“Tess baked us a cake!” I heard Rex say excitedly. “Carrot. My favorite and Dad’s!”

“And mine, boy,” Cob added. “Is it someone’s birthday?”

“Naw,” Joel answered. “She does it all the time. We had cupcakes last time we visited Dad. She bakes cakes for a living.”

“She bakes cakes for a living,” Olivia whispered disdainfully, I felt my back go straight but watched Brock’s head snap up and neck twist whereupon he aimed a look so vicious at his ex-wife that it made me, not even the recipient of the look, quake a little.

“You should see her decorate it, Gramps,” Rex said. “She goes so fast, you can’t see her hands move. It’s like those people on TV.”

That made me feel better and when I say that I mean that made me feel downright smug but I aimed my smug grin at my feet.

“This I gotta see,” Cob muttered.

“You gotta hurry, she’s almost done,” Rex told him.

“All right then, how about me and my grandsons watch Tess decorate this cake and you two go on out to the parking lot and finish your talk,” Cob suggested. “Does that sound like a plan?”

I looked from my feet to the living room to see Olivia glare at Cob then she transferred her glare to Brock then she moved her eyes to shoot daggers at me.

Then her eyes travelled the length of me and back and she asked me, “Why am I not surprised you bake cakes?”

“Maybe ‘cause she’s got a real woman’s body that a real man enjoys,” pause then a pointedly emphasized kill shot of, “a lot rather than a body full of points and ridges that, newsflash, Olivia, really doesn’t feel all that f**kin’ good?” Brock asked this as her gaze snapped to him and it was clear by his look, the mood that hadn’t shifted out of the room and the fact he didn’t shut up that he wasn’t done. “You should watch Tess decorate her cake too, probably would be fascinating, seeing as having talent of any kind is foreign to you.” He’d already delivered ouch, with that he twisted the knife deep. But he still wasn’t done. “I’ll make sure the kids wrap a couple of pieces up to take home. You taste it; you might learn life can be sweet rather than bitter. Dade tastes it, he might remember that there are women out there who know how to take care of a man rather than expend all their energy suckin’ the marrow out of his bones.”

“Slim,” Cob said softly, moving into my vision and giving his son a gentle look that, albeit gentle, clearly said to Brock that he’d made his point and it was time to move on before he moved up the stairs. When his eyes hit me, he said softly, “Heya Tess. Good to see you again.”

“Hey,” I said softly back.

“Have the children at my house by five.” I heard Olivia hiss at Brock.

“I’ll have them back at seven so Dad can have a good visit,”

I moved back behind the counter but glanced at the living room as Cob and the boys gathered at the bar and I saw her pinched face now staring daggers at Brock.

And Ellie was not wrong. She did have a pinchy face and after the initial impact of her looks, her words, attitude, anger and inappropriateness colored those looks and she was not nearly as beautiful as I’d thought.

“Fine,” she bit out then started stomping to the door.

I picked up the pastry bag and went back to decorating even as I listened hard.

Therefore I heard Brock rumble low, “You cool down, you reflect on this, Olivia. You do this shit one more time, and I mean any of it, from your start of showin’ two hours early to take my boys to finish with you throwin’ a shit fit in front of them and my woman, I warn you, I’ll take action.”

“Go f**k yourself, Slim,” was her hissed retort.

“Jesus,” was Brock’s muttered reply.

My eyes slid to Cob to see his mouth tight, his jaw hard and his eyes aimed at the counter.

He must have felt my look because his head came up, his gaze caught mine, he schooled his features into a smile that did not reach his concerned yet angry eyes then he released my gaze and reached out to wrap a big hand around Rex’s head and pull him into his side.

“That’s a big cake, boy, so big I’m thinkin’ I can talk Tess into lettin’ me stay so I can bum a piece,” Cob said to Rex.

“I don’t know, we were all gonna take quarters,” Rex said back and Cob grinned at him.

Brock showed, stalked to the end of the bar and looked between his sons.

“You guys all right?” he asked.

Joel shrugged and kept his gaze steady on the cake so I went back to decorating it even though I knew this non-answer actually meant a big, fat, hairy no to his father’s question.

“Yeah, Dad,” Rex mumbled.

“Right,” Brock whispered disbelievingly but let it go. Then, “Tess?”

“I’m good, honey,” I told the cake then asked it, “You want me to get you a beer?”

“I’ll get it,” pause then, “Dad?”

“Sounds good, Slim.”

“Boys?” Brock called.

“We can have a beer?” Joel asked.

I looked to him to see him looking beyond me to where Brock was at the fridge and I saw him grin at whatever look Brock was giving him then he said, “Okay, I’ll take a pop.”

“Me too,” Rex chimed in.

I went back to piping.

“Wow, Tess, the boys didn’t lie. You can barely see your hands move,” Cob noted.

“Practice,” I muttered.

“I can see that,” Cob muttered back then he said something that made warm gushiness flood my belly and my hands freeze mid-squirt. “Could be he’s my son but been around men as a whole a long time. Women who can pull off lookin’ beautiful bein’ barefoot in a kitchen wearin’ a t-shirt and glasses and no makeup with their hair pulled back in a ponytail while they decorate a cake that makes your mouth water just lookin’ at it, well,” my eyes had gone to him and he smiled gently at me, “don’t know a man alive or dead that I met in my sixty-eight years who wouldn’t want that woman above all others in his kitchen.”

He didn’t need to reassure me after my first acid encounter with Olivia.

But it was still a nice thing to do.

“Thanks, Cob,” I whispered.

“Don’t thank me for tellin’ the truth, sweetheart,” he whispered back.

Brock’s front hit my back and Cob’s beer hit the counter in front of him as Brock set it there while he joked, “Quit flirtin’ with my woman, Dad.”