Mrs. Peck made a fuss when she saw Puck hobble into the house leaning on Ross’s shoulder. She wrung her hands at the door, and her voice was frenzied in tone. “Have you called the doctor? Where is your car?”

Puck weakly waved a hand. “I’ll be fine. I just twisted my ankle. It will be fine in the morning.” He put weight on the foot to try and demonstrate his point.

Puck’s entire body tensed. Ross tightened his grip to keep Puck from tumbling into the floor.

Mrs. Peck said, “That’s not fine.”

Puck’s teeth clenched tight, and sweat broke out on his forehead as he spoke. “Yes…it…is. Where’s Addie?”

“She’s fine, but her daddy is hurt. You can’t take care of her tonight like that. I’ll take care of her for tonight if you need me. Have your friend take you to the doctor.”

Thinking twice about interrupting the conversation, Ross kept his head down and helped Puck to the nearest couch.

Puck asked, “Could you stay here? Just for tonight? I’ll pay you twice normal.”

“My husband…”

Ross couldn’t hold his tongue any longer. “I can stay over. I’ll run home and get my work clothes for tomorrow.”

Puck let out a long, deep sigh as he settled onto the cushions of the couch. He looked up with question marks in his dark brown eyes.

“Seriously, it’s no trouble,” said Ross.

Mrs. Peck continued to wring her hands. She stepped up close to Ross and asked, “Do you know how to fix baby formula? What about diapers? Little Addie will need feeding in the night. You must wake up.”

“I’ve done it all before. I have experience. I’m a skilled uncle.”

Ross was confident that Puck’s next question would be about money.

“You don’t owe me anything. Someday you might have the chance to return the favor.”

Puck waved a hand. “You’ve done so much good work for me, Mrs. Peck, but now go home to your husband. Be careful on those roads, but my friend…” Puck tried to pull the name out of his memory, and he failed.

Ross whispered his name.

“Right, Ross,” said Puck. “Ross said the roads are getting better.”

Mrs. Peck nodded and wrung her hands again. “I’ve called my husband. He told me to be careful and drive in low gear. He will pick me up if I need to pull over, but it’s only a ten-minute drive.”

Puck shifted his attention toward Ross. His voice was firm. “Addie must be sleeping. Please check on her and then get me a beer out of the fridge if you would. I could use one right now. There’s a little bottle of ibuprofen in the cabinet above the sink. Bring me that, too.”

Mrs. Peck picked her coat up off the back of a chair and pulled it on. “Please call me later. I’ll be here tomorrow unless you don’t need me. Call me anytime if you need help with little Addie. I’m here.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Peck.” Puck continued his comments after the front door closed. “Here if I send Addie to your house, and then only for another ten days.” Puck lay his head back on the couch. “Motherfuck, it hurts! I need the meds.” He closed his eyes and pulled his hands up over his eyes.

Ross turned toward the bassinet when Mrs. Peck quietly shuffled out the front door. He peered down at the baby sleeping soundly. She was adorable. She had a small pink bow on her forehead and nestled against a stuffed teddy bear.

Ross turned in Puck’s direction. He saw the pain in Puck’s tense body and hurried to the bathroom down the hall. As he carried the bottle of ibuprofen and a beer to the couch, Puck pulled his hands down.

For the first time since hauling him out of the car wedged in the ditch, Ross saw a smile on Puck’s face. He wanted to reach out to hug Puck, but he knew the beer and ibuprofen were more critical.

Puck grabbed the ibuprofen and pantomimed drinking from a bottle. Ross pulled his gaze away from Puck’s handsome face and headed for the fridge.

He sighed when he opened the refrigerator door. He found a half-gallon carton of milk, baby bottles, a cardboard holder filled with six beer bottles, and a stick of butter. Ross couldn’t remember seeing such an empty refrigerator in someone’s home. He grabbed two bottles of beer and returned to the couch.

Puck swallowed three ibuprofen. Ross said, “You need food with that. Can I order a pizza?”

Puck reached up for the beer and asked, “Do you know how? Ordering pizza isn’t tough.”

“Smartass.”

Why are you so fucking good to me? It’s like I have a target on my back for the entire world to shoot at, and then there’s you.”

“You need the help, for one,” Ross twisted the cap off the bottle of beer and listened to the fizz.

“I need something. Yeah, order a pizza. I can pay if you want. I’m not dirt poor. The damned fridge is empty because I forget to buy shit for myself. I’ve got a one-track mind for that baby over there. She’s the world. You know?”

Ross tugged a chair over near the couch. “It should be that way. Do you have a favorite place for the pizza?”

“Anything.” Puck closed his eyes and leaned back against the cushions of the couch. “No anchovies.”

Ross grinned. Coldbrook Bend only had two pizza delivery restaurants. He called his favorite and ordered a classic pepperoni and sausage pizza. Before hanging up, he implored the man on the phone to tell his driver to be careful.

Ross was pleased to hear the response. “We pull them off the road if we think it’s unsafe. Last week we shut down deliveries for the entire evening.”

For a few moments, Ross watched Puck’s chest rise and fall while the tension around his eyes eased. Ross reached down and brushed Puck’s damp, sweaty hair off his forehead.

“You don’t have to do this.”

“I know that, and I think we need an agreement about that ankle.”

“Agreement?”

“If you can’t walk on it in the morning, I’m taking you for X-rays. And I don’t mean walking on it with your face all scrunched up and tense to keep from screaming. You’ll make it worse if you ignore it and pretend like nothing happened.”

