Ready, Set, I Do!. Cindy Kirk

every way that matters, Cam is my son,” Winn interrupted, his tone brooking no argument.

      Jim Ferris must not have heard, because he bulldozed onward. “You haven’t seen the kid in two years.”

      “Not for lack of trying.” Winn clipped the words.

      His father expelled an audible sigh. “I have connections at several top-notch boys’ schools on the East Coast. He’d get a good education at any of them.”

      “I’m not sending a grieving little boy to strangers twenty-five hundred miles away,” Winn protested, though he wasn’t surprised by the suggestion. He remembered being shipped off shortly before he’d turned thirteen.

      “You’re a busy man,” his father pointed out. “How are you going to tend to important business and watch a child?”

      Winn briefly explained about Hailey and the temporary deal he’d offered.

      “Smart move.” His father’s voice rang with approval.

      “I believe so,” Winn said. “Hailey is a warm person, which is what Cam needs right now. Plus—”

      “I don’t give a horse’s backside if she’s nice or not,” Jim interrupted. “She’s the mayor’s sister. The closer you are to her, the closer you are to him. Take my advice. Don’t try too hard to find a replacement. See if you can string this along until after the vote on the development.”

      Winn’s grip tightened on his phone. The remark was classic Jim Ferris. His father was a wheeler-dealer who never missed an opportunity to manipulate a situation. But this advice had a stench. It reminded Winn of Josh and the way the weasel had used Hailey.

      “I won’t use Hailey to get closer to Tripp.”

      “You’re a fool if you don’t.” His father’s derision came through loud and clear. “And I didn’t raise a fool.”

      “I—I heard a dog barking.”

      The plaintive voice had Winn turning. His heart tripped at the sight of a skinny boy in pajamas with his brown hair sticking up, standing barefoot in the hall.

      “We’ll talk later.” Winn cut off the call and slipped the phone into the pocket of his black trousers. He rose to his feet, oddly unsteady. “Morning, champ. How’d you sleep?”

      It was a stupid question. One the child didn’t answer. Instead, Cam rubbed his eyes and glanced around the room. “Where’s Bandit?”

      Winn stepped cautiously toward the boy. “Next door.”

      He’d spotted Hailey leaving the complex on foot earlier...without the animal in tow.

      “C-can we get him?”

      There was something in the boy’s eyes that Winn didn’t like. A fearfulness, as if he expected to be slapped down for simply asking a question. During the six years he and Vanessa had informally shared custody of Cam, he’d never seen her strike out at the boy or raise her voice. But Brandon...

      Winn’s hands clenched into fists at his sides. If that man had hurt Cam...

      He deliberately loosened his fists. If Brandon had mistreated Cam, there was nothing to be done about it now. The man was dead. His son was safe.

      Winn placed a light hand on the boy’s shoulder and relief flooded him when the child didn’t pull away. “We’ll eat first. By the time we finish, Hailey may be home and we can see if Bandit can...come over.”

      The thought of allowing that molting ball of slobber and fur back into his place made Winn cringe. But the dog and boy had formed a connection. When Bandit licked Cam’s face last night, Winn had even seen a ghost of a smile on his son’s lips.

      “Okay.” Cam stood there, as if unsure what to do next.

      “Get some clothes on.” Winn assumed boys of eight could be trusted to pick out proper attire. At six, Cam had been able to pull on his own clothes but had sometimes needed direction. “Jeans and a T-shirt should be adequate. We’ll be spending most of the day here.”

      The boy nodded, took a few steps then turned back to Winn. “I—I shouldn’t be with you.”

      Winn tilted his head. “Why not?”

      “My dad said I d-d-don’t belong with you.”

      Just hearing the boy call Brandon “his dad” had anger rising inside Winn. He tamped it down. The past couldn’t be undone. Because of Vanessa’s duplicity, Cam had suffered. Winn would not add to the pain in those hazel eyes. “I’m your family now. I’m not going anywhere.”

      The boy only stared, a blank look on his face.

      “I’m going to make chocolate-chip pancakes.” Winn remembered they were a favorite of Cam’s when he was younger. “You get dressed and I’ll throw together some breakfast.”

      By the time Cam returned, dressed in a long-sleeved striped T-shirt and jeans, Winn had completed a couple of calls about a development in South Carolina that he was overseeing. He’d been distracted and made way too many pancakes.

      When Cam had been a part of his life, Winn had done a little cooking, but since moving to Jackson Hole, business had been his priority. Everything else had taken a backseat.

      Winn placed the plates on the table and sat down, prepared to get reacquainted with his son. As he unsuccessfully attempted to engage the boy in conversation, he realized his life had changed dramatically and he wasn’t sure he was ready.

      * * *

      Hailey heard Bandit barking on her way up the steps to her second-floor condo and increased her pace. Although her rental agreement allowed pets, she knew the landlord wouldn’t hesitate to act if her pet disturbed the other tenants.

      She reached her door, hurriedly grabbing the key from her bag and fumbling with the lock. The barking escalated. “Bandit, shush.”

      “Hailey.”

      She heard Winn’s voice but merely held up a hand and focused on opening the door. Dorianna Samuelson, on the other side of her, should be home from her yoga class any second. Even though the woman was a friend of Hailey’s mother, she’d be the first to complain about the barking. Dorianna saw keeping the complex well ordered and quiet as her personal mission.

      The dog gave a whimper of pleasure when he saw Hailey but followed her command to sit instead of jump, which had obviously been his impulse.

      She grabbed the leash from the side table and clipped it on, before stepping back outside the door.

      He looked business casual in black trousers, a gray shirt and shiny wing tips. Winn’s lips curved in a slow smile that caused a fluttering in her belly.

      Completely understandable, she told herself. A handsome man. A lazy smile. She’d have to be dead not to react.

      The blood sliding through her veins like warm honey assured Hailey she was very much alive.

      “Hey there, neighbor.” She offered him a smile of her own. “Hope the barking didn’t disturb you too much.”

      “It did.” His eyes held an impish gleam. “But I know a way you can make it up to me.”

      The banter wasn’t new, nor was the hint of electricity accompanying it. What surprised Hailey was her reaction, stronger than before. Keeping her hand firmly on the leash while the dog quivered at her side, she batted lashes at Winn. “What do you have in mind?”

      Before Winn could respond, Cam stepped forward. His face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning when he saw the dog. A low whine formed in Bandit’s throat.

      Hailey loosened the retractable leash and said in a low tone, “Go to him.”

      The dog raced across the short distance and Cam’s thin arms encircled him. The boy buried his