LITMIR.BIZ

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a babysitter than before. Unless the college kid she mentioned... No. He didn’t want anyone but her.

      Did Lauren still have the same impression of him from way back when?

      What did it matter?

      If he could just figure out how to get through to Wyatt. He’d always been a big part of the kid’s life. Chase’s career as a wide receiver kept him training and traveling nine months of the year, so Drew had helped take care of Wyatt off and on during football season. Wyatt’s drug-addicted mom had never been around. Even if she had been, she certainly couldn’t have taken care of him.

      “Don’t you want to show off your fishing skills when your dad gets out?” Drew kept his tone light. Chase made mistakes—big mistakes—but Drew believed in him and hoped Wyatt would, too.

      “Six years from now.” Wyatt kicked at the dock with his sneaker.

      “His lawyer said he’ll get out in three if he models good behavior.”

      Wyatt looked up at Drew. “Do you think he’ll do it? Get out early?”

      Drew lowered himself into the chair next to him, ruffling Wyatt’s hair with his free hand. “Yeah, I do. He’ll do anything to be back with you. He loves you.”

      Wyatt’s face fell again.

      “What did you think of Lauren?” Drew asked.

      He shrugged.

      “We went to high school together. I wasn’t very nice to her.”

      “Is that why she left without eating her ice cream?”

      “Maybe she wasn’t hungry.” Drew cranked his line in a little ways. “I don’t think she left because she held a grudge. Like I said, I was mean to her in high school, but she was probably the nicest person I knew. Very genuine.”

      “Why were you mean?”

      Drew kept one eye on the bobber out in the lake. “I was stupid. When I was fourteen, I had a crush on her. One of my friends told me she’d never go out with me. He said she was too perfect. I asked one of the other cheerleaders if she thought I had a chance with Lauren, and she laughed. She told me Lauren would never date me, that she thought she was better than everyone. I took their word for it. And my pride made me say things and treat Lauren in ways I regret.”

      “She deserved it if she thought she was better than you.”

      “No, she didn’t. No one does.” Drew shook his head. “I trusted people who didn’t have my best interest at heart. I should have asked Lauren myself, instead of listening to my so-called friends.”

      “What do you mean?” Wyatt’s face twisted in confusion.

      “Looking back, I think every guy in my class had a crush on Lauren.”

      “She’s pretty.”

      “Yeah, and some of the cheerleaders were jealous of her.”

      “Oh.”

      “They had their own reasons for not wanting me to ask her out. Lauren kept to herself, but it didn’t mean she was stuck-up. I hope you think about that as you get older. Don’t believe everything you hear.”

      “Like about my mom.” Wyatt got a lost look on his face again.

      Whenever Drew tried to talk to him about his mother, Wyatt’s mouth shut tighter than a vacuum-packed seal. Maybe this was the opening he needed. “What about your mom?”

      “Forget it.”

      “Why don’t you tell me?”

      “People said things.”

      “People say a lot of things.”

      Wyatt’s sad eyes met his. “They said she was on drugs and owed that Len guy money, and that’s why he killed her.”

      Drew reeled in the rest of his line as he tried to figure out the best way to respond. Missy and Chase had never married. They were together for only a few years before Missy left and got mixed up with drugs. “You and I both know she went to rehab last year and was trying hard to live a healthy lifestyle.”

      “Yeah. I was glad when she moved by us. We’d play games with Dad and go to movies.”

      “Your dad cared about her. They were even talking about getting back together.”

      Wyatt nodded, the corners of his mouth drooping. “Do you think she was in a lot of pain before she died?”

      While he was glad Wyatt was finally talking, it hurt to think he had to have his conversation. No kid should have to deal with this. A murdered mom? A dad in jail? Wyatt deserved an intact family—didn’t every kid?

      “No. The police said she died quickly.”

      “Do you think she’s in heaven?”

      He squirmed. This was another one of those tricky areas. Drew had no idea what Missy had believed. “The Bible says as long as you trust in Jesus as your savior, you go to heaven.”

      “But what if she didn’t?”

      “I wish I could tell you your mom is in heaven. I hope she is, but I don’t really know. What do you think?”

      “I want her to be.”

      “Me, too.”

      Wyatt grabbed his fishing rod and stood at the end of the dock. “How do I do this again?”

      Drew showed him the steps. Wyatt’s first attempts didn’t get the line far, but after a few more tries, he cast it out several feet. Drew gave him a high five.

      “Hey, Wyatt, we’re going to be all right.” He put his arm around him. “I hope you know that.”

      “Do you think Lauren would stay with me while you’re at work?”

      Drew’s chest expanded. The kid liked her. Wyatt had already opened up more in the last ten minutes than he had since Chase went to jail three months ago. But Lauren didn’t work with troubled kids anymore. She’d made that clear. What had happened in Chicago to make her quit?

      “I don’t know.” This conversation alone hammered it home—Wyatt was dealing with much more than the average kid. He didn’t need a college student around to watch TV and heat up chicken nuggets. He needed to make sense of his shattered family. He needed Lauren. She might not believe she could help him, but Drew knew she could.

      And maybe in the process, he could help her, too. Her sunny smile had grown cloudy since he’d last seen her, and he wanted to bring her joy back.

      He’d just have to figure out how to get her to say yes.

       Chapter Two

      “I’ve been talking to Stan, and we think you should offer a class.”

      Lauren looked up from her computer screen at the reception desk of LE Fitness the following afternoon. Megan Fellows, one of the Zumba instructors, stood in front of her. Since moving back in January, Lauren had reconnected with Megan, two years her junior, and they’d become good friends, partly because Megan was so upbeat and made it her mission to not let Lauren dissolve into a puddle of depression. What would she think of Drew’s offer?

      It didn’t matter. Lauren had made her decision. She needed to stay strong and say no when Drew called. If he called...

      He would call. His take-charge personality assured her he would not let this matter fade away.

      “What kind of class?” Lauren typed in a new client’s information.

      “A tumbling class for cheerleaders.”

      A tumbling class? The idea didn’t horrify her. “I don’t know.”

      “You

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