I squeezed her hand, not knowing what else to do. Words seemed so inadequate.

“Then he moved here and he hated this place. He could have found another job—a better one—someplace else. But I think he considered working here as his penance.” She paused and smiled. “Until he met you. He told me about your first meeting soon after it happened. Did he mention that to you?”

“He told me a couple of months later.”

“Every time he talked about you, something in his voice changed. He changed. The hardness started slipping away.”

“He just needed a friend.”

“You underestimate your influence, dear. He needed you.”

I blushed.

“So don’t apologize for the excitement that seems to follow you around like the Pied Piper. He loves it and he loves you. I’m very happy for you both.”

Mason appeared in the doorway while his mother and I were smiling at each other like a couple of fools. He froze in his tracks. “Why do I get the impression I should run for safety?”

I turned and gave him a wicked grin. “Shouldn’t a man appreciate the fact that his girlfriend loves his mother?”

He grinned as he headed for the coffee maker. “While I do appreciate that more than you can possibly know—” he poured coffee into his cup “—I also know that the two of you will be an unstoppable force of nature if you team up together.”

“Get used to it, Mason,” she said. “In fact, I’d like to talk to you about something important if you have a moment. I would have mentioned it last night, but we got distracted.”

Worry flickered in his eyes as he sat in the chair at the head of the table. “Of course, Mom.”

I started to get up. “I’ll leave you two to talk.”

Mason’s mother grabbed my hand. “No, I’d like you to stay, Rose. This involves you too.”

“Okay.” I sat down, my stomach a bundle of nerves.

“You both know that I came down here with the purpose of finding a new home for Mason. I had already set up the appointments, so you can imagine my surprise when I found out about the change in plans.”

Mason cringed. “It wasn’t like we purposely didn’t tell you, Mom. We just decided—”

“Mason,” she laughed. “I’m not angry. But I’d already made the appointments, so I kept them.”

We both watched her as understanding began to dawn on me.

“One of the houses was darling. And you know that I’ve been thinking about selling my house in Little Rock, so…” She looked sheepish. “I’m considering moving here to Henryetta. Now, you two don’t have to say anything, but think about it—”

“Mom, I would love that,” Mason interrupted.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I’d be so happy. Honestly. This is perfect.”

She beamed. “Well, okay. I’ll put in an offer.”

“This calls for a celebration dinner tonight,” Mason said, standing. “We’ll go out to dinner at the Little Italy restaurant.”

I went upstairs to get ready for the day, wondering if it was time to take the pregnancy test. Mason and I had smoothed out. His mother was moving closer to us. But my business was even more of a mess than it had been yesterday. Maybe it would always be a mess. Maybe there was no perfect time.

Bruce Wayne met me at the store and we walked through the wreckage. His gaze shifted to the wall. “I’m gonna call Skeeter. If you’re gonna be helping him, he needs to be helping you.”

Just what I needed—protection for my business from Henryetta’s probably soon-to-be top-ranking criminal.

“Have you heard anything from him?”

“No,” I scowled.

“What do you want to do about this mess? Start cleaning?”

“I don’t know,” I said, completely overwhelmed. “I suppose the insurance adjustor needs to come see it first. Violet’s in charge of that stuff.” The Christmas trees were supposed to be delivered today but we didn’t have the money to pay for them. Violet had placed the order and was supposed to meet with the delivery guy. I decided to let her deal with telling him to take his shipment back. “The fact is we lost more money last night. Money we couldn’t afford to lose. We’re up crap creek without a paddle.”

A grin tugged at his mouth. “Then we better get some nose plugs.”

That was one of the many reasons I liked working with Bruce Wayne. I bumped my arm into his and grinned up at him. “Let’s go finish our landscaping job. It may very well be our last.”

He sobered. “Then let’s make it a good one.”

We’d just gotten to the job site when I got a text from an unknown number. After I read it, I knew it had to be from Skeeter.

I heard about your bad luck. I’ve declared you as my own and plan to make it right.

“What does that mean?” I asked Bruce Wayne after I read him the text, afraid to hear his answer.

“It means that Skeeter is making it known that you fall under his protection and anyone who messes with you will meet his wrath.”

“Oh, crap.”

He sucked in a deep breath. “It could be a good thing.” Only he didn’t sound so sure.

“What’s the flip side to that, Bruce Wayne?”

“Everyone and their brother is gonna be curious as to why he’s got an interest in you. Skeeter rarely claims things, so they’ll be even more curious. Especially when they add in the fact that you’re with the assistant DA.”