Luke took the rapid-fire questions and statements in stride. “Yes, I have horses and barn cats. There is a vegetable garden that has corn growing in it. You’ve never seen a horse? What kind of place do you live that you’ve never seen a horse?”

“We live in a city and Mama won’t let us have a dog.” Jack and Nick looked accusingly at her.

“Outnumbered again. You can’t have a dog until you can take care of it yourself. Mama is too busy to take care of any more little ones all by herself. You two are more than enough.” Sarah ran a hand over each boy’s head. She tickled both of them and handed Jack the backpack.

“Grab your tablets out of the back seat, then back up to the house.” She waved her hands to get them moving.

Luke watched the pair do as they were told, then run up the porch steps. He thought of his own brother and how they were always together when they were young. “The boys are great.”

“And yet you want to take me to court and try to take them from me?”

Luke regretted that she’d put two and two together and blamed him for Margaret’s actions. “I don’t want to take you to court. I don’t think it’s good for anyone involved to fight over children. Which is why I convinced Margaret to let me send the letter requesting the visit.”

“Yes, it was a very nicely worded order to bring them here.”

He tried to explain why he got involved, even though he didn’t really want anything to do with this family drama. “Sean and I were childhood friends. Margaret was devastated by his death and she misses her grandkids.”

Sarah held her hands out wide. “Yet she’s given me the cold shoulder for the past two years. If she wanted to see them, all she had to do was call and ask.”

“Would you have brought them to her?”

“Yes. Because I’m a reasonable person.”

He actually believed her. “She doesn’t think so.”

“Because she doesn’t know me at all.”

He wondered if the things Margaret said about her were really true. “Well, she’ll get to know you over the next six weeks.” Despite the circumstances, and because of his overwhelming attraction to her, he’d like to, too.

“All she wants to know is anything she can use against me. That’s why you’re here. Right? To dig up all the dirt you can to present in court.”

“I came by to lend some moral support because she’s expecting you to make this . . . difficult.”

“Me. She’s the hostile one.”

“I have to say, you showed restraint.”

She mellowed. “I will make sure my boys have the best time they can with her because they deserve to know their grandmother. But if she thinks she can take them from me, then both of you will find you’re in for the fight of your life.”

Luke liked a challenge, but he didn’t want to fight with her. “It’s my hope, and I think Margaret’s, too, that you two will work out your differences for the kids’ sake.”