Three Boys and a Baby. Laura Marie Altom

right at her. But curious all the same. Parental instinct kicking in?

      “Thanks. Bye!” Oliver was off.

      “Slow down!” Ella called after her son.

      “Whew,” Julie said, fanning her face. “Being responsible for that tiny life for even a few minutes was exhausting. Remember, Jackson, how tough it was with Dillon when he was a baby?”

      “Sure.”

      “And, Ella, I can’t imagine how difficult it must’ve been for you—with twins.”

      Ella chuckled. “Difficult is an understatement. There were times Todd and I wished we could send them back. But now,” her expression turned wistful, “I wouldn’t trade them for the world.”

      “I feel the same,” Jackson said. “About Dillon.”

      Had Ella imagined it, or had the man’s statement been loaded with animosity? Ella had many times wondered how Todd could’ve left their boys, happily trotting off to start a new family. She could never even conceive of such a thing. Yet in a sense, Julie had done the same.

      “Where, ah, is your restroom?” Julie asked.

      Ella directed her to the powder room tucked beneath the front stairs.

      Though she’d been exasperated with Jackson that afternoon, Ella now softened. Jackson might be a bear on the outside, but on the inside, she suspected he was a spooked puppy, growling at what most scared him. And at the moment, what scared him more than anything in the world was love. Kindness of any kind. With Julie, he’d been happy. Complete. Then, like Todd, Julie had shattered that happiness, yanking the rug out from beneath him. Whether he knew it or not, strictly from a professional point of view, she suspected the man was emotionally floundering.

      Not that Ella was one to talk, seeing how since the divorce, her ice cream addiction had resulted in twenty extra pounds.

      “Tell me something,” she said after Julie had left.

      “What?” Jackson sat at the kitchen table.

      “Earlier today, in the woods, when you got all huffy with me. What about the phrase, for better or worse—aside from the obvious broken wedding vow connection—set you off?”

      Jaw clenched, hands fisted, he said, “Unless you’re deliberately trying to set me off again, kindly drop it.”