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cooking. Every time I think about your lemonade my mouth waters.”
    2She stepped away from him, swabbing her eyes with a corner of the apron she was never without. “Now look what you’ve gone and made me do. I must look a fright.”
    “You always look beautiful to me.”
    “Still got that smooth tongue, I see.” The cook beamed up at him. “And that boy of yours is just like you. He reminds me of you when you were that age. Always wanting to know ‘why.’ It’s enough to worry a body to death.” She barely paused for breath.
    “I’m going to cook all your favorites for supper tonight. You will be here for supper, won’t you?” She looked hesitantly at Lanie, but his wife’s gaze was fixed on the floor, bottom lip clenched between her teeth.
    Their conversation barely impinged on Lanie’s consciousness when he answered, her thoughts in a frantic whirl. All these years of pain and resentment, thinking he cared nothing for their child, and he hadn’t even known Zack existed.
    “I’ll be here, Martha, and I brought a friend with me. His appetite is even worse than mine so cook plenty.”
    “Now don’t I always, Mr. Quinn? When has anyone left my table still hungry?”
    Fighting twin urges to either collapse in hysteria or wail with the injustice of it all, Lanie pushed the office door open. “Why don’t you get started on that, Martha? Mr.
    Quinn and I have some things to discuss. And would you call down to the barn and ask Sherry to keep an eye on Zack for me? He’s supposed to be showing Quinn’s friend the puppies, but he’s just as likely to have him in the pen with Gator.”
    “Reckon you got some talking to do, at that.” The cook tucked a strand of gray hair behind her ear and waddled back to the kitchen, still mumbling to herself. “Man gets better-looking every time I see him. Ought to be a law against things like that. ‘Bout time he showed up. That youngun’ needs his daddy…” Her voice faded as she vanished into the kitchen.
    “Come in.”
    Lanie waited as Quinn went by her. He headed straight for the black leather sofa and sat on one end, carefully stretching his leg along the entire length of the couch.
    “Who’s Gator?”
    “Our bull.” She closed the door and turned. “He’s not one you want to be around on foot, but for some reason Zack is fascinated by him.”
    She perched on the front of the desk, so many problems streaking through her mind she didn’t know how they would ever sort them out. Mentally, she reached up and grabbed one thought from the maelstrom. “If I’d had any idea that Edward wouldn’t tell you, I would have found a way to let you know, Quinn. It was never my intention to keep Zack from you.” Her tone was as tense as the rest of her body.
    Pushing away from the desk, she paced across the room in agitation. “I should have known, should have realized something was wrong. No matter what happened between us, you aren’t the type to ignore your own child.” Her eyes closed briefly. “I 2can’t believe I was stupid enough to trust Edward with something this important. I know what he’s like.”
    “Yes, you do.”
    “You don’t understand, Quinn. I blamed you for not being here when Zack needed you. I blamed you for not caring enough to be here when he was born, and when he was a year old and I thought he was going to die from pneumonia, I hated you because you couldn’t even call the hospital to ask about him.” She swiped angrily at her eyes. “I tried to convince myself it didn’t matter, that I loved him enough for both of us, but it wasn’t true. It did matter. For Zack and me both. Do you know what his favorite video is? The one we made at the lake right after we got married. He’s almost worn it out rewinding and playing the parts with you in them.”
    “So that’s how he recognized me.” Quinn put both feet back on the floor and leaned forward, elbows on his knees as he rubbed his face. “You could have made him hate me. I