Lucy grinned at Bertis and shot into the house. Button, who was trying to waddle across the Oriental rug without holding on to anything, fell on her bottom and scowled.

Charlie chuckled. Bertis gazed after Lucy with a smile. “She’s really something, isn’t she? You can just tell by looking at her that she’s special.”

A flash of pride shot through Nealy. “Yes, we think she’s pretty special, too.” We. As if Lucy were hers and Mat’s.

Charlie carried his coffee mug to the couch. “I guess Bertis and I are worried about her. Worried about both the girls.”

“They’re fine.” Mat sounded more than a little defensive.

“For now.” Bertis brushed a speck of muffin from her bright pink shorts. “But what about after the three of you get that paternity test Lucy seems so sure she can prevent? I don’t like speaking ill of the dead, but your ex-wife was a very irresponsible woman.”

“You’re right about that.” He carried his mug to the door that led to the back step and leaned against the frame, subtly distancing himself from them.

“Mat thinks we’re nibby,” Bertis confided to Nealy as if Mat weren’t standing right there. “We’re naturally curious, but we don’t pry. People just tell us things.”

“It’s mainly Bertis,” Charlie said. “People know they can trust her.”

“Now, don’t you sell yourself short, Charlie. Remember that truck driver yesterday at the rest stop.”

Nealy smiled. Bertis and Charlie had the girls’ best interests at heart, and she couldn’t see any reason to keep them in the dark. Maybe they could come up with a solution.

She reached down and brushed a hand over Button’s dandelion fluff. “Mat’s taking the girls to Davenport today for blood tests. Then they’ll be going back to Pennsylvania.” She didn’t mention foster care, but Bertis’s next words told her she didn’t have to.

“Those girls will be split up as sure as anything. Somebody’ll adopt Button, but Lucy’s too old.” She toyed with the chain on her glasses as if it were a string of worry beads.

“I can’t keep them,” Mat said, and Nealy could feel the guilt trickling from him.

Bertis turned to Nealy. “What about you, Nell? You already act like they’re your own. Maybe you could take them.”

That tantalizing thought had been tugging at Nealy since yesterday, but every time it appeared, she rejected it. Bringing them into her world would set off a media feeding frenzy that would ruin their lives.