This attack was so brutal, the blow landing full force, I could see the impact on Donna’s face.

Thus, I squeezed her hand and whispered, “Amber.”

She let me go, pushed in front of me and grabbed the cart, shoving it forward. “We gotta get this done or Eath is gonna have a tizzy. His breakfast probably wore off an hour ago.”

This was surely the truth but as much as I didn’t enjoy being in Donna’s company, or Amber being in it when she didn’t like it, I couldn’t leave it where it was.

“I think perhaps we should all go get a coffee,” I suggested.

Amber stopped and looked back at me, her face set, her eyes flashing. “No freaking way.”

“That’s okay,” Donna’s voice was a squeak and when I looked to her I knew this was due to her struggling to hold back her emotion. “I’ll, uh…I’ll just…” she trailed off, looking around and I knew she was going to flee.

Which meant then she was going to flee.

I turned my gaze to Amber. “Sweetheart, take care of the list. I’m going to have a word with your mother. I’ll meet you at the checkout.”

“Works for me,” Amber said readily and sauntered off, pushing the cart like she didn’t have a care in the world.

I looked back to Donna and invited, “Perhaps we should go outside.”

She stared at me and I knew she wanted to say no. But it was obvious she was so wounded she could do nothing but nod.

We moved outside the store and down the walk in front of it to be away from the doors.

Only then did I speak.

“Are you leaving Magdalene?” I asked.

She blinked.

“It is a small town, Donna,” I reminded her.

“I…well…Anderson offered me a raise to get me to stay but there’s a job in Boston that pays more and—”

I cut her off. “You cannot leave town.”

She stared at me.

“Jake doesn’t want you to leave,” I shared and her mouth dropped open. “He wants the mother of his children to be a mother to his children. Although it probably matters not to you, I don’t wish for you to leave either, for the same reason. Your children, alas, likely won’t let it show that they care one way or another. But I can assure you, what they let show and what they feel will not be the same things. You have essentially abandoned them. If you do this in an official capacity, it will wound them in a way they will never forget their whole lives and that way will be a way where it will never heal.”

“But she hates me,” Donna whispered.

“She has a right to that emotion,” I told her truthfully. “And you have the capacity to turn that emotion around. She’s angry and it will not be an easy fight. But it’ll be worth every blow she lands in order to succeed.”

She shook her head before she asked, “How do I even start to do that?”

“You start by taking that raise and not leaving town,” I answered. “Then you start by just starting.”

“People think—” she began.

“Your ex-husband runs a gentleman’s club to provide for his family,” I interrupted her to point out. “Do you think it matters what people think when it comes to your children?”

She shut her mouth.

“Call her and ask her if she’d like to go shopping. If she refuses, ask her to a movie. Call Conner and ask him to dinner and request he brings his sister. If they refuse, keep calling. Text to let them know you’re thinking of them. Ask them to spend the night at your house. Buy them things to bribe them into paying at least scant attention to you. It doesn’t matter what you do, what tactic you use, you’re fighting to win back your children. Do it. Use it. Grovel. Beg. Apologize. Show them every way you can think of that they mean something to you. I cannot guarantee that any of that will break through. The only thing I know is that they’re worth the effort.”

“Do you have kids of your own?” she asked and I couldn’t help but feel the sting of the question even though, from the look on her face, it wasn’t meant to bite.

“No.”

“Then how do you—?”

“Because my mother left me to a monster,” I told her bluntly and watched her eyes grow wide. “She saved herself and never looked back. I haven’t heard a word from her in thirty-five years. But I not only needed her to protect me from my father, I just needed her.”

She pressed her lips together and the way she did, I decided I’d done all I could do.

Therefore, I said, “The decision is yours. But I hope you make the right one. Have a lovely Sunday, Donna.”

I turned and started to walk away but I heard her call my name so I turned back.

Donna asked the instant I did, “Is Lucky Brand still her favorite store?”

Relief swept through me and I nodded, adding a, “Yes, Donna. It is. She also finds things she likes at Anthropologie. Further, she often finds things at Buckle.”

Donna nodded quickly.

I held her eyes and said with feeling, “Good luck, Donna.”

