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Copper highlights flickered, changing color with every movement of her head. When the ball fell to the ground and Kelly missed it, she ran after it. Ari limped after her. She tripped and fell. Ari went down with her. They both laughed. Jace laughed, too.
    They looked good together. Ari had asthma, but he wasn’t coughing or wheezing and he didn’t look as if his breath was labored. Jace felt relief. This confirmed it was the correct decision to bring the boy here. Although now that they didn’t have a place to stay and Jace had no job, their lives were in flux. Jace had to stay strong for them both; he’d figure something out.
    First he had to find them a place to stay. This was no longer the Kendall Farm he had known. Coming back here, specifically, had been a mistake. Jace had hoped things would change.
    And they had.
    But not in his favor.

CHAPTER THREE
    “D AD ,” A RI SHOUTED and took off running across the back porch. He threw open the screen door and launched himself into the kitchen. Even though he favored his left leg, Jace caught him as he propelled himself into his arms. The momentum of the ball of energy turned Jace completely around. “We waited a long time,” Ari said. “You were asleep. Kelly said you were tired.” He glanced at her, wobbling precariously in Jace’s arms. “We let you sleep. But we already ate. Two times.” He put up two fingers, running on with his explanation of their day.
    “That’s all right, sport.” Jace kissed the boy on the top of his head. He looked at Kelly, who’d come into the kitchen behind Ari. “Thank you,” he said. “I didn’t intend to sleep the day away.”
    She smiled. Jace thought she looked familiar when he saw that smile and tried to recall if he’d ever seen her before.
    “We were outside playing,” Ari informed him. “I showed Kelly how to play soccer. She’s not very good.” He frowned, shaking his head, his expression very serious. “She needs to practice.” He pronounced the words very precisely.
    Kelly laughed, raising her hand to cover her mouth. Something about the gesture grabbed Jace’s attention. A tiny trickle of awareness seeped inside him.
    “Good morning.” He openly admired her. She was dressed in a short-sleeved T-shirt that stopped at her waist. It was met by a pair of light blue shorts that showed off her long legs. Jace found his eyes traveling the distance from the running shoes on her feet to the hair she’d let fall behind her shoulders.
    “It’s not morning, Dad,” Ari said and tugged on his arm. Jace realized his son had repeated the sentence.
    “I know,” he commented and with a kiss to his forehead set him on his feet.
    Kelly opened the refrigerator and pulled out two drink bottles of orange juice. “Can you drink from the bottle?” she asked Ari.
    “Yes,” he said reaching for it.
    She loosened the top. Jace heard the snap as the seal was broken. She handed it to Ari.
    “Why don’t you go and drink that on the porch?” Jace suggested.
    Ari moved out the back door and Jace waited until his son was seated on the porch steps before addressing Kelly. She, too, was watching Ari. He didn’t know how to begin to say what he needed to say.
    “He’s a wonderful child,” she said.
    “I’m very proud of him.” He could tell she had questions about Ari. It was obvious by Ari’s black eyes and curly dark hair that none of Jace’s features were present in him. “Go ahead, ask.”
    “Ask what?”
    “Ask about Ari’s adoption,” he said.
    “He’s adopted?”
    Jace saw her shoulders drop as if she were relieved. “Does that make a difference?” He raised his eyebrows skeptically.
    She came up in front of the counter that separated them. “I’m ashamed to admit what I was thinking.”
    “And what was that?” Jace braced himself for some prejudicial comment. He’d seen people react to the two of them before.
    “You don’t recognize me, do you?”
    “What?” He didn’t follow her thought