Willow Brook Road. Sherryl Woods

you think, that I’d let you go on trouncing me?”

      Henry laughed. “I was hoping. I need somebody around to keep my confidence high. Uncle Connor sure doesn’t let me win and even Davey’s getting to be more than I can handle. I guess I’ll have to start playing with the babies if I want a surefire win.”

      “Are there any more of those cookies, Carrie?” Davey asked. “I’d like a couple for the road. We need to get home for dinner.”

      She gave him a stern look. “Which is exactly why I’m not giving you more cookies. I don’t want your mom or dad over here yelling at me about spoiling your appetites.”

      Just then her phone rang and she spotted Shanna’s name on the caller ID. “Speak of the devil.”

      “Is that Mom?” Davey asked.

      Carrie nodded.

      “Then we’d better move,” Henry said, leaning down to give her a kiss on the cheek. “Bye, Carrie. See you.”

      “See you,” Davey said, bounding out the door ahead of his big brother.

      Carrie sighed and answered the phone. “Your boys are heading home right now.”

      “Good to know,” Shanna said. “But that’s not why I called.”

      “Oh? What’s up?”

      “Are you free for dinner next Wednesday or Thursday?”

      “Sure, either one,” Carrie said without bothering to check her calendar. “It’s not as if I have a lot of commitments these days. Anything special going on?”

      “Not really. We just haven’t seen enough of you lately,” Shanna said.

      The comment was so completely untrue it was laughable. “I saw you this morning,” Carrie reminded her. “And Henry and Davey just left my house. I see all of you at Sunday dinner at Grandpa Mick’s. What’s this really about? And don’t fib. You’re no good at it.”

      “I invited Sam Winslow and his nephew for dinner,” Shanna admitted.

      “Oh, boy,” Carrie whispered. “If you’re trying to do some matchmaking, quit it. Sam and I have some issues.”

      “Not that I could see at lunch today,” Shanna argued. “It was quite the little family scene in Sally’s.”

      “You saw us?”

      “Of course I did. If it was supposed to be a secret rendezvous, it might have been better to have it someplace more secluded and minus the kids.”

      “You are so far off base,” Carrie told her. “There is nothing at all between Sam and me. There’s not likely to be, either. I’m not crazy about some of the decisions he’s been making about Bobby and he doesn’t seem all that crazy about me, period. Let this go, Shanna. I’m glad you invited him over. Earlier today I was thinking he and Kevin might have a lot in common, given how abruptly they both became single dads. Trust me, though. You’ll have a much better time without me there.”

      “I already told him I was inviting you.”

      That gave Carrie pause. “And he didn’t immediately come up with an excuse to avoid the whole thing?”

      “Nope. He looked more like a man who was happy someone was stepping in to push the two of you together again.”

      “I seriously doubt that.”

      Shanna was surprisingly silent for about a minute. “You know, I take it back,” she said.

      Carrie was startled by the sudden turnaround. She didn’t like the disappointment that immediately spread over her. “You’re withdrawing the invitation? You’re canceling dinner?”

      “Nope,” Shanna said decisively. “I’m moving it up. It’s tomorrow night. I don’t want you to have a whole week to talk yourself out of coming. Sam, either. Seven o’clock. I’ll call him right now to confirm.”

      “But I never said yes.”

      “Oh, you’ll be here,” Shanna said confidently. “Don’t you have enough issues with the family without adding coward to the list?”

      “That’s not fair,” Carrie grumbled, knowing Shanna had set a very neat trap for her.

      “Life is rarely fair,” Shanna said brightly. “But O’Briens always cope. See you tomorrow, sweetie.”

      She hung up before Carrie could form another protest or think of a single way to wiggle out of the commitment. Maybe, if she were very, very lucky, Sam would do the wiggling. Sadly, with the way her luck was running lately, it wouldn’t happen that way.

      And somewhere, deep down inside, a traitorous spark of anticipation was doing a little jig about that.