Her voice was hesitant and croaky when she replied, “Thank you, Josie.”

She gave me a wave I didn’t return for she’d turned and started walking away.

I found Amber standing in the checkout line.

The instant I stopped close, she asked, “Did you tell her to vanish?”

“No, my lovely, I did not,” I said gently.

“She doesn’t give a crap about us, Josie.”

“We shall see.”

She turned a set face to the line, doing it murmuring, “Yeah, we will.”

I sighed.

Amber was quiet all the way to Jake’s and after she helped me get the bags in, she went directly to and up the stairs, undoubtedly seeking the sanctuary of her room.

This meant she was calling one of the Taylors or Alexi, who was, according to boy Taylor, a good listener.

Alas, I also knew from boy Taylor that he was a good kisser.

I was glad to know the first.

I wished I did not know the last.

“What gives with that?” Jake asked from close to my back.

I turned and looked up at him. “Are the boys involved with the game?”

“Oh shit,” he said as his reply.

I put a hand to his chest. “Are the boys involved with the game, darling?”

“Yeah,” he answered, watching me closely.

“Then I’ll share in the kitchen.”

This I did while emptying a bag of Ruffles in a bowl and watching with some interest mingled with trepidation as Jake spooned an entire container of sour cream into another bowl before he emptied a packet of instant soup into it and stirred it to blend.

When I was done telling my tale of grocery store woe, he didn’t look happy, he didn’t look angry.

He just looked concerned.

“We gotta keep our eye on that,” he told me.

“Agreed,” I replied. Then to take his mind off this, I asked, “What’s in that bowl?”

His eyes came to me. “Onion dip.”

I pressed my lips together.

He grinned before saying, “You’re gonna love it, babe.”

“Is there anything you serve your children that isn’t mixed from an envelope, unearthed from a box or heated from a jar?”

“Yeah. When you cook.”

I rolled my eyes.

By the time I rolled them back, Jake had his fingers wrapped around the side of my neck and the bowl in his other hand.

“Ethan’s bitchin’, need to feed my boy,” he told me.

“Then let’s not delay in going to the family room so you can continue your quest to preserve your children’s bodies through chemicals.”

Jake burst out laughing.

I allowed myself a moment to watch, my lips curved up, then I grabbed the bowl of chips.

* * * * *

Jake’s arm around my belly gave me a squeeze as he nuzzled his face into the back of my hair.

I closed my eyes, stretching my arms out in front of me even as I pressed my hips back. In return, Jake shifted his hips upward, gliding his cock deeper inside me.

We’d both just come, Jake making love to me spooning. This was after Monday morning mayhem at his house, Jake going to the gym to open up, me taking Ethan to school, both of us returning in order to enjoy a mid-morning session in Jake’s bed.

His hand slid up and cupped my breast, his thumb stroking the side as he asked, “You gonna take a nap?”

“You aren’t?” I asked back.

“Got a guy comin’ in for training. Unfortunately, gotta hit it.”

“Mm,” I mumbled, settling further back into him.

“Jesus,” he growled, pressing deeper into me as his hand tightened at my breast. “You make leavin’ hard.”

“I suppose there are things to do,” I gave in.

“Yeah. And for me, one of them was my woman. Did that. Gotta get my ass in gear.”

I grinned at his words as Jake lifted up, kissed my shoulder and pulled gently out. Then he shifted in a way I knew what he wanted. So as he rolled back, I rolled toward him, lifted my head and looked into his eyes.

Now a deep blue.

Phenomenal.

I loved his eyes.

I loved his hair.

I loved the scar on his cheek.

I loved the power of his body.

I loved his warmth.

I loved the feel of him still between my legs.

I just loved him.

“Fuck,” he whispered and my thoughts moved from loving Jake Spear to the actual Jake lying in bed with me.

“What?” I whispered back.

His hand came up to cup my jaw and he answered, “You make leaving hard.”

“I wasn’t doing anything, Jake.”

“You were lookin’ at me thinkin’ somethin’, Slick, and whatever it was you were thinking makes leaving you hard.”

I drew in breath.

He lifted up, touched his mouth to mine and left it there, his eyes peering into mine when he said, “Lucky I know I get to come back.”