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“Yep,” James said. “Dad showed it to me. It had a picture of a creek on it. And it had a lot of phone numbers in it. I’ve never seen one of those kinds of books before.”

I turned to Adam. “Great, now I feel really grungy and really old.”

“You look beautiful.”

I snorted. “Do you want to come in, or just stand on the porch spouting lies?”

“Do you have something to eat? I’m hungry.”

I looked down at James. “I think I can scrounge something up.”

“Cheeseburgers?”

“James,” Adam admonished, at the same time I started laughing.

“That shouldn’t be a problem. My family stocked up my fridge. I’m willing to bet I have everything I need to grill you a cheeseburger.”

James looked up at his dad in triumph. “See, it’s no problem. She said so.”

“It won’t be a problem as long as I’m the one doing the grilling,” I told him.

Adam peered down at me. Damn, the man was tall. “And what do you mean, grilling? It’s twenty below out here.”

“Wuss. It’s at least thirty-five degrees. Anyway, who can have a cheeseburger if it isn’t grilled?”

“Let’s stop talking on the stoop and letting all the heat out of your house. Come on, Buddy. Inside.” Adam looked at me. “Shoes off, right?”

“Nah, there’s no carpet in here, just wood floors that clean up easy.”

I watched the two Becketts enter my house with a sense of satisfaction that I did everything I could to tamp down. “Adam, why don’t you hit the fridge and help yourself to anything. I’m just going to slip into something less comfortable.”

He looked me up and down. “You don’t have to do that. You just gave birth three days ago. From my point of view, I was serious when I said you looked beautiful.”

My heart fluttered.

Actually, fucking fluttered. What was up with that?

“Yeah, well. Everybody’s entitled to their opinion.” I pointed to the kitchen. “Like I said, help yourselves. James, there’s juice boxes.”

“Cool! Apple or grape?”

“Both,” I called over my shoulder.

When I got in front of the bathroom mirror, I realized a shower was definitely in order because dry shampoo wouldn’t get the job done. Luckily, I was sure Adam was more than capable of entertaining himself and his son without me present.

I hopped in the shower. Okay, hopped was the wrong word, but I got in there quickly, and lathered up. Now that I was in there, I had to admit, it felt pretty damn good. I used the good stuff that Maddie had given me, the stuff that smelled like peaches. By the time I was done, and had my hair dry, I felt like a new woman.

I considered putting on makeup, but that was strictly for going out to a club or to impress someone, and I wasn't doing either of those things. I settled for ChapStick, a clean pair of leggings, and my favorite oversized long-sleeved-tee that I owned, the Dark Creek band one that said We’ll Break Your Heart and Fix It in The Same Song. I shook my head, loving the feel of my clean hair brushing against my neck. I should have done this yesterday.

Oh yeah, I could barely move yesterday.

I padded down the hallway in my fuzzy socks, wondering what I’d find. James would definitely be drinking juice by now, and I was pretty sure that Adam would have sliced up an apple for him.

What I found was definitely not that.

"No no no no NO—James, I had it, I had it —"

Angelica Drakos was sitting cross-legged on my living room floor in front of the TV, with a juice box balanced on her knee and a Nintendo Switch controller in both hands.