“Nice,” I heard a woman say then go on, “I’ve got to get the boys early. Can you get their stuff together? I’ll be waiting in the car.”

“Come again?” Brock asked.

“I have to get the boys early,” she repeated. “I’ll be waiting in the car. Tell them to hurry.”

“Olivia, you don’t get them until five,” Brock stated and, already tense at the knowledge my mind was refusing to believe, that Brock’s ex was at the door sounding like the bitch I suspected she was from what I’d learned from Brock (and Fern and Laura and Jill), I went tenser when this was irrevocably confirmed and it was then I noticed both the boys were frozen to the point of looking calcified on their stools.

“I know that, Slim, but today I need to pick them up early,” she retorted.

“You need to pick them up early, you tell me you need to pick them up early; we discuss it and make plans. You don’t show at my f**kin’ door and tell me to get them packed.”

“Oh for God’s sake!” she snapped. “It isn’t a big deal. Why do you make everything a big deal? It’s only two hours. Just get them to get their shit packed and I’ll be waiting in the car.”

“Woman, I get four days a month with my boys, two hours shaved off that is a big deal,”

Brock returned on a dangerous rumble.

“There you go, making it a big deal,” she shot back.

“They haven’t eaten,” Brock told her.

“Dade will take them out to get some burgers or something later,” she replied.

“No, Dade won’t. We got plans. You’ll come back in two hours or I’ll drop them at your house at five or whatever-the-fuck time you’ll be home to look after your sons.”

“You can do whatever you have planned next time you see them. I’m here now, I went out of my way to come and get them and I don’t have time to discuss this.”

“You went out of your way to come and get your boys?” Brock asked, his dangerous rumble getting more dangerous.

“Jesus, Slim, just tell them to get packed.”

“All right, you are not hearing me and you need to listen, we have plans. The cake’s baked and the boys are lookin’ forward to it. They’re gonna eat it and then they’ll go back when it’s time for them to go back.”

“The cake’s baked?”

Uh-oh.

Brock didn’t answer that question. Instead he ordered, “Go, I’ll bring the boys to your place at seven.”

“What cake’s baked?” she asked. “You baked a cake?” This was incredulous.

Apparently, Rex nor Joel had shared about me.

I looked back at the boys at the same time their heads, in unison, slowly turned to me.

They looked terrified.

Oh man.

“Olivia, Christ, step back,” Brock growled.

Oh man!

“What cake, Slim?” she asked, her voice rising as well as getting closer then on a shout,

“What cake? ”

Then there was a moment of silence, a muttered, “Fuck,” from Brock and my eyes went to the living room a half a second before a woman appeared at the foot of the stairs to the kitchen.

And one look at her was like a sock to the stomach.

She was beautiful. Utterly, top-to-toe, the definition of beautiful.

Shining, healthy, long blonde hair. Fabulous bone structure. Perfectly symmetrical features. Intriguingly shaped bedroom eyes. Cheekbones to die for. Tall and rake thin. Slim-fitting, stylish sweater, two hundred dollar jeans, seven hundred dollar boots and fifteen hundred dollar handbag.

And she had extraordinarily beautiful hands tipped with perfect, crimson fingernails.

She looked like she walked out of the pages of a celebrity magazine.

And she was Brock’s ex-wife.

Her striking, angry, venom-spewing eyes leveled on me and she demanded to know, “Who are you?”

I opened my mouth to answer but then Brock entered my vision and he spoke before me.

“This is Tess, Olivia, and seriously, this is not f**kin’ cool,” he snarled.

“Tess?” she asked, eyes on me then they cut to Brock, “Tess? ”

“Maybe you’ll do me a favor and go outside for your tantrum instead of havin’ it in front of my boys and my woman.”

Wrong, wrong, wrong thing to say.

I knew this when she hissed, “Your woman? ”

“Jesus, Olivia, can we f**kin’ go outside?” Brock asked.

“No we f**king can’t! ” she shrieked.

And that was it for me.

“Okay, boys,” I said softly, putting down my pastry bag, “do me a favor and get your coats. Let’s take a walk around the block.”

“Don’t you take my sons anywhere, ” Olivia lashed out, her arm coming up so she could jab a finger at me.

“Take them, Tess,” Brock growled.

“Up boys, let’s go,” I whispered as they seemed planted to their stools.

“Don’t you dare walk out of this house with my children!” Olivia shouted.

“Go, Tess,” Brock barked.

“Guys,” I called, rounding the counter, “up. Let’s go.”

“We have problems if that woman takes my sons out of this house,” Olivia threatened Brock.

“You steppin’ into my house, we already had problems, Olivia,” Brock fired back.

“What’s going on?” I heard and Olivia and Brock both looked to the door as I tried to place the voice that was vaguely familiar and couldn’t do it until Joel spoke.

“Grandpa,” he whispered.

Boy, Cob Lucas had interesting timing.

“What’s going on, Cob, is that I’m here to pick up my sons and Slim won’t release them,”

Olivia informed her ex-father-in-law at the same time she crossed her arms on her chest, hitched a hip and put out a foot.

“Well, I’ll be,” the invisible Cob replied. “I musta got somethin’ messed up. I thought you picked the boys up at five, that’s why I stopped by, to see my grandsons. Did I lose two hours somewhere?”

I watched Rex look at his brother, Joel gave him a small grin then they both finally moved to jump off their stools and race down the steps.

“Hey Grandpa!” I heard Joel shout.

“Hey Gramps!” Rex shouted after him.

“Joey, Rex, come give your Granddad a hug,” Cob ordered.

Olivia glared at proceedings I couldn’t see. Brock scowled at his boots.