Ned cleared his throat and worked up his courage. “I wanta say somethin’ else. None a you kids will ever want for nothin’. I made a lotta money buyin’ and sellin’ houses over the years, and never spent much of it on anythin’. Mac and his siblings are my heirs, but you girls have been added inta my will as well. And yer kids don’t hafta wait for me ta kick it to have their college paid fer. If ya don’t want the money from yer daddy, send it back to him. Yer kids won’t suffer any if ya do. I waited a long, long time to have a family of my own, and there ain’t a one a ya that’s gonna want for nothin’. That’s all. That’s what I wanted to say.”

Francine and the girls stared at him.

“What?” he asked, squirming after a long minute of silence.

Maddie transferred Hailey to Mac and got up. She went over to Ned. “Stand up.”

Glancing at Francine, who shrugged, Ned did as Maddie asked. When the girl hugged the stuffing out of him, he nearly cried like an old fool.

“We’ve waited a long time to have a dad who took care of us. Thank you.” She kissed his cheek and made him blush.

“It tain’t nothin’.”

Tiffany got up and hugged him, too. “It’s more than we’ve ever had.”

“We should get the kids home to bed,” Maddie said to Mac.

“Sure, hon, whatever you want.”

“Thanks again for the lovely dinner, Ned—and Mom,” Maddie said.

“Our pleasure, honey,” Ned said, glad to know both girls were in loving relationships with good men who would support them through this latest development in their complicated relationship with their father.

He and Francine saw them off a few minutes later, helping to buckle toddlers into car seats and waving as they drove away.

“You didn’t tell me you’d added the girls to your will,” Francine said as they walked inside to finish cleaning up. The house would smell like lobster for days. “You continue to amaze me, Ned Saunders.”

Embarrassed by her effusiveness, he said, “I did it a long time ago. Added you, too.”

“That’s very kind of you.”

“It tain’t about kindness, doll. It’s about makin’ sure yer set if I kick the bucket.”

“Don’t talk like that. I don’t like it. I plan to make your life complicated for many years to come.”

“I’ll look forward ta that.” Smiling at her sauciness, he squirted liquid soap into the big pan they’d used to boil the lobsters. “Maddie seemed ta take the latest news from Bobby kinda hard.”

“It’s always been hardest on her. She remembers him living with us and remembers him leaving. Tiffany had no memory of him.”