“I’m going to call the school in the morning,” I said, checking to make sure the boys were still glued to the cell.
“What’s the school going to do?”
“I don’t know but it makes me so mad that someone would go around spreading rumors about us—”
“Not us,” he said. “Me.”
“I’ll start with the principal’s secretary—”
“Grace?”
“Yes, Grace. She’s a relentless gossip.”
“Yeah she is.”
“I mean, come on. You can kill a man with your bare hands?” I shook my head. “Ridiculous. Who would say such a thing?”
Manning kissed Maddy’s cheek. “Someone who wants the whole town to know how dangerous I am, I guess. What do you think, Mads? Is Daddy scary?”
She smiled. “Daddy scary. Daddy kiss.”
“You’re not scary,” I said. “Not even close.”
Manning shifted Mads to his other side to put an arm around me. “Lake?”
“Yeah, Bear?”
“Don’t call the school.”
“Why not?”
“It’s just a rumor. If people want to think I’m dangerous, let them.”
I frowned. A lot of his early life, Manning had thought of himself as a bad person. It’d taken me years and a great deal of heartbreak to get him to see that wasn’t true. I hoped Mateo’s recent introspection didn’t have Manning questioning his own past. “You’re a good man,” I told him.
“Yeah, but we don’t need that getting out.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, drawing back to look at him.
He had his eyes on Madison, and they were filled with pure adoration. I realized then that he hadn’t even finished his second sandwich. There were still a few bites on his plate, not to mention a small pile of chips. Only one person had ever held Manning’s attention long enough that he’d forgotten to eat. Well, now there were two of us. That was the power this little girl had over him.
The kind of power that would make a man do crazy things.
But exactly how crazy?
I gasped, leaning back to point at him. “Manning Raymond Sutter.”
“Lake Dolly Sutter.”
“You started the rumor, didn’t you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said, but the corner of his mouth twitched.
“You went to Grace and everything.” I gaped at him. “But why?”
He shrugged, picking a chip off his plate to toss it in his mouth. “Why do you think, Mama Bear?” He pressed his lips to the side of Madison’s head, swaying with her. “Who’s going to wander into these woods knowing there’s a big, bad bear waiting?”
Our protector. Our great and apparently dangerous bear. My Manning. I didn’t know what to say. “I can’t believe you,” I teased.
He shrugged. “I want to make sure people know.”
“What people?”
He responded swiftly and without mercy. “Fucking boys.”
I burst out laughing, even though hearing Manning curse in front of the kids was nearly enough to shock me into cardiac arrest. Even Mateo looked up from his game.
“She’s two,” I said.
“Have to start young. Do you see this little girl? She’ll drive the world crazy with her mom’s blue eyes.”
It was true that Madison, a black-haired, blue-eyed Daddy’s girl was bound to cause us some trouble. “Good thing she has you and two brothers.”
“Plus a badass mom who can drive a stick,” he said. He pulled me back against his side as I laughed. I had to admit, I enjoyed driving a manual now, and not only because it reminded me of the life-changing moment I’d found out I was pregnant with Henry.
I ran my hand up Manning’s back, over the tattoo on his shoulder, which had grown by many stars. “You’re something else, you know that?” I told him.
“You too, Birdy. Give me a kiss.”
“Oh—hang on,” I said, digging my hand into the back pocket of my jeans. “I’ve got something for you.”
He lowered his mouth to my ear. “That right, Mrs. Sutter? What’re you keeping in your pants for me?”
“Not that,” I said, bumping him with my shoulder. I took out a tin of Candy Kisses lip balm I’d found in some old boxes my mom and dad had brought on their last visit. I smoothed it on as Manning watched, flicking his tongue over his bottom lip.
“That the good stuff?” he asked. “The one I’ve been asking about for years?”
“Watermelon.” I leaned into him, looking up into his eyes. “Happy anniversary of the day we met twenty-five years ago.”
“Happy anniversary, sweet girl. You know you make me the happiest man alive.”
“Show me how happy. Kiss the watermelon right off my lips, Great Bear.”
And he did.