Free SEALed With a Kiss: Even a Hero Needs Help Sometimes... by Mary Margret Daughtridge

notwithstanding. His behavior in the grocery store made it clear he wasn't interested either.
    Professional sympathy, that's what she needed to respond to him with. "Too bad," she said. See? It wasn't too hard to stay cool. "This will really cut your vacation short."
    "Yeah, well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. Is your house safe or are you planning to leave too?"
    Pickett gave a short laugh. "My house has withstood storms for nearly one hundred years, and going to my mother's house with three dogs and a duck is more hazardous than facing a hurricane. And I will not leave my animals," she finished simply. "Why do you ask?"
    "Actually, what I was wondering is ..." Jax sounded oddly hesitant, not so cocky. "Look, the thing is," he started over, "I need to ask you for a favor."
    A favor, not a date. Guessing the rest of what he wanted wasn't hard. "Does your mother-in-law not have anywhere to go? Would you like to bring her and Tyler here?"
    Whoa! What made her say that? Her heart gave a little lurch, whether of gladness that Jax hadn't disappeared from her life, or dismay that kindness might force her to sit out a hurricane with three relative strangers and no electricity, she didn't exactly know.
    "That's the thing. Lauren is going to go to her home in Raleigh, but I was wondering if Tyler and I could camp with you for a couple of days. If it's not a bad blow, we'll just open the cottage back up tomorrow or the next day."
    A family was one thing, but a man by himself was another. Did she really want to invite a man she hardly knew into her home? They wouldn't be alone together of course with Tyler there, but you couldn't expect a child to be much of a chaperone.
    Jax realized that Pickett had been silent just a beat too long. "Look, Pickett, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to put you on the spot. Forget—"
    "No, wait." Pickett interrupted again. "Forgive me if this is blunt, but why do you want to stay here? Why don't you just go to Raleigh with your mother-in-law?"
    Jax took a deep breath. "It's a reasonable question. Look, you know I've pretty much made a mess of my relationship with my son, right? But I'm trying to see what can be pulled out of this screw-up I've made. We don't exactly get along when we're here, but when we're at his grandmother's house in Raleigh, he just ignores me, like I'm not there. If we go back there now, I'm afraid we'll lose every gain we've made. And by the time we get back here, my leave will be half over."
    Pickett stepped out onto the back porch. The sky, milky-looking earlier, was grayer, and the air was hotter and more humid, even since this morning. "What is it that you want to have happen with your son?"
    "I don't know, Pickett." Jax sounded sad and tired. "I guess I need to find out if he really is better off with his grandmother, if I should just leave him with her. But I need to find out, too, whether he could be better off with me."
    "Y'all come on here." Pickett's voice was so quiet, Jax almost wasn't sure he had heard her.
    "You mean it?"
    "Yes. Come on."
    "I appreciate it."
    Forty-five minutes later, Pickett had the flashlights and batteries organized, the spare battery pack for the cell phone charging, and the Coleman lantern located.
    As soon as the phone rang again, Pickett knew who it was.
    She considered answering "Yes, Mother," but that pushed her mother's buttons. Since she was going to upset her mother anyway, there was no need to make it worse.
    As usual her mother started in as soon as Pickett said hello.
    "Did you know the hurricane is going to come ashore tonight?"
    What did her mother think? They didn't have TV? Patience and the respectful manners drilled into her kept her tone even, but nothing, since her mother couldn't see her, kept her from rolling her eyes.
    "Yes, I knew that."
    "You're going to come here, aren't you?"
    "No, ma'am."
    "They've ordered evacuations of the beaches!"
    Pickett prayed for patience. "Mother, I don't live on the beach." Why should she