“Okay, yeah, but I don’t know if I can face the doctors. Not after what happened to Miranda.”

“Your wife?”

“Yeah.”

Ross watched a visible shudder race through Puck’s body. He tried to calm it with a hand on the shoulder.

Puck touched the seat of the couch. He asked, “Can you sit here with me?”

Ross tensed. It was easy helping Puck get home, and he was looking forward to caring for Addie, but the idea of sitting so intimately close after the kiss at the Corner Hitch made him nervous. “Are you sure?”

Puck turned his head. “I need somebody.” Closing his eyes for a few seconds, Puck let out a deep sigh. “Will you hold me?”

Ross moved to the couch. He helped maneuver Puck’s shoulders around and grabbed a small pillow from the rear of the sofa to place on his lap. Puck laid his head on the pillow and looked up while Ross’s arm came to rest across his chest.

“At the bar…”

Puck said, “That was fucked up. Seriously, it was. I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into me. I think my whole damned world is falling apart. You’ll tell me if I’m not making sense, won’t you?”

“I liked it.”

Puck’s eyes opened wider. “You’re into guys aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I am. I would have guessed you were when you kissed me, but now I don’t know. You can tell me anything. I don’t gossip.”

“I’ve never ever done anything like that before. I don’t know why I did. Well, yeah, I do know why I did. Am I being fucking insulting? This is so weird.”

Ross rubbed Puck’s chest lightly kneading his pecs through his shirt. He asked, ”Was I the first guy you ever kissed?”

“Oh, hell, yeah, and I wouldn’t have done it, but…and this is crazy. I know it’s crazy. Damn, maybe you should just go home and leave me to my fucked up world. I’m so fucking sorry. Be careful the next time you think about grabbing a box of mac and cheese out of a guy’s hand.”

Ross shook his head. “Addie needs me tonight.”

Puck sighed heavily. He reached a hand upward and touched Ross’s face. “I don’t have any idea why you would want to, and I’m not sure why I’m asking, but would you kiss me again?”

“I would kiss you…” Ross’s words were interrupted by Puck raising his head for the kiss. He wrapped his hand around the back of Puck’s head as he awkwardly bent down. He parted his lips when he felt the tip of Puck’s tongue.

Puck sighed deeply and closed his eyes. “Was I good?”

“It was good for me, but you’ve kissed before. I would guess it’s not that different with a woman. I don’t know. I’ve never kissed one, but the body parts are the same, not like…elsewhere.”

Puck opened his eyes again. “Never ever with a guy. Is it bizarre to say kissing you felt right?”

The doorbell interrupted their conversation. It was the pizza delivery man. Ross handed him a wad of cash. “Keep all the extra. You deserve it for being out on a night like this.”

After just two bites of the pizza, Addie woke up. She began to fuss and cry in the bassinet. Ross said, “I’ll take care of it. Just let me know if you want me to do something your way. Everybody has their own way. The world works like that, but I know all of the basics. My sister taught me well.”

Puck gave instructions about feeding and explained where to find the diapers. His cell phone rang just as he finished describing the toys that could distract Addie’s attention if she fussed while changing the diaper.

Ross picked Addie up from the bassinet and held her gently against his shoulder while he headed for the hall closet to retrieve changing supplies.

The call was about Puck’s car. The police wanted to know the whereabouts of the owner of the abandoned car.

Ross tickled Addie’s bare tummy just after getting the new diaper in place. He asked, “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, yeah. I need to call a towing place and have them retrieve the car. It looks like Addie likes you. She screams sometimes when I change the diaper.”

“Well, we’ll see how well the feeding goes.” Ross prepped the bottle while Puck called about the car. He smiled to himself about how easily they worked together. Ross’s sister Linda taught him well, but she barked orders and complained if he got any minute detail wrong.

Ross smiled at Addie. “You’re such a good little girl. Your daddy’s raising you well.”

Puck ended the call and dropped his phone on the coffee table. He asked, “Could you bring her over here while you feed her?”

“I’ll hand her to you and let you feed her. Do you want that?”

“I’m so tired. I might fall asleep. You can feed her in the chair if that’s okay, but bring her close so I can kiss her. I’ll finish that slice of pizza before I drift off to sleep. You’re not going anywhere tonight, are you?”

Ross held Addie close for a kiss, and he settled into the chair to offer her the bottle. “I’m not going anywhere tonight. I’ll be right here.”

Ross felt fatigue creeping through his body, but there was plenty of adrenaline remaining to keep him wide awake. “So your sitter is leaving town? That’s rough. I wouldn’t think it’s easy to find a good one in a little town like this.”

“There’s some sort of family emergency, and she’s going to help out. She said she will be gone for only two weeks, but I know how unpredictable things like that can be. I’m not sure what I’ll do. I already maxed out my leave.”

Ross smiled and patted Addie’s back encouraging a burp before returning the bottle to her lips. “I’ve got an idea. Is it okay if I do a little legwork to see if something might be possible?”

“You’ve done so much,” said Puck, and he closed his eyes.

Ross fed Addie in silence. He heard Puck’s breathing slow down as he fell asleep. While Addie quietly took the bottle, Ross looked around the room. Everything was neat and tidy. Toys were packed into a small basket near the bassinet, and all clothes were tucked away. He turned his attention back to Puck. The handsome man was peaceful at last.

Ross whispered to Addie, “Watch closely. Your daddy is a great man.”