“This cake looks delicious,” Jack said. “I have a weakness for sweets, especially cakes.”

Lorie surveyed his long, lean body. “Either you have a great metabolism or you work out like crazy to keep that great toned body.”

Jack chuckled, but before he could comment, the doorbell rang.

“Are you expecting someone?” Lorie asked.

“No, I’m not.” Cathy laid down her plastic fork and scooted back her chair. “If y’all will excuse me, I’ll go see who it is.”

“If it’s a tall, dark, handsome stranger, invite him in,” Lorie said. “And I’ll take him home with me.”

Cathy laughed as she left the kitchen. Despite all the hard work involved in moving and unpacking, Cathy had enjoyed the day immensely, in great part thanks to Jack. And the easy camaraderie that she and Jack and Lorie had shared this evening reminded her that this was the way life should always be.

When she reached the front door, she glanced through the viewfinder and smiled when she saw Seth standing on her porch. She opened the door without hesitation, ready to welcome her son, but suddenly she saw that he was not alone. Brother Donnie Hovater and his daughter were with Seth, and Missy held what appeared to be a potted plant of some sort.

“Hi, Mom,” Seth said.

Donnie Hovater tapped his daughter’s shoulder.

Missy cleared her throat, held out the plant that sported a small red bow and said, “Happy housewarming, Mrs. Cantrell.”

Cathy accepted the gift and invited them into the living room. “Please come in. And excuse the mess. I’m afraid I’ve made only a small dent in the unpacking.”

“That’s quite all right,” Donnie said as they entered the house. When he heard laughter coming from the kitchen, his brows rose quizzically. “Are we interrupting anything?”

“No, certainly not.” Cathy shut the door and motioned to the sofa. “Please, won’t y’all sit down?” She looked at Seth, puzzled as to why he was with the Hovaters. “If you’d like to see the house, feel free to look around.” Then she turned back to Donnie. “I have decaf coffee. Would you care for some?”

He shook his head, then asked, “Do you have dinner guests?”

Right on cue, Lorie and Jack came out of the kitchen. Lorie answered for Cathy. “Just us,” she said as she looked at Seth. “Hello, Brother Hovater. I’m not sure if you remember me. I’m Lorie Hammonds. We met a couple of months ago. Reverend Floyd introduced us.”

“Yes, of course, Ms. Hammonds,” he said. “How nice to see you again.” He eyed Jack, who stepped forward and offered his hand.

“Jackson Perdue.”

They shook hands.

“I’m Donnie Hovater, and this is my daughter, Melissa.”

Cathy felt an odd tension in the air, and when she glanced at Seth, she realized he stood there ramrod straight, his gaze riveted to Jack.

“What’s he doing here?” Seth asked.

“Seth, where are your manners?” She scolded her son as if he were a child, but then he was acting like a child.

“Sorry,” Seth grumbled.

Cathy suddenly realized that she was fiercely clutching the potted plant, so she walked past her son and placed the plant on the mantel at the opposite end of the living room. “Jack is a friend. He and Lorie have been helping me unpack today, and we decided to order dinner from Frankie’s.”

“We probably should have waited before stopping by,” Donnie said. “But I thought it would give you and Seth a chance to visit and for him to see your new home.”

“Brother Hovater is taking Missy and me over to the community center for the Christian youth rally, and I asked him if we could stop by here on the way,” Seth said. “If I’d known he was here…uh…that you had company, we wouldn’t have bothered.”

“Felicity and Charity Harper were going with us, but their plans changed, so their dad’s taking them,” Missy explained.

“I hadn’t heard anything about this youth rally,” Cathy said, feeling like a stranger to her own son. “What sort of…?”

“It’s a community event and will be adequately chaperoned,” Donnie told her. “If I thought it wasn’t an appropriate event, I certainly wouldn’t allow Missy to attend.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to imply otherwise,” Cathy assured him. “I’m afraid that since Seth is living with his grandparents for the time being, I’m out of the loop on his social life.”

“This rally is one of Patsy Floyd’s Uniting-Christians projects, isn’t it?” Lorie asked.

“Yes, I believe so,” Donnie replied. “However, I’ve been assured that it is a nondenominational event, and no Methodist doctrine will be included.”

Cathy quickly glanced from Lorie to Jack. She noted the way Lorie’s mouth twitched and how, with a broad grin, Jack glanced down at his feet.

“Seth, since you’re here, would you like to see the rest of the house?” Cathy asked. “I can show you your room first and-”

“Not tonight,” Seth answered coolly, glaring at Jack. “We don’t have time.” He looked pleadingly at Donnie. “We’d better get going, hadn’t we?”

“Uh, yes, yes, I guess we had.” Donnie seemed taken off guard by Seth’s sudden need to leave. “I look forward to seeing you in church Sunday, Cathy.” He glanced from Lorie to Jack. “And y’all are, of course, invited. Anytime. Anytime.”

Before Donnie finished issuing his invitation, Seth was opening the front door. Cathy followed him out onto the porch, catching up with him and grabbing his arm.

“Why are you acting this way?” she asked him.

“What way?”

“I’m happy that you wanted to stop by to see me and our new home. I wish you wouldn’t rush off in a huff just because Jack is here.”

“I don’t like him.” Seth pulled away from her and walked down the steps and into the yard.

Cathy followed. “You don’t know him.”

“Are you dating him?”

She groaned silently. “Is that the reason for your bad attitude? You don’t want me to start dating because you think I’d somehow be disloyal to Mark…to your dad if I did?” She laid her hand on his shoulder, ignoring the fact that Donnie Hovater and his daughter stood on the porch directly behind them and possibly could hear their conversation. “Mark would not disapprove of my dating. He would want me to go on with my life.”

“Dad would expect you to date someone like Brother Hovater.” Seth looked her square in the eye. “Granddad says that Perdue guy is bad news, and he’s a trained killer and all messed up in his head.”

Cathy wanted to scream. Actually, she wanted to strangle J.B. How dare he say such things to Seth. And about Jack, of all people. Count to ten. Say a prayer. Do something to keep from exploding and taking your anger out on your son.

“Jack is a former Army Ranger,” Cathy said as calmly as possible. “He’s a decorated soldier. Your grandfather’s choice of words implied something altogether inaccurate.”

“Are you saying Granddad lied?” Seth demanded vehemently as he jerked away from her.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Donnie said as he and Missy approached them. “And I certainly don’t mean to interfere in what appears to be a family disagreement, but, Seth, son”-he patted Seth on the back-“your grandfather would expect you to show your mother the proper respect. And I’m sure she didn’t mean to imply that J.B. lied. I believe she was trying to tell you that J.B. might have been misinformed about Mr. Perdue.”

“So, he used to be a soldier,” Seth said. “They train soldiers to kill, don’t they? Dad didn’t believe in killing. He believed in turning the other cheek, in loving your fellow man.” Seth paused for half a second, and when Cathy simply stared at him, uncertain how to respond, he went on. “After what you’ve been through this past year, the last kind of guy you need right now is somebody who’s got his own mental problems.”

Seth had rendered her momentarily speechless. Who had her son become in the year she’d been away? Where was the compassionate, tenderhearted, caring young man she had raised? J.B. had done a good job of trying to turn Seth into a duplicate of Mark, and she hated him for doing it.