She backed away a little farther, then stood. Whew. That was stressful. She turned and gave her dad a triumphant smile. “We did it.”

He pretended to wipe sweat from his forehead, and she chuckled. Quietly. Together they tiptoed to the other side of the couch to head for the kitchen.

The front door flew open.

Jeremy entered, his arms spread open as he called out in a singsong voice, “Honey, I’m hooome.”

“Shh!”

Bea and her dad both put a finger to their lips and shushed him at the same time.

His eyes widened. “What?”

Hunter began to cry.

Bea frowned at her friend and shifted on her feet. “You could’ve at least texted me.”

Amber nodded. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know . . .”

Her voice trailed off, and Bea rubbed her forehead. She’d expected Amber around noon, and it was almost five o’clock and long after Hunter had woken up from his second attempt at a nap, and she’d fed him everything she could find in his diaper bag plus yogurt and Ritz crackers from the kitchen. But it couldn’t have been easy for Amber to see Axel again.

Bea peered over her shoulder to make sure Jeremy and her dad were out of earshot. “What did he say?”

Amber kissed her fingers, then touched them to Hunter’s nose. “You look so much like your daddy—did you know that?”

Hunter held his arms up, wanting to be held. Amber obliged. “He said he was sorry he left.”

Bea fought off a frown. “Really.”

Amber shrugged. “He said a lot of other things. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

“Is he moving back?”

“I don’t know. He said he’s got a job in Ponderosa.”

Questions dangled on the tip of Bea’s tongue. What kind of job? Did he plan to support his family? Did he have any idea how much it cost to raise a child? Because holy cow it was expensive. How could he just show back up?

She didn’t ask any of them out loud, but a warning rang out in her brain. “Does he want to see Hunter?”

Amber nuzzled her son’s neck. “He said he isn’t ready.”

He wasn’t ready. How nice. Bea wanted to call him a not-so-nice name, but she saw the expression on Amber’s face and changed her mind. “I’m sorry. This must be really hard.”

Amber looked up, her eyes glistening. “Thank you, Bea. For everything.”

Bea looked down. She hadn’t done much. Watched Hunter for a few hours and tried not to be too judgmental. Was that all it took to be a good friend? She’d never really had one before except her mom.

“You’re welcome.”

“I mean it. Other people from school wanted nothing to do with me once they found out about Hunter. It’s like they were afraid my situation was contagious.”

“That sucks.”