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mouth. “How dare you invoke my daughter’s name against me,” she continued after swallowing the bite and scooping another large bite.
    “Sammy, right now, I could n’t care less what you think of my tactics,” he glowered. “You are a shadow of yourself, and you need to pull it together.” Jason finished, calmly, but his voice had a slight edge that was more indicative of his fear than any real anger. He took a deep breath before he cleared his bowl to the sink and checked Corigan’s progress on her own dinner of finger foods, waiting for her wrath at his words.
    “How do you know how I am anymore?” she spat, with a look that would’ve vaporized him where he stood, had he not been prepared for it.
    “Oh, put away the ‘you’re dead to me’ look. You know that’s never worked on me, Sammy,” Jason shot back, a smug smile spreading across his face. Instead of responding, Sammy chose, wisely, to take another over large bite of the chowder. Then she smiled, sweetly, at Jason, and he knew she had regrouped and was getting ready to go in for the kill.
    “Before you start to berate me for calling you Sammy or something else equally stupid, I just want to say thank you for letting me feed you and help with Corigan tonight,” he said , his face now sincere as he started to wipe down her kitchen island to clear it of bread crumbs and chowder drippings. He watched her smile falter and he knew he’d defused the bomb she was planning to detonate, because she narrowed her eyes again and finished off her chowder and bread in record time.
    “All clear, daddy,” she said, holding up her bowl. “May I be excused now?” she asked, rolling her eyes.
    “Wow,” Jason said, playfully, “I love it when you call me daddy.” He growled.
    “Don’t get used to it,” she grumbled as she moved her bowl to the sink to rinse it out. “I’m going to bathe Corigan and get her settled for the night, you can leave,” she said, pulling Corigan from her high chair and heading for the stair. Before she was about to start her descent, she turned back to face him, adding, “Tell Sara I said your babysitting shift is over. Oh, and get her to pay you time and a half for forcing me to eat,” she finished before turning on her heels and disappearing to the first floor of her house. He was relieved to see glimmers of his Sammy behind the wall of pain, and he hoped that she would let him help her get her life back on track.

Chapter 4
     
    “Sammy!” Jason yelled at the open window on the east end of the two story pink craftsman.
    “What?!” she answered back, shoving half of her body out of the second floor window, her long braid hanging over her shoulder.
    “Stop playing dolls with Sara and McKenna! Come to the park and play kickball with me!” He told her.
    “Why? You said girls suck at kickball yesterday when Davey asked you to ditch me!” she pouted.
    “I was wrong!” he stamped his foot. “ Davey sucks at kickball and I need you on my team so we can beat his!”
    “No,” she said, pushing back into her room.
    Running his hands through his bowl-cut blonde hair, he growled in frustration. She could be so stubborn sometimes.
    “Fine! What do you want?” he asked the empty window. “Tell me and I’ll do it, Sammy! I’m sorry I doubted you.”
    “Well, that’s a start,” she snorted, walking out her front door in a pair of short green gym shorts and a black tank top. “I knew you’d grovel and beg, and I need you to do my chores for a week,” she shot him a devilish grin.
    “All of them?” he groaned at the thought of cleaning up after four girls, in addition to the four he helped clean up after at home.
    “Yup,” she said, popping the p in emphasis. “McKenna agrees that you made a severe miscalculation yesterday. You know you’ve always been able to count on me…you should never doubt me again.” She started the walk toward the park, swaying her hips in rhythm with her words. Instantly, he knew she