23I wanted to kick myself. I’d forgotten something else about Pat.
He met eleven-year-old Woody. He knew I didn’t tell Woody’s father when I got pregnant.
Vicky had the last name Hinton, same as Woody and his single mom.
Tall and poised, she could be as old as twenty.
Given her brown hair and blue eyes, Pat had needed only a slight nudge to jump to the wrong conclusion.
Sighing, I tightened my grip on Vicky’s arm.
“Please excuse her adolescent humor. She’s only sixteen. Doesn’t realize you think I’m about to sue you for back child support.”
Vicky needed three seconds to catch my drift. She gasped.
Pat’s eyelids slowly dropped to half-mast.
He chortled.
“Goddammit, Bella, I missed you.”
He pulled the door open wider.
“Get your ass in here.”
Once we were indoors, Pat moved fast.
