“You’re letting her run your life, Tessa,” he said. “She’s jealous of what we have.”

“What we have is a mountain of debt that you created,” I said.

“I can fix it,” he said, his voice suddenly dropping to a pleading whisper. “We can talk to the bank. I’ll cancel the cards. We don’t need lawyers.”

“It is too late for that,” I said.

I looked past him to the road.

Far down the hill, blue and red lights flashed through the falling snow, silent but moving closer.

“That would be the deputy,” Jennifer said.

Brent turned and saw the lights.

His hand gripped the strap of his leather duffel bag so tightly his knuckles turned yellow.

“You think you’ve won,” he said, turning back to me. “But you haven’t. You can’t do this alone.”

“I am not alone,” I said.

“We’ll see what the court says when they find out you’re keeping a father from his child,” he said.

He stepped back onto the porch, his boots sinking into the fresh snow.