Micah nodded, then turned his gaze back to my dad. “I’m Micah. I live over there,” he said,

pointing to the house across the street.

Dad grinned down at him. “Is that so? Well, it’s about time you got over here and introduced

yourself.”

“He and his momma, Sienna Roy, are living over there now. I’m watching him while Sienna works

this morning, and I thought I’d bring him over to meet y’all. Think you can handle that . . . ? Can

Momma handle that?” I informed him, hoping he understood what I was trying to say.

Dad’s eyes swung back down to take in Micah, and I watched him as the realization slowly began

to seep in. His hand tightened on the doorknob, and he stood there silently, unable to speak or stop

looking at Micah. I cleared my throat.

“Can we come in now?” I asked, hoping he caught the warning in my tone.

It took him a moment, but then he stepped back and let us in. His eyes never left Micah. Maybe this

had been a bad idea after all. Hell, I’d almost collapsed on my knees in Sienna’s front yard when she’d

told me. Was this good for my dad’s heart? Shit.

“Who’s here?” Momma called out just before she stepped around the corner and into the foyer. Her

smile lit up her face when she saw it was me. “I didn’t expect to see you today,” she said. Then Micah

moved beside me and her gaze dropped to him. “And you brought company.” Her smile wavered then.

Just like I had guessed. Momma saw her baby in Micah’s little face.

“Momma, this is Micah. He lives next door.” I couldn’t bring myself to tell her who he was just

yet. Even if she saw the resemblance, I knew she wouldn’t guess correctly unless she knew his

mother’s name.

She didn’t take her eyes off Micah as she walked into the room. A range of emotions danced across

her face, the last one being complete awe. Stopping in front of him, she held out her hand, and her

smile was brighter than I had seen it in a long time. “Hello, Micah. I’m Tabby Falco, but you can call

me Mama T, like the rest of the boys around here do.”

Micah held up his little hand and slipped it in hers. “I like the name Mama T. And where are the

other boys?”

My mother seemed to be soaking up everything he said and did. “Well, those boys are all big now,

just like my boy is,” she said, nodding at me. “So they are all over the place.”

Micah glanced back at me. “Oh well, that’s okay. I like Dewayne. Except when he made my

momma cry. I didn’t like him then, but Momma said that it was a misunderstanding and that I

shouldn’t be mad at him. So I ain’t.”

Shit! The kid just said whatever the hell . . .

“Dewayne? You made his mother cry?” Momma asked me, her eyebrows raised. She had a very

concerned look on her face.

“Like he said, it was a misunderstanding,” I assured her, hoping the kid didn’t say anything else

about his momma.

I glanced over at Dad, who was watching Micah with the same look of wonder that I had felt when

I’d realized who he was. Momma didn’t know yet, and I decided that if Dad didn’t tell her, then

maybe I should wait until later, when Micah wasn’t around.

“I have chocolate chip cookies and apple pie in my kitchen, fresh outta the oven. You want some?”

she asked Micah, squeezing his hand in hers.

He nodded vigorously. “Yes, ma’am, I do. I love both those things.”

Momma didn’t even look at Dad or me. Micah had her undivided attention. “Well, it’s a good thing

you moved in across the street, then. Because I need someone to eat all these sweets I bake.”

Micah walked away, still holding her hand. “I like sweets. I’ll eat ’em,” he assured her.

I waited until they were in the kitchen and I heard Micah rattling on about superheroes needing lots

of cookies before looking at Dad.

He shook his head and let out a heavy sigh. “Wow. He looks just like him. Just like him,” he said,

before turning his gaze toward me. I saw the hope there. The feeling that there was something of

Dustin’s to hold on to. I understood because I was feeling it too.

“I wasn’t sure telling Momma in front of him was a good idea once I got over here. Changed my

mind.”

Dad nodded. “Yeah. She sees Dustin in him. She just doesn’t realize exactly how much of Dustin

she’s seeing. She thinks it’s just a coincidental resemblance, and she’s already in love with the kid.

He’s gonna be good for her. I just”—he paused and glanced back at the house across the street—“I

can’t figure out why she kept him from us. We loved that girl. She was like our own. Why would she

not let us be a part of his life?”

I wasn’t sure, exactly, but I knew she thought we didn’t want him and didn’t care to know him.

That was something I was going to figure out today. “I’m talking with her later. She thought I knew

who Micah was and thought I’d chosen not to be a part of his life. Not sure how that works, since I

didn’t know where the fuck she was all these years. No one did.”

Dad rubbed his stubbled jaw and shook his head. “Your momma is gonna want answers. So let’s

wait until you got them before we tell her.”

I nodded. I was in complete agreement.

Chapter Five

SIENNA

My morning went fast. Three cut-and-styles, one highlight, and one root touch-up. All of them were

last-minute walk-ins who couldn’t get an appointment with their regular stylist. Right now that was

what I had to work with, and I was okay with that. Hillary was even telling people we accepted walkins,

for my benefit.

The only employee other than Hillary who was working today was Gretchen. This was my second

time working with her, and she was very loud and chatty. She laughed a lot too. And she had a ton of

male clients. The tight leather pants she was so fond of seemed to be popular with the men.

“I heard you talking to your son earlier on the phone. You mentioned Dewayne,” Hillary said as she

sauntered back into the room in spiked heels. How that woman wore those heels and stood on her feet

all day was beyond me.

I nodded, not sure why she was bringing up the short conversation I’d had with Micah an hour ago

to make sure everything was okay. He’d been outside throwing the football around with Dewayne and

had been ready to get off the phone with me and go back to having fun.

“Was it Falco you were talking about? Seeing as how you knew Amanda Hardy when she came in,

and then I heard Dewayne’s name, and since he’s one of Preston’s friends I thought maybe you knew

Dewayne, too.”

Still wasn’t sure why this mattered. “Yeah, it was Dewayne Falco. He’s watching Micah for me

today.”

Hillary studied me a moment, and then a small grin tugged on her lips. “You’re not messing around

with Dewayne, are you? He ain’t a sticking-around kind of guy. He’s more of a several-girls-a-week

kind of guy.”

I already knew this. Dewayne had always been a player. However, I wasn’t interested in Dewayne

for any reason other than to be a part of Micah’s life. Micah needed a man in his life, and his uncle

would be his only chance to have that.

“You seeing Dewayne Falco?” Gretchen asked, swinging her head around and sending her dark

curls bouncing. “That boy can . . . do it well. You know what I mean. Damn near ruined me for anyone

else. I had to work him out of my system.”

Hillary gave me a pointed look as if to say, See what I mean?

I was trying to push all thoughts of Dewayne and Gretchen doing it well out of my head. Not a

mental image I needed, even though I was sure Dewayne’s naked ass was a lovely sight to behold.

“I swear, if he came sniffing around again, I’d give him a go and deal with the withdrawal later.