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stupid.  
    That’s not how Clarence made her feel.
    She was not that same girl, not anymore. She was a grown woman with a child and if she wanted to kiss the male nurse, by God she would. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s because he’s a nice guy?” she snapped, rising from the table. “If it becomes your problem, I’ll let you know, okay?”
    Tara had the damn nerve to shake her head back and forth, like this was a disappointing answer, right up there with the disappointing answer that Ezra had left. Tammy came this close to reminding Tara that she was not, in fact, Tammy’s mother and that, in fact, she had also gotten knocked up by a guy who bailed, so she could just get off her high horse.
    Sadly, even when she was pissed, it was hard for Tammy to be that rude. So instead she said, “In the meantime, stay on your side of the street, Tara. And I’ll stay on mine.” Then she purposefully went into the kitchen and began to dry the dishes.  
    Oh, yeah—there was something going on with Clarence. And she wouldn’t mind something more happening. And wouldn’t it be great if the something more happened on a regular basis? But she doubted that Tara would offer to babysit after that little ‘discussion’ and she wasn’t the kind of mother who could just leave her son at home.
    What was she going to do?
    *****
    Clarence beat Tammy in the next morning, which gave him time to unbox the new coffee maker. He was not in the best of moods. It was early, yeah. Plus, he was still pissed at Tara—hell, he was pissed at himself and he didn’t even know why.  
    He was not a complicated guy. He got up, went to work, came home, went to bed. Repeat. Simple.
    And this—this—this thing with Tammy was making things complicated.
    What had he expected to happen? That Tara would be so appreciative of Clarence paying attention to her little sister that she’d just get the hell out of the way?
    He started Tammy’s coffee and cleaned the new coffee pot while hers was brewing. This was not a permanent solution but at least it’d get everyone else to stop bitching about the coffee.
    His head was a mess and he didn’t like it. This wouldn’t be worth the hassle, except he didn’t want to let Tara steamroll him.
    Except . . . except for that kiss. To hell with Tara. This was between him and Tammy.
    He heard the car doors slamming and went to get the door for her. She had Mikey against her shoulder again.
    “Clarence,” she said in a tight voice that did nothing to help the place his head was in.
    Oh, hell—had Tara gone off on her last night? “Tammy,” he replied, feeling uncertain again. “I . . .”
    She stopped and pivoted. He couldn’t read her eyes. All that tight tension from the last two days seemed long gone and all that was left was a wariness that was not exactly encouraging. “Yes?”
    “I brought a coloring book for Mikey today.”
    The little boy lifted his head up and popped his thumb out of his mouth. “Coloring?”
    Clarence pulled the rolled-up coloring book—some $0.99 cent cheapie featuring smiling animals—out of his back pocket and handed it to the kid. “But you have to do a good job. Stay inside the lines and stuff.”
    “Peas tank you,” Mikey said as he wriggled down from Tammy’s arms and went to grab a box of crayons that were little more than nubs off a shelf. Then he sat down and started coloring very carefully.
    Okay, so the kid still liked him. But Tammy had her hands on her hips and was giving Clarence a look that was way too familiar. “You’re going to spoil him.”
    “It’s just a couple of small things. Didn’t cost much.”
    That was clearly the wrong thing to say because a red-hot blush raced up her cheeks and she darn-near glared at him. “Well, it’s more than I can afford to give him and I’m the one who’ll have to deal with the fallout when you stop giving him presents for no particular reason.”
    Clarence blinked at her. He’d never heard her say something so