"We're going to wait an hour and then announce to everyone that it was a misunderstanding. That we're still just friends." Not to mention in-laws. Thank God there wasn't an audience in the waiting room like the day of the mugging.

"Oh good. If we wait an hour, that will give you plenty of time to tell your parents the truth." Lorenda stared him down. That stubborn female look in her eye told him she wasn't backing off.

That kind of look was fairly new, coming from her. He liked it when it wasn't directed at him. But when it was, it sucked.

"The truth will hurt the boys." Bingo. Pulling the mother's-guilt card worked because her lip chewing commenced.

"We don't need to tell anyone but your parents. They have a right to know what really happened to Cotton-Eyed Joe's on graduation night. You and I have been covering for Cameron too long."

And now he couldn't follow through on his threat to leave Red River if she spilled the truth. His father had issued a warning for him not to leave town during the investigation.

"When did Cameron tell you that he started the fire?" Mitchell softened his tone.

She turned a sad look on him. "I loved Cameron, but I can't tiptoe around his faults anymore. Not with you, Mitchell."

Right. Cameron hadn't told her. Taking responsibility wasn't his MO. She'd figured it out some other way.

"Then how did you know?" To his surprise, his words came out in a whisper.

"That night he climbed up to my window like a scene right out of Romeo and Juliet." She chuckled. "At least that's how a teenage girl would see it." One of her thumbs worked furiously against the other. "He was nervous. Upset and scared, I think, but he wouldn't say why. When I hugged him, he smelled like smoke. I didn't want to believe it, but as time went on . . ."

She looked away, because they both knew that as time went on, Cameron's behavior formed a pattern.

Silence hung in the air.

Finally she asked, "The three of us were good friends since we were little kids, but do you know why I fell for Cameron and not you?" She laughed. "I mean, besides the fact that you weren't in the least bit interested in me beyond being buddies."

"It had nothing to do with not being interested, Sparky. Hell, I was a guy, and you'd grown into a knockout, but Cameron was clearly head over heels, and there's a bro code I couldn't breach. So when he finally worked up the nerve to ask you out in high school, I accepted that you and I would always be friends."

"Oh," she whispered, her eyes round.

"But now I'm curious since you brought it up," Mitchell said.

"Cameron was Red River's golden boy. Everybody loved him. I thought he was the safer bet. Turns out I was wrong, and that night was the first clue. I just chose to ignore it." Her sigh was heavy with sadness. "As time went on, I just knew in my heart that he was the one who had started the fire and not you."

He let his head fall back against the headrest, and relief washed through him. Relief that someone he could trust finally knew the truth. Knew he was an upstanding guy who not only didn't start that fire but also hadn't ratted out his only brother.

"It was an accident." Mitchell propped his elbow against the door and rubbed his eyes. "We were all goofing around that night, drinking and acting like eighteen-year-old idiots. We set off some fireworks behind Cotton-Eyed Joe's. Joe came out and ran us all off. Everybody left, but Cameron forgot the lighter so he went back for it alone."

He stopped. It wasn't necessary to tell Lorenda that Cameron had decided to set off the last of the firecrackers before running away, just to get back at Joe.

Lorenda put a hand over his, her warmth making his heart ache with regret. And need.

"Let me guess," she said. "Someone saw Cam running away and everyone assumed it was you."

Mitchell nodded in silence, because he was too choked up for words.

"And you never told them otherwise."

And neither did Cam.

He leaned over the console, taking in her silky hair that was just messy enough to make his brain go haywire, her full lips that were just plump enough to make his mouth go watery. Her black outfit that was just tight enough to make his prick go hard.

He smoothed down her cheek with the back of one finger. "Why, Sparky? Why are you going to such lengths to help me?" Because no one else had ever done so except maybe his mom, and the solution Lorenda had come up with wasn't in her best interest.

"I can't let you take the blame for something else you didn't do," she whispered.

He wanted to take that plump bottom lip between his teeth and nibble. Instead, he said, "You've kind of got me by the balls, Sparky. Is there any way I can talk you out of this?"

She gave her head a small shake and swallowed as his finger slid down her neck. "Not unless you're willing to set the record straight with your folks."

It was Mitchell's turn to shake his head. "Can't do that. It would destroy my father. He might have a heart attack on the spot, and losing him would crush my mother. That's a chance I can't take."

He pulled away just enough to let his eyes wander down her length, and if he hadn't been sure that she was braless inside the station, he sure was now. Her perky breasts strained toward him, forming two nice peaks that he'd like to see without that tight-ass shirt. Sexy as it was.

"I could do worse than having you as my wife." He said it like it was a warning. A very sensual warning loaded with as much innuendo as he could pack into so few words.

Her lips parted. Her eyes dilated. And he thought for sure she was going to cave.

A pink tongue slid out to wet the seam of her mouth. "I've been through worse in my life too."

Dammit. She'd been through far worse.

He retreated in his mind just long enough to launch a counter assault. He had one more shot at getting her to surrender.

"What about Jaycee and Trevor?"

Her eye twitched.

"I'm a mother, Mitchell. I'd want someone to help them. Especially if they were too bullheaded to help themselves." Her thumb kept working fiercely against the other. "Let me ask you something." She stared at her fidgeting fingers. "Do you care about my kids?"

Mitchell had to keep his head from snapping back. "You know that I do."

"Then promise me something."

"Anything, Sparky." He covered her hands with one of his to still them.

"I know that helping you is the right thing to do. The boys already care about you so much. They'd be completely crushed if you got arrested and they couldn't see you anymore. So promise me when this is over you'll always be a part of their lives. Even if you're not around physically, you can visit, and there's Skype, e-mail, video chat, or whatever."

