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determined not to let her mother’s comments rile her.
    â€œJared Colton isn’t a hero.”
    â€œI didn’t say he was. Neither has he.” She glanced over her shoulder toward the door. “Is Peggy still watching television? I don’t want her to get her dress dirty.”
    Impatient with her daughter’s effort to change the subject, Enola said, “She’s watching Mr. Rogers and the doors are locked so she can’t go outside.”
    â€œGood. We need to leave in five minutes.”
    Enola rose from the bed and joined Kerry at the dresser mirror. “Kerry, I’m trying to talk to you about this for your own good. You may think Jared Colton’s harmless, but let’s face it, you’re not a good judge of character when it comes to men.”
    With slow deliberation, Kerry picked up a hairbrush and began to pull it through her thick hair. “What is that supposed to mean, Mom?”
    Enola reached out and gripped her daughter’s shoulder. “You thought Damon was a wonderful man. You thought he would give you a nice home with children. Instead, he was using you. If you’d used better judgment, Peggy might’ve had a father that wanted her.”
    Not at any time since Kerry had returned from Virginia, pregnant and heartbroken, had her mother said such hurtful things to her. To learn that Enola thought in these terms filled her with sadness and a firm resolution to start looking for a home of her own. Something she should have done right after Peggy was born.
    â€œYes, I suppose you’re right. I messed up. I let myself behave like a normal woman.”
    â€œKerry—”
    â€œSorry, Mom. I’ve got to go.”
    Before Enola could say more, Kerry grabbed up her handbag and hurried out to fetch Peggy from in front of the television.
    â€œYou won’t be late, will you?” Enola asked as she watched her daughter and grandchild head out the door.
    â€œI don’t know. But don’t worry. I’ll have my cell phone with me in case I have car trouble,” Kerry told her. Even though she knew that car trouble was the last thing Enola would be worried about.
    Â 
    When Jared spotted Kerry’s compact car heading up the drive, he trotted off the porch and met her at the yard fence.
    Immediately Peggy reached for him and he made a big display of tossing her up in the crook of his arm and raving over her pretty pink dress.
    â€œDid you wear that just for me, little dove?”
    She nodded. “Mama says I look pretty in it.”
    He chuckled. “And your mama is right. You look as pretty as she does.”
    Jared’s eyes slanted toward Kerry and she could feel a warm blush slide up her neck and onto her cheeks. She couldn’t remember the last time a man had told her she was pretty. Clarence sometimes remarked on her hair or her clothing, but their relationship was a father-daughter thing. Hearing such a compliment from a man like Jared was something altogether different.
    â€œGood evening, Jared. Are we late? I accidentally ran by the turnoff to your house.”
    He gestured for her to precede him through the yardgate. As Kerry stepped into the yard, she noticed he was dressed a bit more formal this evening. Instead of the jeans and pullovers she’d seen him in the past few days, he was wearing khaki chinos and a pale yellow button-down shirt with long sleeves. Brown roper boots were on his feet and a brown leather belt studded with small chunks of turquoise circled his trim waist.
    â€œYou’re just right,” he assured her. “Would you like to go in and have something to drink or would you rather look around the place first?”
    Kerry stepped inside the yard. “Let’s look around,” she said.
    Nodding in agreement, he placed Peggy back on the ground and quickly reached for the child’s hand. “Okay, let’s walk around the house and then I’ll show you the inside