“Hey, that was her idea, not mine.” He was beginning to realize a lot of people in town were unhappy with him. There was a time when he wouldn’t have given a damn, but—as everyone kept pointing out—he wasn’t a sullen teenager anymore. He rolled his eyes, sharing the decision he’d reached at the Shamrock earlier without even realizing it. “She’s going to get the damn corn maze, okay?”

He had no idea how he was going to make that happen, or how he was going to tolerate it, but there it was.

“Really? Oh, Zayne, that’s great news.” Zoey chuckled. “That makes me feel better about advising you.”

“What do you mean?”

“If I thought you were still taking advantage of her, I’d be a lot less keen on you letting her sleep there.”

“I was never...” He realized his voice had risen, so he brought it down to a near whisper. “She offered to barter for the maze and I took her up on it. I mean, come on, Zoey.” He felt a need to defend himself. “In high school, she was—”

“In high school, you were a grubby-looking troublemaker who spent half his time in detention for fighting and talking back.” She wasn’t wrong. She also wasn’t done. “Didn’t you steal one of the teacher’s motorcycles and drive it down the hallway to class? And didn’t you call the principal a jackass...in the middle of your own graduation ceremony?”

“Sounds about right.” He wasn’t proud of his behavior as a rage-filled kid. But damn, he’d had his reasons. “What’s your point?”

“You know what my point is,” Zoey answered. “If people judged you based on your younger years, you wouldn’t be drowning in orders for your new business. No one would trust you in their home. That farm you just bought would be nothing but a pipe dream.” There was a pause, and he heard her muffled voice asking someone—probably Mike—for a refill.

“Look,” she started again. “I’m not saying you’re wrong about High School Andrea. I got my share of her snooty looks and comments. But that was High School Andrea—she was still under her mother’s obnoxious thumb. So maybe you should cut Grown-Up Andrea some slack.” Zoey paused. “And for God’s sake, let her get some sleep. I’ll let Mary know what’s going on and ask her to keep Hudson during the day tomorrow—she can take him to preschool with Nathan.”

He went back to the living room and tucked the blanket more tightly around Andrea before sitting in the armchair again. It was a little after midnight when she made a face and mumbled something, her eyes sweeping open. She looked around the darkened room, but before she could ask any questions, he handed her a bottle of water.

“Drink this. You’re dehydrated.”