But Jilly figured that, when you were a foster kid and could get moved to a new placement at a moment's notice, it would be hard to make friends. It would be even harder to open up and trust the adult in the house.
Jilly was determined to win over all three kids. She already loved them like her own.
"I don't know." PJ shook his head. The boys still hadn't noticed Jilly in the doorway. "What about his walking stick thing? What does he use it for?"
Walking stick?He? Who were the boys talking about?
Her cell phone rang from the kitchen counter where she'd left it. She was a little concerned about the subject of the boys' conversation, but she snatched her phone. It might be Iris. It might be an emergency.
It wasn't Iris.
It was an out-of-state number. She debated whether to answer. She didn't have the time or patience to deal with another telemarketer. But, just in case… "Hello?"
There was a pause on the line. She braced herself.
When the voice came, it was uncertain. First day on the telemarketing gig?
"Is this Jilly Tatum?"
She opened her mouth to tell him exactly what he could do with her phone number, but the young man rushed on.
"This is going to sound really strange. I work for Noah Miller."
Jilly's mouth snapped closed.
"You're his neighbor, right?" the man asked.
Remnants of the ten-year-old guilt rose to tighten her throat. "Yes."
"Well, ah... My employer asked me to call because your children have been ringing his doorbell repeatedly."
What?
"Mr. Miller works from home, and the prank has interrupted his work two days in a row."
Oh no. On their first day home, she'd showed the children the property line, complete with barbed wire fencing and a rusty old gate between the two farms. She'd given them freedom to roam on the hundred-plus acres she now owned and told them not to cross the fence line.
Obviously, they'd disobeyed her rule. Anger and disappointment rose hot in her chest. Her face burned, and she was thankful Noah's employee couldn't see her.
"What's your name?" She paced past the kitchen table to the window over the sink. From here, she could see Noah's roof and about half of the front of his house. The rolling plain between them hid the lower half.
"Aiden."
"Aiden," she repeated. "Please tell Noah that it won't happen again. I'll bring my boys over so they can apologize." She assumed it was the boys. Maybe Lindsey had been involved, too. She'd have to talk to the kids.
Thatwould be fun.
"That's not necessary."
Maybe not to Noah, but she'd set boundaries for the boys, and they'd made a bad choice. “It’s no trouble.”
"That's really not a good idea."
The urgency in Aiden's voice registered. "Why didn't Noah call himself?"
There was some hesitation in Aiden's voice this time when he spoke. "He asked me to call. And he won't answer the door. He's already tried calling in a complaint with the sheriff’s department."
Hewhat?
