Built to Last (Harlequin Heartwarming) by Janice Kay Johnson Page A

It had seemed to him the kids had been conspicuous lately in how careful they’d been not to mention their stepfather.
    Was her marriage in trouble? What kind of pressure had “terribly nice” Ronald put on her to ditch the kids? Ryan was suddenly very glad he’d have a chance to talk to Melissa and Tyler about their mom and stepdad. Over the phone, it was too awkward to ask, “How do you feel about Ronald?” Let alone ask if he ever laid a hand on them, or if he scared them in any other way. Ryan could never be sure that Wendy wasn’t listening in on another phone, or to the kids’ end of the conversation. And in the time since he’d seen them, the talks on the phone had become stilted. It scared him to think that he mightalready be becoming a stranger to them, a man they didn’t really know but were obliged to maintain a relationship with. Having them for a week now, for two at Christmas, then for two months next summer… That would help.
    Yeah. It would help a lot.
    A knot of unhappiness in his chest loosened, and he said quietly, “I’ll look forward to seeing them, Wendy. Don’t worry during your getaway. We’ll be having a good time, too.”
    And Jo could meet his kids, too, Ryan thought a moment later, after he’d hung up the phone. Maybe she didn’t want any of her own, but there was no reason to think she wouldn’t like his. Look how good she was with Ginny and Emma!
    Yeah. Smiling, he drained the can of soda, resumed his seat and reached for the remote control again. They’d have a great week.

CHAPTER SIX
    P IRATE’S VISIT to school was a huge success. Jo watched with pride and delight as Ginny, lovingly cradling the kitten, carried him around the circle of first-graders seated on the floor so each could pet him. Pirate purred indiscriminately. The clumsy plastic collar appealed to the little boys, and the softness of his fluffy orange-and-white coat evoked oohs and aahs from the girls.
    For once the object of envy and admiration, Ginny glowed. “We rescued him,” she told one student in response to a question. “He probably would have died if we hadn’t taken him home.”
    Emma, in the circle with the little kids, said, “He gets his patch off next week.”
    One little girl waved her arm in the air. Signaled by the teacher, she asked, “Can he come back so we can see him again?”
    The teacher smiled. “We’ll see. Now, does anybody else have something to share?”
    Fortunately, nobody did, as the entire class was still entranced with the kitten.
    The teacher strolled around the circle to Emma and Jo. “I understand you two plan to stay until the end of the day to wait for Ginny?”
    “That’s right,” Jo agreed with a smile.
    “Any chance I could talk you both into listening to some of the kids read while you wait? We never have enough volunteers, and so many of the students don’t have anyone at home who encourages their reading.”
    Jo felt a moment of panic, quickly quelled. She had done plenty of preschool story-times in the library, and competently, too, she’d always felt. She could do this.
    “I’ve done it lots of times,” Emma said, jumping up from where she’d sat cross-legged. “My sixth-grade class used to go once a week to help first-graders.”
    “I’d be happy to,” Jo lied.
    Thus they found themselves stationed at two back tables. An eager boy carrying a book came to Jo first. Whipping it open, he said, “I know how to read! Want to hear?”
    “You bet,” she said.
    He opened it, planted a finger under the first word, and began. “The…bbb…aa…ttt.”His face drew into a scowl as he listened in his head to the sounds, then cleared as he declared triumphantly, “Bat! The bat!”
    Jo grinned. “Right!”
    Okay, this was kind of fun, really.
    “The bat and…the…ccc…”
    It could also get old, she decided after half an hour of listening to six-year-olds torturously sound out words, but it was still satisfying and even exciting in those magical