“Hi.” Jody glanced at a little dark-haired girl in the cart. “Who’s ridin’ shotgun with you today?”

“My daughter, Hazel. It’s my weekend, and we’re out buying food for the next two days,” he said.

“You never mentioned a daughter,” Jody whispered.

“I was waiting for our first date to tell you the story of my life,” he said.

Jody went over to the cart. “How old are you?”

Hazel held up four fingers.

“Do you like to read?”

She nodded her head so fast that her dark hair fell into her cute little round face. “Nanny readed to me, but not at Daddy’s.”

“That would be at her mother’s—she has a full-time nanny,” Quincy explained.

“Her mother?”

“Remarried,” he said.

“Will you read to me?” Hazel asked.

Jody couldn’t bear to tell the child no, but she couldn’t say yes. She quickly looked at Quincy for an answer.

“Miz Jody has things to do today. Maybe another time,” he said.

Hazel’s lower lip shot out. Her chin quivered, and tears rolled down her cheeks.

“I can’t stand to see her disappointed. It’d be easier if she threw fits, but she doesn’t. That silent weeping tears my heart out,” Quincy said. “I’ll read to you soon as we get home. You can pick out the book.”

Jody was not an impulsive person. She’d lain awake at night agonizing over moving in with Lyle for two solid weeks. When Mitzi invited her to be a partner in The Perfect Dress, that was the only spur-of-the-minute decision she could remember making. But seeing Hazel so sad turned her heart into a big blob of mush.

“I’ve got the whole day free. I’d love to read to Hazel if you don’t mind. Where do you live?” Jody said.

“I won’t turn that offer down,” Quincy said. “The directions are complicated. Why not just follow me? That would be easier,” he said. “And thank you, Jody.”

She wiped away Hazel’s tears with a tissue she pulled from her purse and said, “Don’t cry, sweetheart. I’ll go home with you and read as many books as you want me to, then your daddy can read to you after that.”

Hazel ducked her head and grinned. “ABC?”

“Whichever ones you want.” Jody hoped she wasn’t making a huge mistake.

Quincy had been right about the directions to his place. She followed him all the way to the Celeste city limits sign. At the next section-line road, he made a sharp left. In less than a quarter of a mile, the pavement turned to gravel. She was glad that she had the windows rolled up, because she drove the rest of the way to a dead end in a cloud of dust.