Next Door Daddy by Debra Clopton

fresh out of the oven, though I need to warn you that Cassie helped me fix ’em and she ain’t ever helped me cook before. That young’un’s goin’ ta starve that poor Jake ta death.”
    Esther Mae harrumphed. “If anybody can teach her how to cook, it’d be you, Sam. Where is she, anyway?”
    â€œShe’s with Dottie and the girls from the shelter getting fitted for her wedding dress and their bridesmaid dresses. I think they’re all crammed into Ashby’s dress store. She was in here early this morning to help me get ready for my Saturday run, and then she was off to get poked and prodded. Her words, not mine.”
    Norma Sue explained that they were having Cassie’s wedding in a few weeks. Then the conversation rounded back to their order, everyone deciding to try Cassie and Sam’s enchiladas.
    â€œSo where is that sweet boy of yours?” Esther Mae asked. “He’s such a cutie. I love kids. I’m hoping some of these newlyweds decide to give Mule Hollow some babies pretty soon.”
    â€œNo rush,” Norma Sue interjected. “A good marriage is set by a firm foundation between newlyweds. Don’t rush them, Esther Mae.”
    â€œI’m not. I just want more babies to take care of.”
    â€œSoon enough, Esther Mae. So where is your boy, Polly?”
    â€œNate’s giving Gil riding lessons today.”
    There was no way for Polly to miss the expressions of covert delight that flashed around the table.
    â€œSo, speaking of Nate. How’s that going?”
    â€œEsther Mae,” Adela said softly, but Polly heard a warning in her gentle tone.
    â€œI’m not interfering. I’m just asking if Polly and Nate have, you know, gotten to be friends.”
    Polly had known when she moved to Mule Hollow that she was going to come up against the matchmakers, and she was prepared. “I think we could be called friends. But, ladies, truly, don’t set your sights on me. I’m, well, I was married to the most wonderful man in the world…like I told you already, I couldn’t—”
    Adela reached across the table and placed her fine-boned hand on Polly’s arm. “It’s all right, dear. We didn’t mean anything. But, like I said, I speak from experience.” She glanced up at Sam as he returned with glasses of iced tea. The love in her blue eyes was unmistakable. “You can love again.”
    Maybe so, Polly thought, but there were other issues at play. She had pictures of Marc hanging on the walls of her house and she couldn’t ever imagine taking them down and replacing them with someone else’s image. She had Gil to consider, too. He needed to see Marc’s pictures, and then there would be grandchildren when Gil grew up and married. If she did remarry, her grandchildren would need to know Marc was their grandfather. Needed to hear stories about him. She needed to keep Marc’s memory alive, and if she remarried there would be someone else that her grandchildren would call Granddaddy…Polly had almost as hard a time with that thought as she had with Gil calling another man Daddy.
    â€œNate’s an incredible man. But I’m fine as I am. Really,” she said firmly.
    Sam brought out their plates at that moment and Polly was relieved. But as everyone bowed their heads to say a prayer of thanksgiving, she thought she saw Esther Mae wink at Norma Sue.

Chapter Ten
    P olly shoveled dirt from the wheelbarrow and ignored the ache in her back. She wasn’t really a yard person by some people’s standards, but she liked big flower beds with low-maintenance plants that promised to bloom from spring until late fall. She’d always been a busy person, and finicky plants just didn’t fit into her lifestyle. For now, that philosophy would have to work on the grounds of the bed-and-breakfast. But later, maybe next spring when she had her first year behind her, she would