?”
Her head swiveled, and she clutched the covers tighter. Andrew, holding Claire, and Derrick stood in the doorway.
Cora hadn’t even heard that Claire was up. Usually she babbled to herself in her crib, and Cora must have slept right through it.
It’d been pretty late until she’d fallen asleep.
“Yes, dear?” she said to Andrew who had his brows drawn together, like he was puzzled.
“Does this mean Mr. Abner is our new dad?”
“Are we staying here?” Kohlton asked before she could answer Andrew, pushing between his two older brothers and coming to stand beside Summer.
Abner shifted beside her, then his chest pressed, warm and hard, against her back as he leaned on his hand behind her.
“Your mom said you were staying.” Abner spoke for her. It hurt that she’d been so messed up that her kids knew what a new man could mean. “And yes, I’m taking responsibility for all of you, so I guess that makes me the dad around here.”
His head dropped, and his words were soft in her ear. “You told me you weren’t going to regret this.”
She shook herself. “No. I don’t. It just makes me sad that I’ve messed my kids up,” she whispered back.
“That’s the last time.”
Andrew came over. Claire held out her hands and Cora took her with one arm, the other still clutching the blanket.
“So, we can call you dad?” Andrew asked, still looking unsure.
“Can if you want,” Abner said easily as Claire wiggled her chubby little body over to him, and Luna clung tight with her arms around his neck.
Andrew’s face cleared, but Derrick crossed his arms. “How long are you staying?”
“’Til I die. That’s what I promised, and that’s what I meant.”
He didn’t look convinced.
Kohlton had worked his way onto the bed and Summer climbed on, too. Cora lay back, tired of fighting to keep the covers up, and snuggled Summer along one side of her with Kohlton squeezing down between Abner and her.
“You two might as well pile on too,” Abner said to Derrick and Andrew. “Looks like breakfast is going to have to wait.”
“But school can’t.”
Abner stretched over Kohlton and kissed her forehead. “We’ll get them to school.” He grinned. “In a bit.”
Epilogue
Angela looked up from her Sunday School classroom. The hall just got a lot noisier and, sure enough, Abner Coblantz stood holding Luna with little Kohlton gripping his hand tight. His wife, Cora, bounced a baby on her hip while she said something to her older boys. Probably telling them to be good or else.
Angela smiled. Since they’d moved here from Ohio, her Sunday School class size had doubled. She had the dubious privilege of teaching the preschoolers. Really, most of the time she loved it, but it definitely wasn’t a job for the faint of heart.
But she’d grown up in church and she could handle anything a three or four year old could throw at her.
She hoped.
Abner waved at her from her classroom doorway as he dropped his children off. She lifted a hand in acknowledgement, her focus on making Kohlton feel welcome.
Except her eye caught on the figure that stood behind Abner.
Mack, from the harvest crew.
It wasn’t that she particularly liked him. He was just one of Clay’s crew. But it was odd to see him carrying children. A boy and a girl.
Strange, since she hadn’t realized he was married. She’d only ever seen him at “work” so she didn’t know what his life was like where he lived the rest of the year. One of the flat states. Kansas or Oklahoma or something.
She’d always loved seeing a man who was good with children, and Mack held them like he was used to it, while both kids clung to his neck like they were comfortable with him.
Was he their dad?
She walked back to her doorway on the pretense of getting Kohlton settled and glanced around quickly as Abner greeted him. He didn’t seem to be with a woman, although his wife could be anywhere.
Just because she didn’t see her didn’t mean he didn’t have one. Although, she took one more quick glance. No. She didn’t see a ring.
It wasn’t like she could care.
She’d always been focused on Clay and didn’t really know Mack well enough to know much of anything about him. But he’d been there when things had gone down with Clay and Boone, and wouldn’t be interested in her anyway. So she turned her back and bent over the table, helping Kohlton and the other little boy to get crayons out and start to color.
Her ear was tuned to the door, though, because both of the children in Mack’s arms looked like they’d be in her class if he was going to drop them off.
She wanted to think she’d learned a lot about herself and had grown through the mistakes she’d made this past summer, but she couldn’t expect the people who’d witnessed her nasty actions to think anything but poorly of her. That included Mack. This was as good of a time as any to start trying to sway his opinion.
She took a deep breath and straightened, hoping with all her heart that she could begin today changing the trajectory of the rest of her life.
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