Page 61 of The Library of Borrowed Hearts

Jasper didn’t have an opportunity to respond to this. For one thing, that lazy, stumbling dog of theirs came ambling forward in hopes of a treat. For another, a loud, booming male voice made itself known in a big way.

“Come in, come in!” it called. Despite the deep timbre and how much it rattled the walls, the voice belonged to a man who couldn’t have stood more than five foot six, his build slight and his paunch considerable. Jasper had to hold back a snort at the sight of him; if this guy went around convincing people that the reason his football career didn’t take off was because of his knees, then he was one hell of a salesman.

“You must be the savior,” Todd said.

Jasper felt his hand being grasped in a surprisingly strong grip and wrenched almost from its socket.

“What did you just call me?” Jasper asked, forcibly taking his hand back.

The man didn’t even blink. “The savior. The good fairy. The knight in shining armor.” When each word out of his mouth only caused Jasper to turn a deeper shade of red, Todd chuckled. “The next-door neighbor.”

He made even that last one sound like something out of a fairy tale—a thing Jasper didn’t appreciate in the slightest.

“I’m here for the boy,” Jasper said with a hard set of his jaw. “Where have you hidden him?”

“I’m right here.” Noodle emerged from the hallway, his steps halting from the crutches that propped him up. Ravenna brightened and extended her arms, but Noodle ducked before she could wrap him in a hug. He embraced the dog instead.

“Isn’t he such a brave, strong boy?” Ravenna asked.

Even though Jasper felt fairly sure the question was meant for him,Todd took it upon himself to answer. “A real trouper,” he said as if addressing an audience of three thousand people instead of just three. “Pluck to the backbone, just like his old mom.”

“Well, really, Todd.” Ravenna had the decency to blush, but not for the reasons Jasper supposed. “How dare you call meold?”

“And still as beautiful as the day I met you,” Todd added with a pat on her behind.

The look Noodle cast up at Jasper was so speaking—and so anguished—that it was all he could do not to haul the kid up in his arms and drag him out of there as fast as he could. Unfortunately, his old bones didn’t allow for it.

“You’ve got to be at least forty-five by now, Ravenna,” he said instead. If action was out of the question, then venomous words would have to do the trick. In his experience, they usually did. “I think the adjective fits.”

Ravenna’s mouth fell open with surprise, but Todd only chuckled. “Now, Mr. Holmes. Is that any way to talk to a lady?” he asked.

“When I see a lady, I’ll let you know.” Jasper turned his attention to Noodle. “Well, brat? Are you coming with me or not? I’ve got a field trip planned for today, but with that leg of yours, it’s bound to be slow going. We’d best get a move on.”

From the way the kid lit up, like a Christmas tree standing alone in the middle of a decimated forest, Jasper realized his duty: he had to get Noodle out of here, and he had to do it no matter what it cost him.

“A field trip?” Ravenna echoed. Her face fell to a comical degree. “Oh, no. Noodle, honey, I thought we were going to spend the day together, just you and me.”

Todd gave a low cough.

“And your stepfather, of course,” she added. She took her lower lip between her teeth. “We have so much stuff to catch up on.”

“About four years of stuff, by my estimation,” Jasper said. Hepretended to think about it. “Or is it five? The time goes by so fast when they’re young. It’s hard to keep track.”

From the way Ravenna’s face went suddenly white, he knew he’d hit his mark. He also knew that he didn’t give a flying fig whether or not he’d hurt her feelings. Chloe might be willing to accept this woman for the sake of her family, and Noodle had his own reasons for calling her, but that didn’t mean Jasper had to play nice.

In fact,notplaying nice was an art he’d perfected a long time ago. More people ought to give it a try.

“I’m sure you two will find plenty to keep you busy while we’re gone,” Jasper added as he grabbed the leash hanging by the door and clipped it to the useless bulldog’s collar. It would take three times as long to get anywhere with the dratted animal dragging at their heels, but he knew how much Gummy Bear mattered to the boy. “There’s a sink full of dishes you could do, the roof leaks in at least half a dozen places, and I’m sure if you dig around long enough, you’ll find a stack of unpaid bills lying around.Lotsof them.”

Ravenna opened her mouth and closed it again, looking exactly like a fish that had just discovered a hook in its mouth, but Jasper didn’t wait around to see how Todd reacted. For one thing, he didn’t give a damn what that man thought. For another, Noodle was staring up at him with wide eyes that he was having a hard time interpreting. Was that surprise? Anguish? Or, as he allowed himself a brief moment to hope, respect for a job well done?

“Come on, Noodle,” he said gruffly as he started tugging the dog out the door. “Daylight’s wasting, and you promised to read aloud to me from the nextNightwavebook.”

Noodle ducked his head and hobbled on his crutches as he followed Jasper out the door, but not before first casting an apologetic look back at his mom. Jasper wanted to tell him to save his apologies and emotions for someone more deserving of it, but what was the use?

He knew what it was like to be the son of a woman who struggled, every day, to do the right thing—and a woman who almost always ended up handing the problem to someone else to handle for her.

You suffered and you strove. And even though it hurt, you survived.