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“I’m h-here to s-see Aimee,” Jacob stuttered.

“Why?” Ammo asked, stepping out on the porch and forcing Jacob to take a step back.

She walked out with him, and he glanced back, giving her a warning look. “Stay there.”

Aimee frowned up at him. Okay, she’d been grateful when he’d stood up for her with Ed and with Yvonne and Lenny. But that didn’t mean he got to bark out orders at her. This was still her house.

It wasn’t like Jacob was going to hurt her. He was harmless.

“Hey, good, chocolates!” Honey said, reaching out and taking the box off Jacob. “Thanks for bringing these. A pre-dinner snack is just what we needed.”

“Those aren’t for you. They’re for Aimee. Hi, Aimee,” Jacob said as he spotted her leaning around Ammo’s wide shoulders.

“Aimee, go back into the house,” Ammo commanded.

Anger surged inside her. Normally, she’d be grateful for someone else taking care of her problems.

But not today.

She was grouchy about how the funeral had turned out. She’d intended to say a few nice things about Charlie, talk to some people, and then close this chapter on her life.

Instead, it felt like all she had was more questions. What was Kelly-Anne going to do about the baby? Had Charlie ever cared about Aimee at all? He hadn’t thought about her feelings while he was going around sleeping with all these other women. How many women had he been sleeping with?

She didn’t have much closure, and she was mad about it, because how was she meant to move on with all these unanswered questions in her head?

And she probably wasn’t ever going to get answers. It wasn’t like she could ask Charlie how he felt about her. It wasn’t like she wanted to confront Kelly-Anne about the baby or track down any of these women.

She just sort of had to move past it.

But this was something she could control. So she stepped to Ammo’s side and stared up at Jacob firmly. She didn’t want to be mean, however she had to be firm because he obviously wasn't getting the message.

“Jacob, I told you last time. I’m not interested in dating anyone at the moment,” she said. “Now, kindly leave.”

“Right. Right. Got it.”

Then why wasn’t he leaving?

“So when will you be ready to date someone?” he asked.

Honey snorted.

“Someone from here in Greasy Knob?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said, puffing his chest out.

“Never.”

He sort of deflated, and she sighed. “Jacob, go find someone that you love, someone more your own age.”

Jacob frowned. “But what if I want you?”

“You don’t want her,” Ammo growled.

The younger man gulped as he stared up at Ammo. “Why not?”

Ammo glared down at him. “Because I said so. Go before I get mad.”

“Well, if you’re not going to date me, can I have my chocolates back?” Jacob said.