LITMIR.BIZ

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encountered the beauty that was Mandy Carter.

      Daniel slowed the car as he neared and watched as one hand moved to shield her eyes from her hair, and her mouth formed a silent “Oh.” Which was quickly followed by “No.” Her wide smile slid into a flat line and she looked at him the same way she had practically every time he’d seen her in the past seven years, since that night he’d turned her down and walked away.

      “You have anyone else in that old truck?” Mandy asked. “Someone who might actually be interested in helping me, perhaps?”

      Here we go again. He grinned. “Afraid not.”

      He heard her grumble something and was pretty sure it included, “Should’ve recognized that truck,” and “Why don’t you drive away, you always do.” But before he could respond, another voice joined in.

      “Uncle Daniel?” Kaden called from her truck.

      Daniel’s heart leaped at the sound, and his smile widened. “That you in there, slugger?”

      “Uncle Daniel! Hey, you’re back!”

      Oh, how he loved that boy. “Yes, I am, and I’m so glad I found you,” Daniel said, leaning his head out the window as he spoke. “Let me pull the truck over, and I’ll help you and Aunt Mandy.” He was still in the middle of the street, and even though there wasn’t a sign of another car around, he figured he should probably be safe.

      He parked, then climbed out of the truck and walked to Kaden’s side of the vehicle. He was anxious to hug his nephew, and he could do that while figuring out Mandy’s problem with the truck.

      “Uncle Daniel, my new friend Nathan said you’re cool. He was talking about you and the elephants and stuff,” Kaden said, climbing from his car seat and jumping into Daniel’s arms.

      “Nathan?” Daniel asked, holding his nephew tight.

      “Chad and Jessica Martin’s son.” Mandy didn’t look at Daniel as she spoke. Instead, she peered down the road as though she could will another car into existence.

      “Right, I remember him. And he has a little sister, too, doesn’t he?” Daniel asked Kaden, since he seemed to be the only one interested in conversing.

      “Uh-huh, Lainey. She’s little, only two.”

      Mandy cleared her throat. “I did a photo shoot at Hydrangea Park of Chad and Jessica’s kids, and after the shoot, we stayed awhile to let Kaden play with Nathan.” She’d apparently given up on anyone else coming to her rescue and was now more interested in the dirt around her feet than looking at Daniel.

      “And then we got in the truck to go back home but we ran out of gas,” Kaden said.

      “Out of gas?” Daniel asked, smiling down at his nephew.

      Mandy’s head snapped up. “Yes, out of gas.” Then she moved to the back of her truck, climbed into the bed and stepped around bales of hay and potted plants, searching for something. “I used the truck today because I needed some props, and I hardly ever drive granddaddy’s old truck, so I forgot to check the tank,” she said, shoving a hay bale aside. “Apparently, it was close to empty.”

      “Apparently,” Daniel said, watching her push a few boxes, a shovel, an old-fashioned tricycle and some other odd, colorful objects around before withdrawing a small orange gas can.

      “There,” she said, pushing dark bangs out of her eyes as she worked her way through the maze of objects to reach the back of the truck. Then she jumped down with the orange can in hand. “We need a ride to the gas station, if you don’t mind.”

      “And you’ll need a ride back to your truck,” Daniel said, uncertain why he found it so much fun to push her buttons.

      “Yes, that, too. I thought someone from town would probably drive by soon and give us a ride, but if you could do it, that will work.”

      “I am from town,” he reminded, “and it isn’t a problem.” He put Kaden on the ground beside him and ruffled his hair. “Come on, we’ll move your car seat over to my truck.”

      “He likes to call it a booster seat,” Mandy said. “Car seats are for babies, according to Kaden.”

      Kaden gave her a toothy grin then smiled even bigger for Daniel. “I guess it’s both.”

      Mandy’s face dropped. Daniel noticed, but had the wherewithal not to mention it. He really didn’t want to participate in a contest of who Kaden liked better. He wanted Kaden happy. Period.

      Within minutes, he’d moved the booster seat over and buckled Kaden into the extended cab, then opened the passenger door for Mandy.

      She maintained her distance as she climbed in, but the breeze still sent a hint of her peach shampoo, or perfume, across Daniel’s senses. He hadn’t smelled anything quite like it in a long time, especially not in Malawi or Tanzania, that’s for sure.

      “When’d you get back from Africa?” Kaden asked.

      “Late last night,” Daniel said, closing Mandy’s door and then walking around to his side of the truck and climbing in. “But I’m back to stay this time.”

      “Yes!” Kaden’s excited yell from the backseat sent Daniel’s spirits soaring. He’d made the right decision to come back home. Thanks, God, for steering me once more.

      Mandy huffed out an exasperated breath.

      And if You don’t mind, Lord. Steer me again in how to handle Mandy.

      “So we can spend time together whenever you want,” Daniel continued, then glanced at Mandy. “I’m assuming that will be okay with you.” Mandy had obtained custody after Mia and Jacob’s accident. At the time she’d promised Daniel could see his nephew as often as he wanted, but she’d also thought he didn’t plan on coming to Claremont more than twice a year at the max. “That is okay with you, isn’t it, Mandy?” Daniel repeated.

      Instead of answering, she reached over and flipped on the radio, which Daniel naturally had programmed to the contemporary Christian station. “Avalanche” by Manifest belted from the speakers, and Kaden immediately started tapping his hands against the booster seat with the upbeat sound.

      Mandy looked at Kaden and verified that he was absorbed in the music then she leaned toward Daniel. “I asked you not to come back,” she whispered.

      “Yes, you did,” he acknowledged, starting the truck.

      “But you came, anyway.”

      “Yep, I did.” He headed toward Bo Taylor’s gas station a couple of miles toward town.

      “Why?”

      Daniel glanced in the rearview mirror at Kaden, now bobbing his head to the beat and attempting to sing along. Then he lowered his voice to match hers. “Because you also told me that I was out gallivanting across the globe and enjoying myself while you were left home to raise my nephew. You said that you were tired of having the weight of the world on your shoulders, so I came home to take that tiny weight off your hands and let you do what you want, Mandy.” He nodded, sent a smile to Kaden via the rearview mirror. “We’ll get everything settled with the court for custody and all, and then you can leave. It’ll be the same as before, but in reverse. You can see the world yourself, and let me raise Kaden. Of course, you can come home and visit Kaden whenever you like. I promise to take very good care of him, the way Mia and Jacob would’ve wanted.”

      “I told you I shouldn’t have sent that email. Do you have any idea what I had been through at that point?”

      Daniel noticed Kaden’s head had tilted and that he peered toward the front seat.

      “Do you like this song, too, Uncle Daniel?”

      “I sure do,” Daniel said, smiling back and tapping his hands against the steering wheel with the beat. Then he glanced at Mandy. “We’ll talk about

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