beside the bridle rack, Colton was stooped over a bucket of horseshoes. Horseshoes meant to be given to kids as souvenirs. Instead, Colton grabbed two, stuffing one into each of the pockets of his Nike hoodie.
He was stealing.
“Colton.” Noah kept his voice firm, all the while keeping it void of any accusation.
The boy jerked his head up. “I...couldn’t find the soda machine.”
“And the horseshoes?”
Colton looked everywhere but at Noah. “I was just looking at them.”
“If you want one, all you have to do is ask.”
The kid’s green eyes narrowed. “They’re just stupid old horseshoes. Who’d want one of those?”
Noah shook his head. He’d hoped the kid would at least acknowledge his curiosity. Instead, he’d lied. And there was no way Noah could tolerate that.
He took hold of Colton’s arm. “Let’s go see your mother.”
“Why?” The boy’s voice held a note of terror as he jerked free and started down the hallway.
“I think you know why.” Noah could understand the kid’s attitude, but lying was a different ball game altogether.
Rounding into the lobby with Colton in tow, he saw the bewildered look in Lily’s eyes as she rose from the old pew.
Grateful no one else was present, he said, “I caught this young man stealing.”
“I didn’t steal anything!”
Noah glared down at the boy. “Care to show me what’s in your pockets?”
Colton promptly turned his pants pockets inside out to show them empty. “He’s lying, Mom. I didn’t take anything. See?”
A confused Lily looked from her son to Noah.
Undeterred, Noah said, “And your jacket pockets?”
The boy hesitated then. “This is stupid, Mom. I didn’t take anything. You believe me, don’t you?”
His mother’s confused and seemingly pained gaze moved between Colton and Noah. Once. Twice.
Finally, “If there’s nothing there, then you should have no problem showing us, Colton.”
After a few moments, the boy pulled out the horseshoes and thrust them at Noah, the clanking of metal echoing through the small space. “They’re just stupid horseshoes. You have a ton of them.”
The look on Lily’s face flitted between horror, disappointment and panic in a matter of seconds.
What saddened Noah the most was that he would have given the kid the horseshoes if he’d asked. But Colton hadn’t asked. He’d simply taken something that didn’t belong to him. Then compounded matters by lying.
Noah knew what he would do if this were his son. Question was, what would his city-slicker mother do? Offer to pay for it? Call it a misunderstanding?
That was the problem with today’s world. Too many parents eager to bail their kids out instead of letting them face the consequences for their actions.
“Colton...take your sister to the car and wait for me there, please.” With her arms crossed, Lily’s eyes never left Noah’s.
Yep, she was going to pay for her son’s transgressions.
“But, Mom—”
“Now, Colton.” She watched as the two moved slowly out the wooden door, then faced Noah. “Any chance we could work something out?”
All that was missing now was the checkbook. “Depends what you mean by ‘work something out.’”
She hesitated. “I don’t want my son to grow up thinking that money is the answer. He made a bad choice. He needs to learn that there are consequences for bad choices.”
Her words had Noah taking a step back. He cleared his throat. “Yes, of course.”
“Some parents are all too happy to pay for their kids’ mistakes, but I’m not one of those people. I want Colton—and Piper—to know that every choice has a consequence. And I want them to learn now, while they’re young.”
Hmm... He couldn’t have said it better himself. “That’s commendable.”
She glared at him. “I’m not looking for any commendations, Mr. Stephens. I simply want my children to grow up to be good people.”
Okay, so he’d definitely underestimated her. “All right then. What if we had him work it off?”
The light in her green eyes shifted. “I like that.” She hesitated then. “Depending on what you have in mind.”
Ah, now he got it. Pay the consequences without really paying the consequences. “I was thinking he could come by tomorrow morning and muck out the horse stalls.”
Lily choked back a laugh. Something he found rather cute. “That’s perfect.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Of course, it’ll be ‘stupid.’” She made air quotes with her long fingers.
“Of course.”
Her expression softened. “But I think it’ll drive home the message.”
“That stealing is wrong.”
“Among other things, yes.”
The heel of his boot scraped across the concrete floor. “Okay, so what time can I expect him?”
“The earlier the better. How about seven?”
“In the morning?” Humph. He would have taken her for a not-before-ten kind of girl.
“You don’t think I’m going to let him sleep in, do you?”
“I...obviously wasn’t thinking. My apologies.”
She studied him, a smile playing on her lips. “I believe in teaching my children values. So I will see you in the morning.” With that, she turned and marched out the door, passing his father as she went.
Moving beside Noah, Clint Stephens watched after her. “She’s pretty.”
Noah made a quick left into the office. “Is she?” He grabbed the day’s consent forms. “I hadn’t noticed.”
His father followed him. “Since when have you been blind?”
Noah chose to ignore the remark. He wasn’t blind at all. But his heart belonged to his late wife, Jaycee. Now and always.
Dad paused beside the desk. “Newspaper called. Wanted to know about the ads for the
