Dead by Midnight - Beverly Barton [80]
Just when had his children gotten so friendly with Lorie? Last year after he found out that she saw them every month at the Interfaith Youth Council meetings, he had warned her to stay away from them. But he hadn’t told his kids to stay away from Lorie. After all, what reason could he have given them? The woman is evil? She wasn’t. That she wasn’t a proper role model for anyone, least of all his young children? That might have been true at one time, but for the past nine years, Lorie had lived an exemplary life.
Dunmore was a small town. His kids were bound to run into Lorie occasionally. And she had told him quite honestly that if and when she saw his children, she would not ignore them. And during the preparations for Jack and Cathy’s wedding—he, his and Lorie both members of the wedding party—he had noticed how much his children liked Lorie. Especially Hannah.
But something else was going on and he felt certain that whatever it was, his mother had something to do with it.
Nell Birkett could be a devious woman when it came to doing what she thought was best for her children and grandchildren. She had always liked Lorie, and as much as she disapproved of the choices Lorie had made in her late teens and early twenties, Nell had never bad-mouthed Lorie. Not to him or anyone else. When Molly was alive, his mother’s allegiance had been to his wife. But after Molly’s death, when he had started dating again, his mom had suggested he give Lorie a call. If anyone other than his mother had made that suggestion, he would have told them what they could do with it. But he had never spoken disrespectfully to his mother and never would.
“That’s not ever going to happen.” He had barely managed to keep his temper under control as he’d made his feelings perfectly clear. “And please, Mom, don’t ever say her name to me again.”
Was his mother using his own children as a means to reunite him with Lorie? He wouldn’t put it past her, not if she had decided that Lorie was the right woman for him. But how could she believe that, especially now when the whole town had been reminded of Lorie’s sordid past?
“I’m going over to talk to the kids,” Mike told Abby.
She laced her arm through his. “I’ll go with you.”
There was no way to get out of taking Abby along with him. When they approached his mother and children, Lorie slowly dropped her arms from around M.J.’s and Hannah’s shoulders.
“Well, there you are,” his mother said. “We were just telling Lorie about Humphrey.”
“Yeah, and Lorie said she had a pet rabbit, too, when she was a kid,” M.J. told him.
“His name was Cottontail,” Hannah added.
“Not very original, I admit.” Lorie smiled warmly at both children, and then her gaze met Mike’s. “Did your dad ever tell you about his pet raccoon?”
“No, he didn’t,” M.J. said, a cocky little grin on his face.
“Tell us, Daddy, tell us.” Hannah tugged on his sleeve.
“Lord have mercy.” His mother laughed. “His dad tried to tell Mike that he couldn’t tame that wild thing, but he wouldn’t listen.”
“I’m surprised that you didn’t catch a disease of some kind,” Abby said. “Most animals are terribly nasty. I’m sure you learned that your father was right, didn’t you, dear?” She snuggled against his side. “Wild animals are best left in the wild.”
M.J. and Hannah frowned at Abby.
Before Mike could respond, his mother said, “Actually, it didn’t take Mike long to have that raccoon eating out of his hand. He’s always had a knack for gentling the wildest creatures.”
When his