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After Joanie hurried away, Margaret looked down at me with that same twinkle in her eye. “You hurry up and get home to your boys.”
“Boy. Singular boy.” I unlocked my car and held the door open, hesitating before getting in. “Did you know they were here all along?”
She rested her hand on top of mine and shook her head. “When you mentioned their names that day you showed up, I didn’t recognize them. I wrote them down in my journal, the same way I write down everything, but I immediately forgot those three names. I think I assumed they were soldiers who were only in town for training. I like to go through my old journals every so often, though. I like to see how my feelings have changed for certain people around here. Six years ago, I thought Mayor Stevens was a hapless fool, but now? Now, I think he’s a pompous ass who could fall off a cliff. When I saw your guys’ names, I happened to recognize them.”
“And you thought you’d make plans for me?”
She made a motion like she was zipping her lips. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Get home to them now. I’m sure they’re missing you.”
I grunted at her. “You’re lucky they didn’t take one look at me and bolt.”
“If you think that was even remotely possible, we need to work on your self-confidence, girl. You’re a stunner with a beautiful personality. Those men are probably tripping over themselves to convince you to give them a chance.”
I slid into my car. “You’re crazier than I thought.”
She pretended to tip a hat at me. “Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow. Use that bag of tricks. If you’re not walking with a visible limp tomorrow, I’m going to be disappointed.”
“Oh, my god! You can’t just say things like that, Margaret!” I laughed even as my face burned. “You’re wild, you know that?”
She winked at me. “How do you think I managed to stay single for so long? No man can handle me.”
She shut my car door and sauntered off, heading straight towards Mayor Stevens, where he was coming out of Barry’s Barbershop. The man was as bald as a newborn, but everyone whispered he had Barry shave and shine his head weekly. It was rumored that in the summer he had to drench his head with sunblock and a matting powder to keep from burning and blinding everyone with the shine.
I was tempted to stick around and watch their interaction, but Margaret turned and made a shooing motion at me. Waving at her, I gave up on getting information to share with the other Dolls and drove home. I parked in the garage and gathered my things to carry upstairs but before I could get to the stairs, I heard Forrest’s laughter. Not wanting to miss out on him having a fun time, I went around to the main house and searched for him.
To my surprise, he was inside with Justin, Mason, and Ben, and his laughter had carried through the open windows of the living room. He was laughing louder than I’d ever heard him laugh and after letting myself into the front yard and walking towards the front of the house, I could see him in the living room with the guys, playing a board game. For a moment, I felt a stirring of jealousy. He was mine. I didn’t know what it meant to share him. I wasn’t sure I wanted to anymore.
Then Forrest looked up at the guys and the smile on his face was so excited, I was immediately ashamed for wanting to take him away from the guys. He was already crazy about them. I didn’t know if he could feel the thing that connected them to each other, but I’d never seen him connect with another person so quickly.
I felt a deep yearning to be a part of their little group so I knocked on the front door and waiting impatiently for them to let me in. It was Forrest who pulled the door open for me and he leapt into my arms when he had enough room to bolt out of the house. I stumbled back and nearly lost my balance. “Whoa! You’re getting so tall and strong! Have you ever considered football?”
He hopped down and grabbed my hand to drag me inside with him, straight back to the living room I’d stood in and been kissed not too long before. As soon as we were in the room, he dropped my hand and settled on the couch with Justin and Ben again. “We’re playing a train game! You have to build your trains and connect them from city to city!”
General and Captain both came over to greet me so I bent and petted them while smiling. General jumped, trying to get as high as Captain, but he was just too small. I picked him up and walked farther into the room. “You four look like you’re having a great time.”
Mason held up one of the tiny trains. “How could we not be having fun? We’re all train conductors, making our way across the country. Isn’t that every kid’s dream?”
I snorted. “My dream as a kid was to get a puppy and live outside with it.”
Forrest threw his head back and cackled. “You wanted to live outside?! You can’t live outside, Mommy. Where would you put all your books?”
“I didn’t have as many back then. Grandma and Grandpa didn’t like it when I bought books, so I used the library.” I saw the question on his face and went ahead with an answer. “The bookstore was in another town and it was expensive. They thought it was a waste of money. As soon as I was old enough to make my own money, though, they couldn’t stop me. That’s when I started collecting all the books you love so much now. If we lived outside, I’d have to make sure we had a house for our books.”
“A house for the books but not for us? You’re silly, Mom!” He looked up at Ben and smiled shyly. “Isn’t she?”
Ben ruffled his hair and looked up at me. “She’s a little silly, but she’s a lot pretty.”
I rolled my eyes and was opening my mouth to say something sassy back at him but I felt a tug on the bag in my hands. I looked down to see General with his mouth on the gift bag Margaret had given me. In the split second it took me to remember what was in the bag, it was too late. General closed his giant mouth around the bag and pulled harder, ripped the bag away from its twine handles and the next thing I knew, he shook his head happily and sent an impressive collection of sex toys flying in every direction.
CHAPTER 14
Ben
It took me a few seconds to realize what I was looking at. A rainbow of sex toys had just exploded in the living room. General Asshole panted happily and tossed the now empty bag in the air. I made eye contact with a hot pink cock ring and raised my eyebrows.
Violet gasped and when I looked up at her I couldn’t help smiling. She was bright red and her mouth was opening and closing like she had something to say, but no words came out. She was staring at a rainbow dildo that sat at her feet, upright. It was standing tall and proud, staring up at her. She finally squeaked and ducked down to grab the dildo. It was suctioned to the hardwood floor, however, and it took her a few good tugs to get it up.
Mason leaned forward and picked up a glittery butt plug. “Wow.”
