Bluegrass Baby. Judy Duarte

explanation was that he’d overheard an adult comment. And Milla found that idea irritating. If she knew who to confront or how to quiet the gossip, she would have taken action. As it was, she could only hope that the whole thing would die a quick and easy death and that Dylan could ignore the comments until it did.

      “Here he comes now,” Mr. Rick said, nodding toward the rest room.

      The two boys, Dylan and Kirk, came out of the bathroom with Mr. Gordon. When Dylan spotted her, he dropped his eyes and kicked the toe of his worn tennis shoe at the dirt, then continued to trudge toward her, head hung as though making his way down the long green mile.

      Dylan’s cheeks were red from exertion—or maybe remorse. His face, still damp from being bathed with a paper towel, bore dirt streaks near the hairline and over his brow. Blood splatters stained a torn white T-shirt. When he looked up at her, his blue eyes grew watery, but he blinked rapidly, as though trying to keep his feelings a secret.

      Milla glanced at Kirk, who wore a smirk on his pudgy face. Like a big sister, she wanted to throttle the bully herself, but she took on the role of parent instead. “We’ll talk about this in the car, Dylan.”

      Then she led the boy away, wishing she’d arrived sooner, before the scuffle that had bloodied his nose, before the cruel words had been spoken.

      She doubted Dylan was the only one of Billy Bingham’s illegitimate children to suffer taunts growing up, but it hurt her to see her young cousin teased for something that wasn’t his fault. She ran a hand along the blond strands of his hair, felt the dirt and sand he’d accumulated during the day, probably during the fight.

      “I’m sorry for getting in trouble again,” he said. “But Kirk the Jerk is the stupidest kid in the whole school. In the whole world.”

      To say the least, Milla thought. “I hate to tell you this, but the world is full of Kirk the Jerks. And you can’t fight them all. You’re going to have to learn to hold your temper and ignore the cruel words.”

      The childhood ditty came to mind. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

      She didn’t mention it to Dylan. Because she knew it wasn’t true. Some words could do a lot of damage to a small boy’s self-esteem.

      “I know it hurts when kids tease,” she added.

      “He said I was a nobody. That I didn’t have a real family because I don’t have a mom or a dad.” The boy’s pain hung in the air, belying the next words he spoke. “But who needs a mom or a dad?”

      A kid needed both. Milla knew that from her own experience. She’d only been ten when her dad left. She could still hear the slamming of the screen door. Could still remember running after him, hanging on to the door handle of his pickup truck, begging him to stay. “Daddy, wait!”

      “I can’t take it anymore,” he’d told her, before pushing her aside. Then he’d rolled up the window and revved the engine. And when she stood back, he’d driven down the graveled drive. Out of town. Out of her life forever.

      She’d never learned what it was that he couldn’t take. Marriage to her mom? Responsibility? Milla had asked her mother, but the woman had refused to discuss it.

      As a child, Milla had wondered what she’d done wrong, what she could have done to make her daddy stay. As a grown-up, she knew better than to blame herself for a choice her father had made. But every now and then, if she allowed herself to dwell on it, she still felt the pain of abandonment.

      She slipped an arm around the boy, her heart going out to him. Even though neither Aunt Connie nor Billy had abandoned Dylan on purpose, the child was left without either parent.

      Sure he had a loving guardian, but her mother’s chronic back and neck pain didn’t allow her to play catch or take him camping.

      “I know I’m just your cousin,” Milla said. “But if you want me to be your mom, it’s okay with me.”

      “It is?” he asked, glancing at her with seeking eyes and a quivering lip.

      “Sure.” Milla stopped walking and turned to face the boy, cupping his cheeks with her hands. She kissed his sweaty, dirt-streaked brow, then pulled him close, savoring the kid-size strength of his hug. “I’ve always wanted a son like you.”

      “You have?” he asked, voice incredulous. “I’d like you to be my mom, Milla. That would be way cool.”

      A tear dripped down her cheek, but she didn’t see the need to brush it away or hide it.

      There wasn’t much she could do to change the reality Dylan lived with each day. But in her own way she could make a difference. She could take a more active parental-type role with him, create the kind of family she’d never had but always wanted.

      The kind of family Dylan needed.

      Minus a dad, of course.

      A concise excerpt of the words Dylan had spoken only moments before came to mind.

      Who needed a dad?

      Not Milla. And not Dylan. Men like their fathers were often more trouble than they were worth.

      She’d be selective when it came time to choose a husband. For some reason a certain blond doctor came to mind. A man whose smile warmed her soul, whose touch heated her blood. They’d had something special that night, something fulfilling.

      But Milla quickly shoved the sexual memory aside. Wants and needs were two different things. She might want to spend another night in Kyle Bingham’s arms, but she needed to have a working relationship with him. And she needed him to testify on her behalf.

      Yet a little voice spoke in the stillness, reminding her there was one more reason to stay away from a man like Kyle, a very important reason.

      Milla didn’t need anyone with the power to turn her life on end.

      Or to walk away when he grew tired of her.