Billy leaned forward in his chair again. "Amy Lynn, don't swing so high." He sat back and said, "Well, youmust have made up a time or two or else she wouldn't have ended up pregnant."

Jack recalled with perfect clarity the many limes he'd made love to her in the backseat of his car, standing upsomewhere with her legs around his waist, or in her bedroom while her mom worked late. "I think we used tofight just so we could make up in the backseat of my Camaro."

"Sounds like teenage hormones," Billy said, looking over at Jack though his clear blue eyes as if things hadbeen that simple.

"It was more than just hormones." He'd been with girls before Daisy, but with her, it had been more than justgetting off. Last Saturday on the back of the Custom Lancer proved that she could still make him feel that way.

After all these years. Of course, that had been before he'd found out about Nathan. Now all he felt for her was abiting anger. He took a drink, and rested the bottle on the top of his right thigh. "I thought she was it for me.

She's all I used to think about."

"If you were in love with her, why did you break up with her?"

"How do you know that I broke up with her?"

"It was in Steven's letter."

"It was?" He recalled little about the letter other than the mention of Nathan. "Mom and dad had just died and Iwas dealing, or trying to deal, with all of that." He lifted a finger off the bottle and pointed at his brother. "Youremember what pure hell that was."

"Sure."

"About that same time Daisy got even more possessive and emotional than usual. It seemed like she was alwayshanging on my neck, and the more I tried to get her to loosen her grasp, the more she choked me. I just couldn'thandle it, so I told her we needed time apart. The next thing I knew, she'd married my best friend."

"Pregnant women get really weird. Believe me, I've been through it three times now."

"I didn't know she was pregnant."

"True. She told Steven and not you because you'd dumped her."

"I didn't dump her." Christ, Billy was starting to piss him off. "I just needed some time to think. If I'd known, Iwould have done the right thing."

"I know you would have."

Finally, a little support from his family"But she felt dumped all the same, and she went to Steven and he helped her out instead of you."

"What the hell? You're my brother. You're supposed to be on my side."

"I am. Always. But you're so angry, I just don't think you can see things clearly, is all. I understand how youfeel, but someone needs to point out to you that you had a hand in Daisy marrying Steven."

"Maybe," he conceded for the sake of argument, but he wasn't sure he believed it. "But that doesn't excuseeither of them from not telling me about my son. I'll never forgive Daisy for that."

"Well, you know what Tim McGraw says about never?"

He didn't give a shit what Tim McGraw had to say about anything. Tim was married to Faith Hill, and Faithhadn't run off with his babies and kept them a secret for fifteen years.

Billy took a long pull off his beer and told him anyway. "Old Tim says something about the trouble with neveris never never works. I think there's some wisdom in that."

And Jack thought Billy needed to slow down on the Lone Star. "I was thinking that maybe I'd grab the boat andtake Nathan to Lake Meredith fishing," he said purposely directing the conversation away from Daisy. "Maybecamp out for a night."

"Rhonda and I took the girls and camped out at the lake last summer. We stayed at that Stanford-Yake campsiteright thereby the marina. It had a real nice comfort station for the girls."

"I don't care how nice the toilets are." Billy cared because he had to live with four females who'd bitch about it.

"I thought you might want to ask Nathan's momma to come along."

Jack stood and walked across the patio. "What's gotten into you?" He wanted to get to know his son withoutanyone else around. Now that he knew about his reaction whenever Nathan brought up Daisy or Steven, hecould control it. "Are you being contrary just to piss me off?"

Billy laughed and stood also. "No, I just thought Nathan might be more comfortable with her there. He mightopen up more."

Maybe, but sleeping with Daisy in the same tent was not going to happen. It wasn't even an option. And it hadnothing to do with sex and everything to do with him maybe putting a pillow over her head while she slept. Hemoved to the Rubbermaid garbage can by the side of the house, opened the lid, and tossed the bottle inside.

"We'll be okay alone." He secured the lid down tight. "We'll catch some walleye and maybe a few largemouthbass."

"Sounds good."

"Hey, you two," Jack called across the yard. "Get over here and give me some sugar so I can leave."

Lacy slid down the yellow plastic slide, and a few seconds later Amy Lynn jumped off the swing. They both ranacross the lawn. Lacy with her head down as usual - Jack knelt on one knee, safely removing his nuts fromhead-butting level.

