He stepped outside, even though he knew he’d have to come right back in to settle the baby down himself. As he looked around, he congratulated himself on choosing a small campground instead of one of those big commercial ones. Here they’d have some privacy.

Just then, a chubby woman in a floral print top, bright blue shorts, and plaid sneakers came charging toward him, a pair of reading glasses bobbing on a multicolored chain around her neck. She was trailed by a thin man dapperly dressed in neatly pressed navy shorts, a plaid sports shirt, black socks, and brown leather sandals.

“Hi, there!” the woman trilled. “We’re the Waynes from Fort Wayne. I’m Bertis, and this is my husband Charlie. We were hoping a nice young family would camp next to us.”

Mat felt all his plans for solitude and quiet seduction crumbling around him.

“Your little one seems to be kicking up in there,” Charlie said. “Our granddaughter used to scream like that, but Bertis here could always make her stop, isn’t that right, Bertis? Bring that baby out here and let Grandma settle her down.”

At that moment Nell emerged with Button twisting in her arms and screaming away at the top of her lungs. Her cheeks were wet, her rosy mouth crumpled in outrage.

“I thought maybe some fresh air would—” Nell broke off as she saw the Waynes.

“Hi, there, honey.” Bertis went through the introductions again, then slipped on her glasses and reached for Button. “Let me have her. I’ll calm her down.”

No way was Mat letting a stranger get her hands on the Demon, and he whipped her out of Nell’s arms before the other woman could touch her. “Pipe down, brat.”

A 747 could have landed on her bottom lip, but she stopped howling.

“That’s better.”

Her bottom lip retracted. She hiccuped and gave him an injured pout, the kind that suggested she expected a diamond bracelet or, at the very least, a fur jacket, as a make-up present.

“Will you look at that? You have a way with that little girl, now, don’t you? It’s just not fair.” Bertis gave Nell a conspiratorial look. “We go to all the trouble of giving birth to them, then they turn to their daddies.”

“I didn’t give birth to her,” Nell said. “I’m—”

“Mommy? Daddy? Thank you so much for that wonderful book you bought me. It was really educational.”

He looked up to see Lucy step out of the motor home, her demure expression completely at odds with her hooker makeup. “Hi, I’m Lucy Jorik.”

Mat winced. He still couldn’t believe Sandy had given her kids his last name.