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      McCartney flipped through the pages as he spoke. “My clients want economical, but they’re will to pay for quality products. Cherry and mahogany, oak.”

      “We are familiar with all the best woods. Last winter, the design team tested out bamboo. We aren’t quite ready with that option, but we’re getting there.”

      McCartney sat back in his chair. “I like a prepared contact. I know about Adam’s, ah, problems.”

      “He is still very involved.” Jenny squeezed her hands together in her lap at yet another lie that slipped from her lips so easily. “Before the accident, we had divided the work. He built and designed, I handled contracts. Nothing has changed.” Nothing except everything. Nothing was the same as it had been before the tornado in May, but if it took another year, she would stabilize her life. The business. The boys’ outlooks.

      “I’ll take this to my office manager—” Leo grinned “—who also happens to be my wife. I’m sure she’ll be as pleased as I am.” He stuck his hand out and Jenny took it. “I’ll be in touch.”

      When the older man had gone, Jenny sat back in her chair and closed her eyes. Step one in her plan to get the business back on track was complete. Leo McCartney was one of the best builders in their part of the state. He handled contracts for subdivisions as well as single builds. Partnering with him would lead to more contracts. A stronger profit margin. More financial stability for the boys would be important if—no, when—Adam moved out.

      Now, she just needed her meeting with the Springfield distributor to go as well. She finished her coffee as she went over the proposal one more time.

      * * *

      ADAM’S ARMS WERE TIRED. He didn’t think he’d expended this much energy since...well, since he’d been in high school. After taking the boys to school and stopping in at the coffee shop, he’d wheeled himself to the police station to see his friend James, who hadn’t been in the office. So he’d continued to the new grandstand area, which had been built after the tornado decimated much of the downtown. It was impressive.

      Several of his employees had worked on the project, and from what he could see from the outside, they’d done good work. The live oak that Collin Tyler and Savannah Walters had planted soon after the dedication of the grandstand looked good, too. The two of them had placed a plaque, too, which read, “The strength to rebuild is one of the finest acts of courage.”

      Adam cringed as the words circled his mind. Walking away might not be courageous, but he would make sure Jenny and Frankie and Garrett would be okay before he bowed out of their lives.

      He blew out a breath when he reached the corner of the street. All this wandering, which would have taken him an hour, max, before the accident, had taken closer to three, and he was starving. For a moment he considered going to Buchanan’s to see if Jenny wanted to have lunch.

      Not the best idea, after this morning when she’d suggested he move out. He didn’t think a quick pop-in for lunch would help that situation. On the next block, Rock Pizza’s sign beckoned, as did the smell of baking pizza. The growl from his stomach shocked him. It had taken a while to regain his appetite after leaving the hospital, but most of the time he still ate out of necessity, not for enjoyment.

      A truck honked from the street and he raised his hand in a wave. Calvin Harris, an older gentleman who ran a dog school near Walters Ranch, stuck his arm out the truck window as he passed. A few minutes later, Adam made it to Rock Pizza, a fine sheen of sweat covering his face and rivulets running down his back. He was tempted to leave the chair, just to give his back a break from the vinyl covering. If something happened, though, it would be better to be safely sitting. He reached for the door handle and froze.

      Jenny sat at a table inside with a man Adam didn’t recognize. A handsome man. He forgot about food and simply stared. What about her having no time to do her job because his parents were messing things up? This didn’t look like work to him. Which left one explanation: this was the real reason she had asked him to move out. Because she was ready to move on. It made much more sense than the idea of his doing laundry sending her over the edge.

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