Ben sat down on the porch. “Hell, you’re right.” He wrapped his arm over her shoulders. “Mike’s a genius.”

“Doesn’t he scare you sometimes?”

“He scares the hell out of me,” he said.

Emma rested her chin in her fists. “Me, too.”

“You’ve survived well enough.”

“Only because Mikey’s been charitable to me.”

“I love your legs.”

“Huh?”

“And your hair. You’ve fixed it just right to show off your lovely neck and your cute little ears. You look very delicious tonight, Miss Sands.”

Emma shot out from under his arm and was halfway to the truck before he caught up with her.

“Was it something I said?”

“Thank you.”

“For?”

“The compliment.”

“Hmm. I don’t suppose you’ve had many, have you? Here’s another one: thank you for doing such a fine job of raising Mike. A father couldn’t hope for a better son.”

Emma stopped and stared. Had she just heard right? Was Ben thankingher for raising Michael?

“Say ‘you’re welcome,’ Em.”

“But you hate me.”

He shook his head. “No, I don’t.” He shoved his hands in his pant pockets and rocked back on his heels. “Not anymore.”

Emma took a step back, his words making her heart beat a little faster.

“I hated Kelly by the time I was done reading that letter. Then I learned that youhad raised Mike, so I turned my anger on you. But I can’t hate you. You love him, Em. And that’s something I understand.”

He took two steps closer and put his hands on her shoulders. Emma feared he could feel her shaking, but she didn’t pull away.

“That’s what you think you’ve done, isn’t it, Em? You think you’ve sold your soul by keeping Mike from me, that you’ve committed a sin neither I nor God can forgive.”

He reached up and gently brushed a tear from her cheek, and Emma realized she was crying. Still, she couldn’t move.

“I forgive you, Emma Sands, because I probably would have done the same.” He lifted her chin. “Will you please stop worrying that I’m trying to take Mike away from you? Will you believe that I’m willing to share him?”

“I could have done something ten years ago, Ben. I could have done something fifteenyears ago. Even then, I was old enough to know it’s wrong not to tell a man he’s fathered a child. I would never forgive anyone who did something like that to me.”

Tears were running down her cheeks.

“Aw, hell, Em,” Ben growled. He wrapped her up in his arms and rocked her back and forth—in the dark shadows of the pines, in the silence of the cold autumn night. “ That’sour problem. You can’t believe I can understand why you kept Michael to yourself all these years.”

“You shouldn’t.”

“But I do. Because I can feelyour love for him.”

Emma looked up. “But I can’t even say if I would do things differently, given another chance. I honestly don’t know if I would have the strength.”

“You had the strength to mail the letter a month ago. Why then?”

Emma pulled away and walked to Ben’s truck. “I didn’t send you that letter. Mikey must have. He may only be fifteen, but come January, he’s stepping into the giant world of college. He needs someone other than me to guide him, a father to show him the way. He needs you.”

“And you, too.”

“Not really. All chicks leave the nest eventually. Michael’s flight may be earlier than most, but I’m already becoming his history. And he wants you to be his future.”

“He’s never intended to leave you behind. Haven’t you figured that out?”

“I know I will always be his aunt. But he needs more.”

Ben opened the passenger door and lifted her into the seat. He kept his hands at her waist as he stared into her eyes. “He can have us both.”

“I have my own life to think about. I intend to leave this nest right after Mikey.”

“ Youcan have both, too, Em.”

She shook her head and turned to face the front. A whisper of a sigh reached her just before he softly closed the door. Emma stared at his back as he looked out over the lake, his shoulders casting a broad, strong silhouette that could have been carved from black marble.

Chapter Ten

“G ive me your coat, and I’ll hang it up and get us some paper cups. Want something from the concession stand?”

Emma fingered the top button on her coat. The dance was being held in the fire station. They had moved out the trucks and decorated the building—tables had been placed along the walls, the lights were turned down, and a band was set up against the side wall. Emma had chosen a table way back in the corner, where it was hopefully dark enough for people not to recognize either of them.

“I’ll keep it on a little while. I’m chilled.”

Her escort lifted one brow. “What are you hiding under there, Emma?” He looked down at her bright red shoes and sheer-hosed legs. “I’m getting curious.”

She opened the cooler they had brought and waved him away. “Go get some cups and some ice. I’m not hungry yet.”

After Ben walked off, she unbuttoned her coat, threw it over a chair, then arranged Greta’s shawl, making sure she was covered from her neck to her waist.

What had possessed her to wear this dress?

She had two other dresses that were far more modest, but the devil-fairy had returned this afternoon.

“I want to talk to you.”

Emma looked up to find Wayne Poulin looming over her, and he didn’t look like he was planning to ask her to dance. “Hi, Wayne. What’s up?”

He placed his hands on the table and leaned over, attempting to look intimidating. But she had never been afraid of Wayne Poulin, and she wasn’t about to start now.

“I want you to keep that kid away from me.”

That surprised her. “I doubt Mikey wants to be anywhere near you, Wayne. So I don’t see the problem.”

“He was in my room today. When I got home from work tonight, that kid was just leaving Greta’s. And when I got up to my room, I realized someone had been in it. Snooping.”

“I was in your room.” Emma stood up, forcing him to straighten to look her level in the face. “I brought up your laundry for Greta and dusted a bit.”

His eyes narrowed to slits. “You did more than dust.”

Emma shrugged. “I probably moved a few things while cleaning. Sorry.”

“What were you looking for?” Wayne crossed his arms over his chest. His gaze traveled up and down her, and his eyes gleamed. “You’re looking a lot like your sister this evening, Emma Jean. Why’s that? You got a hot date tonight?”

“The lady has a possessive date tonight, Poulin. So I suggest you move along.”

Wayne Poulin swung around with a start. Emma saw his eyes widen when he recognized the speaker, and he had to tilt his head up as he took a step back.

“Sinclair!”

Ben set an ice bucket and a plastic cup on the table. He towered over Wayne by a good foot, and seeing them together face-to-face, Emma realized what she had known all along.

Benjamin Sinclair was not only tall, he was solid: the type of man who would never run from a problem. When he had left Medicine Gore sixteen years ago, he hadn’t abandoned a pregnant girl—he had merely walked away from a disastrous love affair. Nothing could have dragged Ben from his child then, and a whole town full of animosity wouldn’t be able to now.

Wayne had said Ben’s name loud enough for the nearby tables to hear. People were turning. Conversations had ceased. And whispers arose all around them.

With a feeling of doom, Emma watched the men face each other. Wayne stood defensively, his hands balled into fists, his shoulders rigid, and his eyes cold. Ben appeared relaxed, but Emma knew he was ready for any attack, verbal or physical.