LITMIR.BIZ

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be a real and present father to Cody. Other than that, she wanted nothing to do with him. She would admit to herself that she still entertained some desire for him, but that was a place she didn’t intend to go ever again.

      Hurt me once, shame on you. Hurt me again, shame on me, she told herself. Knox was strictly off-limits. She’d be an absolute fool to trust even the tiniest piece of her heart to Fort Knox again. They had been star-crossed lovers who’d had their chance together and they’d both blown it.

      She straightened as Chad Watkins walked into the shop. As if Knox hadn’t thrown her for a loop, she now had vandalism and the firing of a man to deal with.

      Chad Watkins was thirty-five years old, but his drinking had aged him. He threw himself into the chair opposite her, his blue eyes watery and red rimmed and his nose covered in broken blood vessels. The faint smell of whiskey and body odor drifted off him.

      “What’s going on?” he asked.

      “Chad, I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to let you go,” she replied. No sense in making pleasant small talk with him, she thought.

      He stared at her for a long moment. “Let me go? You mean you’re firing me?” He looked at her incredulously. “Why?”

      “Your drinking has gotten out of hand and it’s affecting your performance on the job. I’ve had many complaints and I just can’t overlook it any longer. I’d like to encourage you to seek some help.”

      “I don’t need any help. I need this job.” He glared at her as if she were personally responsible for all the woes in his life.

      “I’m sorry, Chad...”

      “You’re going to be sorry about this.” He got up from the chair, his eyes narrowed in anger. “What about severance pay?”

      “I’ll give you two weeks,” she replied.

      “Two weeks? How about you give me ten thousand dollars?”

      Allison stared at him in disbelief. By law she didn’t have to give him a penny. She’d thought she was being generous in offering him the two weeks. “That’s certainly not going to happen,” she replied stiffly.

      “I’ll definitely make you sorry for this. I’ll sue you and I’ll own this stupid company. You just wait and see. I’m going to turn your world upside down.”

      Before she could say another word, he stormed out of the office and slammed the door so hard the glass walls shuddered. “Well, that went well,” she muttered aloud.

      She wasn’t really worried about his threats. She suspected Chad was nothing more than a blowhard who would console himself with a bottle or two of booze and would eventually find another job. At least he didn’t have a wife or a family depending on his paycheck.

      The rest of the day passed fairly uneventfully. George checked in with her to let her know a police report had been made on the damaged wood. He agreed with her it was a good idea that any supplies brought to the site in the future would now be stored inside of the house rather than outside. Hopefully that would solve the problem of any further damage.

      At three o’clock she left work to head home. One of the advantages of being boss was that she could knock off early and be there for her son when he came home from school.

      She hadn’t wanted Cody to be a latchkey kid, and everyone who worked for her knew that she left the office early each afternoon, but was available by cell or home phone if anything important came up.

      It took her only ten minutes to get home. When she’d bought the house less than two years ago, it had needed a lot of work to update and make it into the place of her dreams.

      She’d left the major updates to her team of men, but she had personally spent hours sanding down the oak woodwork and floors. The end result had been worth all the hard work.

      She loved so many things about the house...the bay window in the living room, the large wraparound porch and, most important, the large fenced yard that included several mature trees that were perfect for climbing.

      If they had any slow months this summer, she intended to pay the men to build Cody a tree house. She’d thought about having it done last year, but had never accomplished it. One of the trees was perfectly formed to hold such a structure and she knew Cody would love it.

      Instead of sitting at the kitchen table to wait for Cody to come home, she moved outside to sit on the porch swing. It was a gorgeous afternoon, but she was grateful for the weight of her sweater against a faint cool March breeze.

      She moved the swing back and forth and her head once again filled with thoughts of Knox. The night before she’d ached with his pain as he’d told her about his forced sabbatical because of his mother’s escape from prison.

      When she and Knox had begun dating in high school, Livia had pretended to approve of the match, although Allison had suspected she didn’t approve of Allison’s blue-collar background.

      Nobody had been more surprised than Allison when she’d been awarded a scholarship to Boston University. The opportunity was too good to dismiss. It wasn’t until she had to pull out of school to nurse her father that she’d discovered her scholarship had been made available to her thanks to the charity of Livia Colton. A friend of hers who worked part-time in the bursar’s office had told Allison.

      Livia had gotten her wish to break Allison and Knox apart through distance, but the minute she had returned to Shadow Creek, they had resumed their romance...until he’d left her.

      All thoughts of Knox fled her mind as she saw Cody in the distance heading toward home. He walked with his best friend, Josh Inman, who lived on the next block.

      This was the first year Allison had allowed her son to walk the three blocks from the school bus stop to their home. He’d begged her to be allowed to walk home instead of her picking him up, and she’d finally relented.

      Josh veered off the sidewalk for his house and Cody hurried forward. He spotted her on the swing and waved and her heart swelled with overwhelming love. He was such a good boy and only very rarely pushed boundaries.

      When he reached her he pulled his fire-engine-red backpack off his back and tossed it onto the porch, then sat next to her on the swing.

      “Good day?” she asked. She took a deep breath, loving the scent of sunshine and all things young boy that filled her nose.

      “Great day,” he replied. “Tony Mantelli brought his hamster for pet day and it got loose. All the girls jumped up in their chairs and screamed and Stacy Burrwell’s cat was going crazy in the cage and Danny’s dog was barking. It was totally awesome.”

      Allison laughed. “Did Tony ever get his hamster back?”

      He nodded. “Mrs. Jackson finally caught it and got it back in the cage.” He kicked his feet to move the swing a little faster. “I wish I had a pet.” He slid her a sly glance.

      “And I’ll bet I know what kind of a pet you’d like to have. It’s bigger than a dog and smaller than an elephant.”

      Cody grinned at her. “And it has a mane and hooves.”

      “Cody, having a horse is a huge responsibility.”

      “I know, but I’m ready for it, Mom. I always do my chores on time and I get good grades. I’m responsible and Miss Jade will tell you I’m great with the horses. Just please tell me you’ll think about it.”

      “Okay, I’ll think about it,” she replied. “And what I’m also thinking about is walking to the Cozy Diner for dinner this evening. It’s a beautiful day.”

      “Hmm, spaghetti Monday.” Cody rubbed his stomach.

      Allison got up from the swing. “Homework?”

      “Yeah, a little.”

      “Let’s get to it so that you don’t have to worry about

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