His Ordinary Life by Linda Winfree

are you staying with Tick or your mama?”
    “I don’t believe you understood what I meant, Barb.” His hands made another foray down his legs.
    She averted her eyes from those long fingers and tried to focus on his words. “What did you mean, then?”
    “I meant I should stay here. I think I should move back in.”

Chapter Four
    “What?” Barbara stared up at Del. Surely she hadn’t heard him say he planned to stay in their house. Under their roof, where she would have to see him every day, a constant reminder of what they’d once been. The memories he’d left behind the first time were bad enough. Her stomach fluttered once, then clenched.
    He ran his palms down his thighs again. “I should stay here. Think about it, Barb—”
    “I don’t need to. You’re not staying here. You can go to Tick’s or your mama’s.”
    “He needs to see that we’re together on this.”
    “I don’t want you in the house.”
    Pain pinched his mouth into a tight line. Remorse tugged at her and she shoved it away, made herself keep her expression impassive.
    “I know that.” Frustration darkened his voice. “But, believe me, it’s the best way.”
    “Then we’ll take the second-best way, because you’re not staying here.”
    “Second best is having him move in with me so I can keep an eye on him.”
    She glared. “No. He belongs here.”
    He moved with quick grace, kneeling before her, his hands gripping the arms of her chair. “Yeah, he does, but he needs me right now.”
    “He’s always needed you.” The raw words scraped her throat.
    A spasm tightened his face, his eyes pained. “I know .” The bald statement emerged a hoarse whisper. “I’m trying, Barb. Let me stay.”
    “Del—”
    “Please.”
    Barbara looked away from the depthless dark of his gaze. If he’d chosen smooth persuasion, she could have hardened herself to him. But his sincerity…the aching sincerity in his voice wrapped around her, seeping in, making her want to smooth the frown lines from his face, ease the hurt from his eyes.
    Don’t. Remember what giving in to desire and the need to comfort him did before.
    It gave us Blake.
    And ruined all your plans, didn’t it?
    She swallowed and faced him again, strengthening her defenses. “I don’t know. There has to be another way.”
    “Give me one.”
    “I…you’re being here isn’t going to keep him from sneaking out.”
    “I can deter him. Trust me.”
    Trust him. He made it sound so easy, like all she had to do was step back and let him take over, depend on him to not let Blake fall. Resentment curdled in her. Trust meant being dependent, letting someone else take control.
    Trust me. I’ll handle it. Aunt Polly’s reedy voice echoed in her head. You can’t do this by yourself, Barbara Gail. The aunt who’d raised her had set her up to be the needy, desperate girl who’d reacted to the same need in Del. The one time Barbara had stood up to her, refused to let Aunt Polly handle things had been over Del, over Blake. She’d ignored the elderly woman’s insistence that the baby would be better off being put off for adoption. Instead, she’d clung to Del, listened to him when he’d murmured reassurances.
    Trust me. I’ll take care of you. His words when they were standing outside a South Carolina courthouse and all her fears were crowding in. He had picked up right where her Aunt Polly left off, taking care of her. Look how that had turned out. When the responsibility became too much, he’d walked away.
    Trusting him had been her biggest mistake.
    And now he knelt in front of her, asking her to make that mistake all over again. Her hair tickled her forehead, and she tucked it behind her ears, avoiding his eyes again. “I can’t.”
    His mouth tightened. “Then let me prove it to you. A couple of nights, Barb. That’s all I’m asking for. Long enough to show him we mean business.”
    In the house the phone rang and young voices argued over who would answer it, the