.

She was throwing up and couldn’t eat or poop.”

      Her compassionate youngest child looked distressed at that. “Is she okay?”

      “She is now. Dr. Morales came in and helped me fix things. It will take a day or two, but Princess Snowbear will be back to herself in a few days.”

      Apparently saving a dog’s life warranted a few points in her book, at least where her youngest was concerned. Mia cuddled up to her. “I like Dr. Morales. He’s nice.”

      “He is, indeed.” She would have been in trouble without him during the surgery. What would she do when he finally retired?

      She put that worry away for another day. “How’s your sister been?”

      Mia looked down the hall toward the bedrooms. “I don’t know. She stayed in her room almost all day. Earlier, I asked if she wanted to play with my Shopkins and she told me they’re stupid and I am, too.”

      Apparently at least one of her children had no problem being a snitch. “She shouldn’t have said either of those things. You’re not stupid and neither are your toys, honey.”

      The two girls were separated by seven years, which sometimes seemed such a vast chasm in their relationship. Sometimes Silver could be the sweetest thing to her sister and sometimes she barely tolerated Mia.

      “What did you have for lunch?” Dani asked.

      “Grilled cheese sandwiches, only Heidi left the crusts on and I had to cut them off myself.”

      “That’s a hard day all around. Let’s see what we can do to make the afternoon and evening better. What do you think about calzones for dinner?”

      “I love calzones! Can I help you make them?”

      “You got it, kid. Maybe we can talk Silver into helping us, too.”

      Mia looked doubtful but followed her down the hall. The doorbell rang before they reached Silver’s bedroom door.

      “Who’s that?” Mia asked, looking nervous.

      “I don’t know. We’ll have to answer it to see.”

      She looked through the peephole and saw a big, solid chest dressed in a brown sheriff’s uniform. As she opened the door for Ruben Morales, she told herself it was only her exhaustion that had her feeling a little light-headed.

      “Deputy Morales. Hello.”

      He smiled, looking big and dark and absolutely delicious—something she was furious with herself for noticing.

      “Afternoon. I was on my way home but thought I should stop here first to let Silver know about the conversation I had with the graffiti specialist for the county and what it’s going to take to clean up her artwork from last night.”

      Just once, couldn’t she see the man when she wasn’t exhausted and rumpled and feeling as if she’d been dragged behind his big boat for an hour?

      “Come in,” she said, holding the door for him. “I’ve only been home from the clinic for a few moments myself and haven’t had a chance to talk to her yet. I’ll grab her.”

      “Thanks. Hi there, Mia.”

      He smiled at her suddenly shy six-year-old, who somehow managed to give him a nervous smile in return. Dani stood there awkwardly for a long moment, then finally gave herself a mental head-slap and hurried down the hall. She expected Mia to follow her, but instead the girl opted to remain behind with Ruben.

      “I told you I’m doing homework, Mia. What do you want?” Silver called out when Dani knocked on her door.

      She could feel her shoulders tighten in response. If thirteen was this tough, how on earth was she going to survive the rest of the teenage years? she wondered for the bazillionth time.

      “It’s not Mia. It’s me,” Dani said, pushing open the door.

      She found Silver on her bed, a notebook propped on pillows in front of her. No doubt she was writing in her journal, detailing how miserable her life was. Silver closed it quickly and while she didn’t hide it under her bed, she looked as if she wanted to.

      Dani released a breath. “Deputy Morales is here to speak with you.”

      For just an instant, Silver’s mouth trembled with nerves. She looked down at the closed notebook in front of her and fiddled with her pen.

      “I’m, um, in the middle of something here. I don’t want to lose my train of thought. Can you just find out what he wants?”

      “What he wants is to speak with you. Come on, honey. Might as well get it over with, right?”

      “I guess.” Silver sighed and climbed off her bed. She slipped the notebook into the drawer of her bedside table, wiped her hands down her jeans as if they were as sweaty as Dani’s, then moved to the doorway.

      When they returned to the living room, she found Ruben on the sofa with their dog, Winky, on his lap. Mia was showing him her vast collection of dolls and their wardrobe that Dani could swear was more fashionable than her own.

      “What’s this one’s name?”

      “That’s Pia. She’s my favorite. See, her hair is curly just like mine and her eyes are brown like mine. You have brown eyes, too.”

      “Yes I do.”

      “I named her Pia because it rhymes with Mia.”

      “Perfect. So if I had a doll, maybe I would have to name him Gruben.”

      Mia giggled, her shyness apparently all but gone, and Dani felt something hard and tight around her heart begin to crack apart a little.

      No. She wouldn’t let herself be drawn to him. She made disastrous decisions in the men department and right now she couldn’t afford another mistake.

      “I have three outfits for her but this green dress is my favorite. You can get clothes to match your dolls if you want. I asked Santa for a green dress, too, but I don’t know if I’ll get it. Silver says it’s too expensive and my mom has stupid loans.”

      “Does she?”

      “I did not. I said she has student loans,” Silver corrected.

      “Though they’re certainly stupid, too,” Dani admitted.

      Ruben looked up and flashed them both a smile that made her feel light-headed again.

      “I’m sure they are. It can’t be easy.”

      At the understanding in his voice, Dani was appalled to feel tears well up. She couldn’t count the sleepless nights she’d had over the last thirteen years, worrying whether she would be able to provide for her daughters.

      “It can be an adventure,” she admitted. “It helps that your dad has kindly let us have this place rent-free.”

      “Dad’s good about things like that,” he said, then looked around her to where Silver was lurking.

      “Hey, Silver. How’s it going?”

      She shrugged. “Fine. My mom said you wanted to talk to me. I’ve got a ton of homework, so...”

      In other words, get on with it. Silver didn’t say the words but she might as well have. Dani tried not to cringe at her rudeness.

      “Right. Good for you, doing your homework on a Friday afternoon.”

      “Like I have a choice. I’m grounded from just about everything else.”

      “Look on the bright side. With all the studying you’ll get, your next report card will be great.”

      “And if she keeps it up, maybe she’ll get a scholarship when she’s ready to go to college and won’t need those stupid student loans,” Dani said.