He took her hand and rubbed the ruby ring on her finger. Since he'd been back in Red River, he hadn't seen her wear the diamond wedding band Cam had given her. Of course Mitchell had been the best man and kept the ring in his pocket until the reverend asked for it on the altar. Mitchell would've never guessed in a million years that someday he'd be the one sliding a different wedding ring onto Lorenda's finger, even if their marriage were just for show.

"I'm crazy about Jaycee and Trevor. I couldn't walk away from them."

"That's all I ask, Mitchell. I'm asking for them."

He kept fiddling with her ring. "So what now, Sparky?"

Her lush, pink lips curved into an uncertain smile. "We get married."

Chapter Thirteen.

The next evening, Lorenda took the boys for ice cream. She wanted a little time alone with Jaycee and Trevor so she could give them the news in her own way. Mitchell agreed and left them alone to make a few stops of his own.

And because she was nervous . . . and suffering from a severe case of guilt . . . and, okay, feeling selfish too, she'd gotten them an extra scoop. And bought them a new video game.

Whoever said bribery was poor parenting obviously hadn't had two kids in as many years and then had to raise them alone.

They ambled down Main Street with Malarkey on a leash, and all three of them licked at their dripping cones. When they approached her SUV, she didn't stop. "How about a Sunday-evening stroll in the park before we go home and do homework?"

"Sure," Jaycee mumbled around a lick.

Trevor nodded, a chocolate ring around his little mouth.

The park was busy, so Lorenda found a shady spot under a tree where they could have some privacy.

"What would you guys think about us helping Uncle Mitch out of a tough spot? A really, really tough spot that could get him in a lot of trouble when he doesn't deserve it."

Jaycee stopped licking. "Aren't you always lecturing us to help each other because that's what family does?"

Lorenda's took in Jaycee's serious expression and responsible words. When had he started to sound so grown up?

She cleared her throat. "The kind of help he needs would change our life at home, at least for a while."

"How?" Trevor said between licks.

"Um, well. Your Uncle Mitch and I would have to get married."

"Uncle Mitch is going to be our dad?" Trevor yelled.

Lorenda's head shot around to see if anyone had heard. Stupid, since the news had probably already circled the state. Twice.

"Well, technically he'd be your stepfather," said Lorenda.

Trevor let out a shriek.

Malarkey squatted and relieved himself, his typical reaction when a loud noise scared him.

Delta. Maybe she should find a bathroom too, because her nerves were getting the better of her. She rubbed her temple. She'd known the boys would be happy. Their adolescent pranks to scare her so Mitchell would stay hadn't eased up, including a letter to the tooth fairy asking for a raise so they could buy a high-powered slingshot for protection.

Wondering how they would take it when the marriage ended had her insides tied in knots.

"I guess what I'm trying to say, boys, is that we may not stay married."

Jaycee and Trevor both frowned.

"Why not?" Jaycee asked.

Lorenda stared at her melting cone. "It's complicated-"

"Can we call him Dad?" Trevor got on his knees and bounced with so much joy that Lorenda was torn between seeing them excited and feeling guilty for the fact that Mitchell wouldn't stay their stepfather forever.

Which would make him their uncle, stepfather, and ex-stepfather all in one. And that would make her a pathetic excuse for a mother. The thought made her brain stutter.

"Um, why don't you keep calling him Uncle Mitch for now." So they could all have time to process the new family tree.

Jaycee took a few more licks of his cone, looking deep in thought. "The way I see it, we never got to know our dad because he died when we were little, but he's still our real dad, right?"

"Yeees." Lorenda wasn't sure where this was going.

"But Uncle Mitch is alive, so does it matter if he's our uncle or our stepdad as long as we still get to see him and talk to him?"

"I guess it doesn't matter." Much. She gave her cone another nervous lick and then shut one eye against the brain freeze that speared through the center of her head. Honestly, she wasn't sure if it was from the ice cream or from anxiety, because her entire body had broken out in a cold sweat. "Do you guys think you can keep this just between us?"

They both nodded.

Malarkey curled up next to Lorenda. She leaned away to escape his unfortunate odor.

"There's one more thing." Lorenda bit into her cone and tried to find the right words. "Sometimes kids say things that aren't very nice."

"You mean like when Mattie Welsh called Billy Reynolds a toad and told my whole class that if they touched him, they'd get warts." Trevor was totally serious.

"Yes, exactly like that," Lorenda said. "You shouldn't listen to such things. It's hurtful. If anyone at school says anything mean about your Uncle Mitch, I want you to ignore them, okay? He's a good person and hasn't done anything wrong."

"Why would anyone say mean stuff about him?" Jaycee finished off his cone.

Because they don't know him like we do. She blew out a breath. "Your Uncle Mitch has sometimes been . . . well, misunderstood by some people in Red River." Okay, by most people in Red River. And the stuff he pulled as a kid wasn't exactly misunderstood. He had been trying to cause trouble and had excelled at it.

That was in the past, though. He'd grown up, and he'd certainly paid his dues in the military.

"I'll beat them up," Jaycee announced.

"Me too." Trevor's expression said he thought defending his uncle was a grand plan.

Lorenda thought it sounded like an alpha-male plan, and that's precisely the influence she'd been trying to shelter the boys from their whole lives. So she'd gone and insisted on marrying another alpha war hero because falling for a man who was more beta would apparently be too easy.

"No!" Lorenda tried to calm her voice. "No, you're not going to beat anyone up. You're going to ignore it and walk away."

Jaycee fiddled with a blade of grass like he hadn't heard her.

"Jaycee." Lorenda delivered a clear warning in her tone.

Jaycee rolled his eyes. "Mom, sometimes you have to let us handle things like men."