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the outside,” Abby replied. “Besides, I’ve already hired a carpenter to work on the place…Luke Delaney. Do you know him?”
    Stephanie rolled her eyes. “Honey, every woman in the four-state area knows Luke Delaney.” She leaned closer to Abby. “That man is sin walking on two legs.” Her gaze flickered to the children. “Course, if you’re married, then you’re safe.”
    â€œI’m widowed,” Abby replied.
    â€œThen you’d better watch yourself. That handsome devil drips charm from every pore in his body, and he can seduce a woman before she knows what’s happened.”
    Stephanie used her order pad to fan her face.“There are days when I see him and wish I wasn’t so long in the tooth and could have a go at him.”
    â€œAt the moment all I want from him is a new front porch,” Abby replied with a laugh, although she was more than a little unsettled by Stephanie’s characterization of Luke.
    â€œFamous last words,” Stephanie replied with a wry grin. “Now, what can I get for you all?”
    She took their orders and small talked a moment longer, then left the booth and disappeared into the kitchen area.
    â€œCan we have money for the jukebox?” Jason asked.
    â€œNot until after we eat,” Abby replied. “You know the rule, eat first, play the jukebox afterward.” It was a rule she’d instigated the first time she and the kids had eaten at a place that had a jukebox.
    She’d mistakenly allowed them to play songs before their meals were served and had had to fight with them to get them in their seats to eat.
    Before Jason could lodge any real protest, Stephanie returned to their table with their beverages. A thick chocolate shake effectively stilled any complaint Jason might have uttered.
    â€œCute kids,” Stephanie said as she lingered for a moment at their table.
    â€œThanks, I think so,” Abby replied.
    â€œWhat’s your name, cutie?” Stephanie asked Jessica.
    Jessica’s gaze instantly went to her brother. “She doesn’t talk,” he explained soberly. “She doesn’t talk to anyone but me.”
    â€œShy, huh. My oldest boy was like that,” Stephanie said to Abby. “He’s twenty-five now and still doesn’t talk much unless he’s got something really important to say.”
    â€œHey, Stephanie, how about some fresh coffee over here,” a guy hollered from the counter.
    â€œNo rest for the wicked,” she said with a wink, then hurried away.
    Abby took a sip of her soda and settled back in the seat. She wished it were just shyness that kept Jessica silent. But she knew it was much more than that, and it ached inside her that after a whole year Jessica still didn’t trust Abby enough to speak to her, that the little girl trusted and depended solely on her brother.
    Within a few minutes, Stephanie had served them their meals and they were all eating. It was only then that Abby allowed the conversation with the waitress to replay in her mind.
    Sin walking on two legs. Yes, that was certainly an apt description, at least physically, of Luke Delaney. From the moment she’d seen him standing at her doorstep, with those gorgeous eyes and that drop-dead lean body with his mountain-broad shoulders, she’d been affected on a purely hormonal level.
    But Stephanie’s words warned Abby away from what she knew would be foolishness in any case. She could not get involved with any man, not yet…not until she knew for certain they were safe and her secrets were secure.
    Even if she was in the market for a relationship with a man, the last kind of man she wanted was a handsome charmer with seduction on his mind.
    If and when she decided to invite a man into her life, it would be a man who had the capacity to parent two wounded children, a man who could be a source of strength, support and love for Abby. She certainly