Home to Montana. Charlotte Carter

be happy to take the fellow into the woodshed and do a little attitude correcting on Alisa’s behalf.

      Except chances were also good that she wouldn’t appreciate him being the one standing up for her. Not if she knew about his past.

      Nick got back to work, and it wasn’t long before Greg reappeared at the back porch.

      “I’m ready!” He wore jeans with a tear in them, a faded blue T-shirt and an eager smile.

      “Okay, Greg. Let’s see if your mom has a can of sealer and some paintbrushes in the equipment shed.”

      Nick hadn’t put Rags back on his leash after Greg went inside to change. Now the dog trotted beside the boy, probably in the hope a suitable fetch stick would appear.

      “You know where your mom keeps the paints?”

      “In the back.” The boy dashed ahead, Rags on his heels.

      Nick sauntered after them. Gallon paint containers lined four shelves across half the back wall. Scanning the labels, Nick found what he was looking for, a half-full can of sealer. He pried open the lid.

      “Looks good. Now, how ’bout brushes?”

      Greg picked out a couple of nice, wide brushes, and they carried the paint and brushes back to the steps.

      While Nick was stirring the sealer, Greg said, “Want to hear a joke?”

      Nick lifted his brows. “You sure it’s a good one?”

      “Yeah, everybody laughs. Why did the elephant paint her toenails red?”

      Suppressing a groan, Nick said, “I don’t know, kid. Why did the elephant paint her toenails red?”

      “Because she wanted to hide in a field of strawberries.”

      Nick’s groan escaped, followed by a chuckle. “That’s pretty good. Now, how ’bout we get to work.”

      Starting Greg at one end of the upper step, Nick showed the boy how to brush on the sealer without letting it drip. He started on the other end working toward the middle.

      As he worked, he remembered as a kid he used to tell silly jokes. He was pretty shy, and telling a joke helped him not to feel like a dork.

      “Okay, I’ve got a joke for you,” Nick said, pulling up an old groaner from deep in his memory. “Knock knock.”

      Greg grinned. “Who’s there?”

      “Woo.”

      “Woo who?”

      “Now don’t get so excited. It’s just a knock knock joke.”

      Greg laughed out loud. “That’s a good one, Nick. I’m going to tell that one to Mom.”

      “You do that, son.” Nick smoothed the sealer across the step. He’d like to see Alisa laugh. Her smile would light up the whole Bear Lake valley like the sun rising over the mountains.

      Idly he wondered when he had stopped telling jokes and became a loner instead. Maybe when he and his dad moved away from Bear Lake.

      * * *

      On Friday nights, Alisa let Greg stay up later than on school nights. After he put on his pajamas, he came and plopped down on the couch next to her where she’d been trying to read a book.

      “You wanna hear a joke, Mom? Nick told me a new one.”

      She tensed and closed her book. “Nick told you a joke?”

      “Yeah. While we were painting the steps. I think he likes me.”

      Swallowing hard, she finger-brushed his hair, trying to tame the cowlicks. “Of course he likes you. Everybody likes you.”

      Squirming away, he looked at her with troubled eyes. “If everybody likes me, how come my dad didn’t stick around? How come he left before I was even born?” His chin trembled ever so slightly.

      “Sweetie, your father—” A man she’d come to think of as no more than a sperm donor. “—He didn’t leave because of you. He left because he didn’t want to take responsibility for anyone except himself. He was too selfish to be a good daddy. Because of that, he’s the one who missed out on seeing you grow into such a smart kid. A handsome one, too.”

      Greg wrinkled his nose. “Nick is a responsible man, isn’t he? I mean, he’s fixing the steps for Mama and all.”

      Mentally, she grimaced. Her son was already falling under Nick’s spell. “Greg, honey, Nick is just filling in for Jake. He’ll be gone soon. You know that.”

      “Well, he might stay.” His lower lip pushed out. “If he liked it here a lot, he’d stay, wouldn’t he?”

      Tears burned at the back of her eyes, and she hugged her son. “If he leaves, it won’t be because of you. I promise.” It will be because a drifter can’t stay in one place too long. It’s part of their nature.

      Greg pulled away from her. “So do you want to hear the joke he told me?”

      “Sure. Let me have it, munchkin.”

      To her dismay, it was one of Nick’s old knock knock jokes from their grade-school days. She laughed but her heart wasn’t in it. Hadn’t the man learned anything new in the last twenty years?

      And why did it hurt so much to know he and his silly jokes would be moving on soon?

      * * *

      Alisa had put Greg to bed nearly an hour ago. There was nothing on TV she wanted to watch. The book she’d been reading wasn’t holding her interest, and the jigsaw puzzle spread out on the kitchen table wasn’t calling her.

      Mama had already retired for the night. The hum of customers downstairs had quieted to a low murmur. She could go down, see if any locals were around, join them for a cup of coffee and some conversation.

      Unfortunately, she was too restless to even consider that option and it bugged her.

      It was all Nick’s fault! Why on earth had he told Greg that silly knock knock joke? All it did was make her remember him as a boy eager to get the approval of his classmates. He’d already had her approval, which he hadn’t even noticed.

      In spite of her best intentions, she pulled the living room curtain aside to peek outside.

      He was there again, standing out beyond the end of the motel, his back to the diner, doing chin-ups on the bar stuck between two trees.

      “This is ridiculous.” Grabbing a jacket from the closet, she headed downstairs. She’d find out why he was so into muscle building.

      Then she’d be able to sleep without thoughts of Nick Carbini running around in her head.