Oh, damn. Of course she’d show up on the day he was supposed to take Harper and her family ice-skating. He didn’t relish the idea of seeing Harper when he had scratches all over his face. Susan had left some pretty deep gouges last time.

Squaring his shoulders, he stepped out and shut the door behind him. Uriah owned the house and most of the furniture. He couldn’t let her in and have her start destroying stuff.

“Ms. Brooks.”

She said nothing. Didn’t move, either.

He shifted uncomfortably. A chill wind whipped at his short hair and cut right through his thin T-shirt, but he didn’t mind the cold. He figured it might be smarter to be a little numb for this. “Did you want to…um…tell me something?”

No response.

His gaze lowered to the bag. He hoped she didn’t have a gun inside it. Since she was an eye-for-an-eye kind of person, he had virtually no doubt she’d shoot him if she had the opportunity.

Then her eyes started to fill with tears.

Oh, God. She’d obviously reached a breaking point. She’d only ever shown up at his place one other time, and that was right after he’d been released. She’d been crying then, too—wailing, actually. He’d never forget the sound of it or the hate that had slammed into him with every blow.

“I’m sorry if it upset you that I came by the store,” he said in an attempt to head off whatever was coming. “I…” He swallowed hard. “I meant well.” He didn’t expect her to believe him, but it was true so he figured it didn’t hurt to say it.

A tear slipped over her eyelashes and ran down her cheek as she lifted the bag.

He would’ve stepped back at that point, but he had the door behind him. He lifted his hands in a defensive position, instinctively trying to ward off any threat.

But she didn’t pull out a gun. She tried to hand him the whole bag.

“What’s this?” he asked when she shoved it into his chest.

She sniffed as another tear fell, obviously trying to talk, but she was too choked up, so he accepted the bag, since that seemed to be important to her, and peered cautiously inside.

It was filled with…boxes of cookies from her store? And they weren’t just any cookies, he noticed. They were pumpkin and chocolate chip with cream cheese frosting—his favorite.

“I’m…so sorry,” she managed to say, almost choking on the last word as the tears came faster.

Sorry? Tobias’s jaw dropped. She wasn’t angry? She wasn’t out to punish him some more?