dad said he wasn’t a very good grandson.”
Scarlett wondered how much of his childhood Reid had shared with his daughter.
“If no one wants my dad to stay, then we’ll probably go back to El Paso.”
Time to change the subject. “Are you hungry? There’s a box of instant oatmeal in the back.”
“Sure,” Jessie said.
In the makeshift kitchen behind the office, Scarlett microwaved two bowls of apple-cinnamon oatmeal. When she handed Jessie her breakfast, the girl said, “You’re really pretty.”
“Thank you.” Scarlett was aware of her beauty. She’d been blessed with flawless skin, luminous eyes and high cheekbones. As far as hairdos went, she looked good in any style, which was why she wore a wash-ʼnʼ-wear haircut, because it saved her time getting ready for work each morning.
“I used to have long hair.” Scarlett touched her lower back. “All the way down to my hips. My friend told me guys liked long hair so I never cut it.” She finished her oats. “Then I woke up one morning in college and stared at myself in the mirror and said, ‘Why do I care what guys think?’” She smiled. “I cut it all off and I’ve been wearing it short ever since.”
Jessie scratched Fang behind the ears and the dog’s eyes closed. “My mom had long hair.”
Scarlett sat down in a chair. “Were you and your mother close?”
Jessie nodded. “It was mostly just me and my mom.”
“I was close to my mother when I was your age,” Scarlett said.
“Is she still alive?”
“Yes. She taught second grade, but she’s retired now.”
“Do you have kids?”
“No.”
“You don’t want kids?”
“Someday maybe.” Scarlett smiled to cover the sting she felt when she thought of Dale’s daughter Amy. She’d loved the six-year-old as a mother not a social worker. “I have a full caseload of kids at work.”
“My mom wanted more kids, but after Mike broke up with her, she never got another boyfriend.”
Not only did Jessie have a rough time of it, but her mother had, too. “What kind of work did your mom do?”
“She was a supervisor in a warehouse.”
“I like hearing about women bosses,” Scarlett said.
Jessie sat up straighter. “Sometimes she drove a forklift.”
“Impressive. The largest vehicle I’ve ever driven is the van I borrowed from a friend to move to a new apartment.” Scarlett’s cousins had nicknamed her gypsy because she only signed one-year leases at apartment complexes.
Jessie dropped her gaze. “My mom died at work.”
Scarlett pictured a woman passing out at her desk after suffering a heart attack, stroke or brain aneurism. “What happened?”
“She backed the forklift into a bunch of wooden pallets and they fell on top of her.”
Scarlett winced.
“My grandparents died a long time ago,” Jessie said. “That’s why Mrs. Delgado had to call my dad.”
Had to call? “You didn’t keep in touch with your father?”
Jessie shook her head. “My mom said he didn’t want anything to do with us.”
Wow. No wonder Reid and his daughter appeared uneasy with each other.
“His name was on my birth certificate.” Jessie pulled Fang closer to her body as if the animal was a shield. “So I’m stuck with him.”
Stuck? That wasn’t the way things worked in social services, especially with children Jessie’s age. If she hadn’t wanted to be with Reid, her caseworker wouldn’t have forced her to live with him.
The lobby door opened and Fang barked. Reid stepped inside, wearing pajama bottoms, a rumpled T-shirt, his cowboy boots and hat.
Scarlett smiled at the pillow crease along his cheek. “Good morning.” It took immense willpower to maintain eye contact with him and not allow her gaze to drift over his muscular chest and the cotton bottoms clinging to his slim hips.
He dragged a hand down his tired face, then looked at his daughter. “I woke up and you weren’t in the room.”
“Fang had to pee,” Jessie said.
“I bet you could use some caffeine.” While Scarlett made him a cup of joe, a deafening silence filled the room. When she offered him the drink, his fingers skimmed her knuckles and tiny sparks raced up her arm. “There’s cream and sugar on the table.”
“Black is fine.” He took a sip, then spoke. “You hungry?”
“We had oatmeal,” Jessie said.
Scarlett smiled. “I can make you a bowl, if you’d like.”
“I’ll pass, thanks.”
A vehicle pulling into the parking lot caught Scarlett’s attention. “Sadie’s here.” She glanced at the wall clock. “She’s up early.”
The white minivan parked in front of the window and when the rear door opened, Scarlett’s nephews hopped out and raced over to the office. It took both boys pulling on the handle to open the door and when they burst into the lobby, Tommy shouted, “Aunt Scarlett, we got a girl cousin!”
Scarlett laughed. “I heard.”
“It sucks.” Tommy looked at his brother. “Right, Tyler?”
Scarlett frowned at the pair. “Your mom told you not to use that word.”
“I forgot.” Tommy noticed Jessie sitting in the chair and walked over to her. “Is that your dog?”
“His name is Fang,” Jessie said. “And just so you know, boys suck, too.”
Tommy and Tyler exchanged wide-eyed glances.
“You two look alike,” Jessie said.
“That’s ʼcause we’re twins.” Tommy nudged Tyler in the side. “Right?”
Tyler pointed to the dog. “Can I pet him?”
“Sure.”
The boys took turns petting Fang and then Tommy spoke when Sadie walked into the office. “That’s my mom.”
Jessie pointed to Reid. “That’s my dad.”
“We’ve
