Free Yours, Mine & Ours by Jennifer Greene Page A

surprise on a cloudless night…but suddenly there seemed to be stars in the grass, as well. She sat up, confused, figuring the twinkling lights on the ground had to be some kind of optical illusion. The tiny lights switched on, off, one after the other, all through the yard. Five, then a dozen, then more.
    It was crazy. She wandered into the yard, feeling the tickly brush of soft grass beneath her bare feet,and extended a hand…something touched her, then lit up. Another one of those impossible “stars.”
    â€œFireflies. Amazing, aren’t they?”
    She whirled around, saw Mike’s shadow from his deck, and immediately felt her pulse kick up. It was because she wanted to talk to him, of course. It wasn’t chemistry. It was that debacle at dinner that she wanted to discuss.
    He aimed down the steps, into her yard. Her heartbeat did more of that frisky thing…but there were stars floating and dancing around them, on an evening turned velvet dark, and the man looked downright magical, coming out of the shadows like a prince in a fairy tale.
    Obviously her mind couldn’t be trusted.
    â€œI’ve never seen them before. Fireflies? So they’re an insect?”
    â€œAnd ugly in daylight. But they don’t bite or sting or hurt anything. They’re just putting out flashes to attract the opposite sex.”
    Like him, she thought. The damned man kept putting out flashes, forcing her pulse to do that thrum thing, making her somehow want to lean closer to him. Not that she did any such thing. “You recovered from dinner? And just for the record, I think you’re a hero for taking on the sex-education questions.”
    He gave a short laugh. “Your daughter had me stumped with the question about why humans have babies and can’t have puppies. Not that it’s a hardquestion. Just hard to think up an answer that works for a four-year-old.”
    â€œSpeaking of four-year-olds…I swear, Mike, my daughter can be absolutely wonderful.”
    He chuckled again. “I think she is. She’s honest. And she stands up. My guess is that all that character comes from the red hair. Your set of genes.” And then it was his turn to clear his throat. “And speaking of the other four-year-old…I swear, my son does know how to tell the truth.”
    â€œOf course he does. That’s just what four-year-olds do. Invent. Imagine. It just gets out of control sometimes.”
    Mike scraped a hand through his hair. “Well, in my time, we called it lying. The tricky part is that the villain in all his stories is never an ogre or an alligator or a bad guy. It’s always a woman who looks just like his mom.”
    Amanda winced—for both of them. “Touchy.” She didn’t motion him toward the steps, but they both seem to aim back there. He took one side and she took the other, neither touching…neither even looking at each other. She thought they were both being seriously smart this time.
    Besides, there were those magical fireflies to look at.
    â€œYou weren’t kidding about Teddy having mom issues, were you? Or mom-desertion issues.”
    He sighed. “I keep trying to turn it around, but I’mnot sure how. I was a lawyer by profession, did I tell you that? Right and wrong questions are supposed to be easy. But even when a divorce is right…even when both sides do their best…it’s never so easy for the kids.”
    â€œTotally agree.” She tried not to turn her head. “You’re not working now?”
    â€œNo. When I left the downtown firm I was employed by, it wasn’t just the divorce, but wanting something with less pressure, less hours, for Teddy’s sake. I really wanted to take a couple months off, go after a healthier life here. A kid’s life, rather than an adult’s city life. All the stuff we talked about before. Speaking of which…do you know what you’re doing for