No matter how many hours Gabe trained or how many missions he’d completed during his time in the military, he still looked in the mirror and saw the skinny dork he’d been.

He figured Angi, who’d known him better than almost anyone when they were kids, would be the same.

“Stop talking about him like he’s a victim.”

“He is a victim of those bullies.” She pulled a cell phone out of her back pocket and jabbed a thumb against the screen. “I’m going to call that school and give his teacher a piece of my mind. It’s ridiculous that they haven’t dealt with those little hooligans.”

Gabe took advantage of her discomposure to slip the phone from her hand. He held it above his head when she tried to grab it from him. At nearly five-ten, Angi was taller than most women, but he still had a good five inches on her. He might not have come into his full height until his late teens, but he took full advantage of it now. “Hold on to all the pieces of your mind. I said I wasn’t teaching him to fight.”

He waited until she settled, then added, “I’d never do that without your permission. You’re his mother, and you call the shots. But those other avenues of dealing with confrontation are just as valuable. Remember that Mr. Miyagi believed fighting was a last resort.”

“Thank you,” she said quietly, “for the permission part.”

He nodded. “Of course. He’s a good kid, Ang. Stronger than he realizes and smart as a whip.”

“He gets that from his father,” she told him, seeming to begrudge the words even as she spoke them.

“Andrew said he’s never met his dad.”

She sucked in a visible breath. “He told you that?”

“He talks a lot.”

“Not to me.” She bit down on her lower lip. “His father was more of a sperm donor, although the pregnancy was accidental. No, I don’t like that word. I don’t like any of the words to describe it. Accidental, unintentional, a mistake. All of them give the impression that I would have chosen a different outcome if I had it to do all over again.”

“Which isn’t the case?”

“I wouldn’t trade Drew for anything. I’m so much better a person because I’m his mom.”

Gabe could see that. Her love for him shone from her like a spotlight, bathing everything around her in a golden glow. Whether she was talking sweetly to her son or gearing up for a battle on his behalf, that love infused every part of her. He didn’t want to think of Angi in any sort of positive light, but she wasn’t the insecure, social-climbing princess she’d turned into the last summer he spent in Magnolia.

“His father didn’t feel the same?”

She shook her head, dark eyes going black like bitter espresso. “We’d only been dating a couple of months, and he was the owner of the restaurant where I worked. My boss’s boss. You have to understand that I was living what I thought was my dream life. I’d gotten out of this town and was working in a restaurant where they served creative, innovative recipes. The head chef was a woman, still not as common as you’d think in the restaurant industry. She’d been a pioneer in the Manhattan culinary scene, and the fact that she hired me made me believe I’d made it.”