Scarlet rarely asked her son about such small matters. She just thought she’d bring it up since they ran into each other today.

 Travis Blake replied, “It’s nothing, really. I didn’t hit her either.” Even though he wanted to do it out of anger twice, he controlled his temper. His opinion of Hailey was strictly his own business. He didn’t need to explain it to anyone. Since he said little, Scarlet didn’t ask further.

She simply added, “Don’t be too harsh on her when ...