Kate stood and held out her arms. “I’ll take him.”

He let her because she knew what to do and he didn’t want to make things worse. She walked down the hall, murmuring soothing sweet nothings and the silence proved it had worked.

Joe restlessly paced the living room because he was angry as hell. At Kate, but mostly at himself. He’d thought the past no longer affected him. He was wrong. And being wrong had affected his son.

It was obvious that Kate was confused and wanted to know what was up between him and his brother, but talking about it was the last thing he wanted. About that, and especially about what happened to him in Afghanistan. As long as there was breath left in his body, he would move heaven and earth not to let any of his darkness upset his son again. And Kate. He couldn’t stand the thought of anything bad touching her.

Kate wondered about Joe’s sudden shift in mood. One minute he was gentle and soft, the next tense, angry, and the baby had felt something—his aggression, hostility. That definitely defined the man after she’d said his brother had given her the address. What was up with that?

While the baby slept, she and Joe sat at the kitchen table munching on doughnuts and bagels and drinking the coffee that had gone cold. She’d nuked it.

Needing something to take the edge off what felt far too intimate, she had a pencil and paper and was jotting down things to get at the store. Every time she looked up, he was watching her.

“What?” she asked.

He nodded at her growing list. “You’re going to need a U-Haul.”

“Sometimes it feels that way. Especially when I’m toting J.T. along. I don’t think I truly appreciated shopping by myself until becoming a mother.”

“I could help.”

“I wasn’t complaining,” she said quickly.

“That never occurred to me. After going through basic training this morning, I have a better understanding. Shopping with the little guy must be similar to the precision and coordination of inserting a combat team into a hot zone.”

She laughed. “Sometimes it feels that way.”

“So let me help. I could go for you.”

“Thanks, but no. I’ve seen men in the store. Without a cell phone they’re lost. It would take twice as long.”

“Then I could stay with J.T.—”

“No.” When his eyes narrowed, she wanted to call the word back. Or at least soften her tone. “What if he wakes up?”

“I’ll handle it. Crying is actually good for his lungs, remember?”

And how she wanted those words back. “I’m more worried about you.”

“I wouldn’t hurt him.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Not really. But his sudden change of mood before had taken her aback. “The crying can frazzle you even if you’re used to it.”

“I’m pretty tough—”

The phone rang and she was grateful for the interruption until the caller ID showed that it was her mother. Nonetheless, dealing with Candy Carpenter was easier than explaining to Joe why she didn’t want to leave him alone with his son.

She picked up the phone and hit the talk button. “Hi, Mom.”

“Hi. How’s J.T.?”

“Really good.”

“And you?”

“I’m fine.” A lie, but she wasn’t saying anything about her baby’s father showing up while he was sitting there watching her. “How are things with you?”

“Robert and I had a fight.”

So this wasn’t a call to see how things were with her and J.T. It was all about her mother. She glanced at Joe who was watching her. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

A big sigh came through loud and clear. “He said I wasn’t giving him enough space. That I was going too fast and he’s not ready.”

“Were you?”

“No.”

Kate rolled her eyes. Her mother lived in Pahrump, about an hour’s drive northwest of Las Vegas. She worked as a waitress in a diner. An attractive brunette, she got a lot of male attention. All was well in the first stages of a new relationship—first-meet euphoria followed by a few weeks of adoration. And of course, Candy always swore this one was the love of her life and they’d be together forever. Then she started to push.

Kate had told her over and over that she didn’t need a man to be happy, but somehow the words never stuck. She was tired of wasting her breath.

“Did it ever occur to you that you might be better off?” she asked.

“How can you say that?” Candy demanded. “He’s everything I ever wanted. Good-looking. He has a great job. We have fun together. The sex is—”

“Too much info, Mom.” That wasn’t a visual she wanted in her head.

“I’m still a young and vibrant woman.”

“Yes, you are. And you’re okay on your own. There’s no point in hanging on to something that doesn’t make your life better.”

“He does make it better,” Candy protested.