Billy moved across the patio and threw away his bottle. "Maybe next week sometime, we should have Nathanover so he can meet his cousins."

"To meet your two yard babies?" Jack asked as he grabbed Lacy and set her on his knee.

"I'm not a yard baby," Amy Lynn protested, but she wrapped her ants around his neck and kissed his cheek.

"What are you, then? A yard bird?"

"What's that?"

"A chicken"

"Swear to God. That's what your grandma Parrish called chickens. 'Course, she was raised on a farm inTennessee and they really did have chickens in their yard." He gave Lacy a kiss, then set her back on her feet.

He stood with Amy Lynn's arms still around his neck.

"Don't go," she protested.

"Got to." He tickled her armpits and she giggled and dropped to her feet. "I have to make some big fishing'plans."

"You'll have fun," Billy predicted as he scooped up Lacy and followed Jack to the gate at the side of the house.

"Nathan's a good kid. You can tell he's being raised right."

Jack glanced over his shoulder at Billy. "You saw the way he looks. That ring though his lip and that hair.

Those dog chains and his pants down around the crack of his ass."

"That's the way some kids look today. Doesn't mean he wasn't raised right."

True, but Jack wasn't in the mood to give Daisy credit for anything, especially since Billy seemed determined toplay devil's advocate. "When he was three, he wanted a Porsche 911."

Billy stopped dead in his tracks. "He's a Parrish."

Finally, he'd made his point.

Jack raised his hand and knocked twice on Louella Brooks's front door. The sun was beginning to set, washingthe porch in dull gray light.

The door swung open and he came face-to-face with Daisy. Her hair was down around her shoulders, kind ofmessy as if she'd just got out of bed. She wore a pink dress that tied behind her neck and laced up between herbreasts. Her feet were bare and she was sexy as hell. A contrary mix of anger and desire pulled low in hisabdomen.

"Hi, Jack."

"Hey. Is Nathan around?"

"Nathan left with my mother, but..." ...Her brows lowered and she licked her lips. "What time is it?"

He looked at his watch. "A little after eight."

"Oh. Well, Mom and Nathan went over to Lily's to help her with dinner."

"How's your sister?"

She brushed her fingertips beneath her eyes. "Better. She went home from the hospital two days ago."

"Did I wake you up?"

"I guess I nodded off during 'Frasier' reruns." She gave hint a warm, sleepy smile. "Nathan should be backanytime."

"Do you mind if I wait for him?"

"Are you going to be nice?" She drew out the word niiiiiice. Daisy Lee had found her accent.

"Reasonably."

She thought about if for a moment, then stepped back. "Come on in."

He followed her through the darkened living room. The technicolor light from the televison flashed white andblue patches across her bare shoulders and back. She led him into the kitchen and flipped the switch.

It had been a long time since he'd been in Louella Brooks's kitchen.

"Would you like something to drink? Tea, Coke, water?" She smiled back over her shoulder at him. "Bourbon?"

"No thanks."

She raked her finger through the top of her hair as she opened the refrigerator and pulled out a blue bottle ofwater with her free hand. Her fingers combed through her hair to the ends, then she twisted the top off the bottleand knocked the door shut with her hip.

"How was your trip?" he asked.

"It was real sad." The silk strands of her hair slid back in place, and she leaned a shoulder into the refrigeratorand looked up at him. "I finally packed up most of Steven's things. Junie came over and got what she wanted.

Good Will came and got the rest"

Jack saw the sadness in her brown eyes and told himself he didn't care. She lifted the bottle to her lips and tooka long drink. When she lowered it again, a clear drop of water rested on her top lip. "I have some photos foryou." The droplet rested there for several long moments before it slid down and disappeared into the seam.

"What photos?" If they were pictures of her and Steven and Nathan living it up in Seattle, then she could keepthem.

"The photo taken in the nursery when Nathan was born, of him riding his trike, blowing out birthday candles,playing football. Stuff like that." She held up a finger. "I'll be right back."

He didn't want her to be reasonable. Giving him photos went beyond pretending to be nice in public. He didn'twant her to be nice at all. He didn't want to watch crystal drops of water slide between her pink lips. He didn'twant to watch her leave, his gaze slipping down her back to her behind and the bottom of the dress where ittouched the backs of her thighs.