shots. He frowned. “Maybe I should move it closer.”
“No, maybe you should clean this mess up and then come to dinner. We’re having pizza.”
“Not tuna? Yay!” He scooted off the bed, taking half the covers with him. “The only reason I didn’t make many baskets was cause I can’t use both arms.”
“Then I would refrain from climbing houses.”
He bent over and picked up the first wad, frowning at his cast on his left arm. “This is gonna take forever.”
“You should have thought about that before you decided to make the mess.” She turned away before he saw her smile. Natural consequences were great teachers, but her son could have broken something much worse than his wrist.
Across the hall, she found Kip at the door listening to her and Jared. She peeked into her room to make sure he hadn’t left a similar mess.
He looked up at her with those big brown eyes and long eyelashes and said sweetly, “I’m sorry I fought with Jared, but he was bugging me. I had to do something to shut him up.”
“Getting into a wrestling match isn’t an option. Dinner is ready.”
“I heard the doorbell. Did Gideon come with pizzas?”
“Yes.”
“Sweet.” Kip hurried ahead of her toward the kitchen.
“Next time, young man, warn me when someone is coming over, especially with dinner.”
Jared came out of his room and followed behind Kathleen. “Why did he bring pizza?”
Kathleen waited for Jared, cradling his cast to his chest. “To see you all.”
“Really? Us?”
“I think he enjoyed your visit yesterday. He thought you and Kip might enjoy pizza.”
“Kip talked his ear off. I hardly got to say anything. He was constantly asking him about what a firefighter did.”
When she and Jared entered the kitchen, Kip was already seated at his place with three pieces of pizza with all the toppings on it. “I’m starved, Mom.”
“We’re coming.” Her gaze latched on to Gideon standing by the counter. She crossed to the table and took a seat. Gideon moved behind her and helped her scoot her chair forward before he sat. She couldn’t remember the last time a man had done that for her.
After Jared plopped down in the last place between Gideon and Kip, Gideon looked at each boy. “I remember Kip mentioning how much he loved pizza yesterday. Earlier that sounded good to me, so I thought I would share some with y’all.”
“Pizza is okay.” Jared dug into the box nearest him and pulled out four pieces, piling them on his plate.
“Hold it. You never eat that many.” Kathleen clasped her hands into fists in her lap. “Take one at a time.”
“Kip has three pieces,” Jared whined.
“The same goes for him, too.” Kathleen pinned her older son with a stare that told him to behave.
“Sorry.” Kip began to put his slices back.
“Leave them. You’ve already put them on your plate, but next time one piece at a time. I expect you two to eat every last bite of what you have on your plate.” Lord, give me patience. “Remember your manners. We have a guest tonight.”
Both of her sons hung their heads but exchanged narrow-eyed glances.
“Jared, it’s your turn to say the blessing.” Kathleen uncurled her hands.
“Bless this food. Amen.” Jared jerked up his head, grabbed his first piece and took a big bite.
When Gideon reached for a slice of Canadian Bacon, her favorite, Jared’s gaze fixed on his cast on his left arm that came down to his wrist but allowed him the use of his hand.
“No one has signed your cast,” he said with a full mouth of food. Kathleen gave him the look, and Jared immediately chewed his pizza and swallowed before adding, “I’ve got most of my friends to sign mine at school. Annie wanted to, but I wouldn’t let her.” He held up his arm as though he had a trophy in his grasp.
“Why not?” Gideon poured some iced tea into his glass.
“A girl? No way. I would never hear the end of it.” Jared’s mouth pinched together, and he tilted his head in a thoughtful look. “Can you work with that cast? I’m having trouble doing things with mine.”
A fleeting frown flitted across Gideon’s features. “Not where I want to be. I’ll be stuck behind a desk at headquarters until this comes off.”
“I have to wear mine for six weeks. How about you?”
“Seven or eight weeks.”
“Bummer,” Kip said, pulling Gideon’s attention to him. “That sounds boring.”
“Yep. But I’m not much use to the team with only one arm fully functioning. That’s why it’s important to be as careful as you can, so you don’t end up in a situation like this.” Gideon tapped his cast. “Not fun.”
“Can I sign your cast? I want to be the first.” Kip jumped up and headed for the desk to retrieve a red marker.
“Sure. I noticed it was a little bare after seeing yours, Jared.”
“Can I sign yours, too? I’ll let you do mine.”
Kathleen relaxed back against the chair while the boys wrote their names on Gideon’s cast. As he searched Jared’s cast for a blank space to put his signature, her throat tightened. Lately her two sons hadn’t done anything together without launching into a fight. When Kip finally spotted a place for Gideon to scribble his name, Kathleen lowered her head and blinked away the moisture in her eyes. How could she let something as simple as this get to her?
Chapter Three
Later that evening, with darkness beyond the porch light, Kathleen drew in a deep breath of the cool air with a salty tang to it. The Gulf of Mexico was one block away. She could almost hear the waves crashing against the shore. When she got a chance, she loved to run on the beach early in the morning before the town woke up. It had become her haven since she’d come back to Hope.
Still in her scrubs from work, she rubbed her hands up and down her arms. “It’s starting to finally feel like fall some. I’d gotten used to having four seasons in Colorado.”
Gideon came up behind her and leaned back on the railing. “I’m going to hate seeing October end next week. It’s one of my favorite months. In the middle of football season. Not as oppressively hot as in the summer. But I’ll take that over cold weather any day. I’m a New Orleans native—hot and muggy is what I’m used to.”
“Jared and Kip won’t like the fact it rarely snows
