AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I heave out a sigh, remembering all the things she’d told me while lying next to me, lost in her own dreams and my arms after I pummeled her senseless.
“Guess she’ll go lookin’ for another zoologist job somewhere, or maybe go to Africa to meet up with her old man. He’s this big expert on rhinos and travels the world.”
“Wow, shit. That’s too bad, man.” Hank sniffs.
“Too bad?”
“Aw, yeah. I was hoping she’d come back to Dallas and hang around a while longer. Your girls love her like the dickens, and if you ask me...”
I wait as he takes another puff.
“And?” I urge when he doesn’t finish.
He drops his cigarette butt on the ground and stomps it out with the toe of his boot.
“Well, it’s not my place to say, but I’ve gotta tell you—I like the changes I’ve seen in you, bud, ever since she showed up. You’re almost the old Grady again.”
I’m human lead.
I look away, my jaw clenched.
Hank knows me too well. He was there for me and the girls forever. Still, it’s only been since the night we fixed the barn door together that I’ve realized how much I missed doing things with him.
“Hank—” I start, but he cuts me off.
“Grady, just listen. Brittany was my sis and I loved her, but I won’t pretend to know what you all went through with her illness and death...other than knowing it was more than I’d have ever been capable of handling.” Hank lets out a long sigh. “Thing is, Grady, I love you, too. You’ll always be family. I’ve looked at you as my brother just as much as she was my sister, and it ain’t right not to see my brother happy again. You and Things One and Two together, I mean. I finally saw that happen the last few weeks, and hoped it’d continue.”
The rough smile that cuts across my face surprises me.
Hell, I think of him as a brother too, and I appreciate his honesty.
“She has her own life, Hank. One she had before she ever came here, and I have to let her return to it.” That’s part of what makes me feel so damn empty, so turned out.
Yeah, I know that’s my fault.
There’s nobody to blame but myself for getting this attached.
Willow stated right from the start that she’s only here for a short time. She said she wasn’t expecting anything more than I was willing to give before we’d made love the first time.
Shrugging, I look at Hank. “Like it or not, it’s not up to me.”
“So you would like her to stay? Is that what I’m hearing?” His face goes tight as he tries to hide a smile.
“Let’s just say I wouldn’t be opposed,” I admit.
Hank slaps my shoulder so hard it catches me off guard. “Good man! I’m glad as hell you haven’t turned into some sorta Viking monk.”
“Viking monk?” I snort. “Nah, not really.”
Hank takes off his cowboy hat and puts it back on as he glances at the house. “Sooo, I have something else I need to ask you.”
I give him a side-eye. “What?”
“Can I, uh, show Granny Coffey the tiger? Just a little glimpse?”
“You told her about the tiger?” I bite off, giving him a dirty look.
He throws his hands in the air. “Aw, man, she overheard me and the girls at the rodeo whispering and wrangled the rest of it out of me! She won’t tell anyone. Honest.”
I shake my head so hard it might spin off before I calm down.
“I guess. She’s not as crazy as she seems when you get down to brass tacks,” I say. “Yeah, alright, she can see the damn tiger.”
“Sweet! I promise I won’t let her pull his tail,” Hank says, holding up his hands when he gets another look from me. “Dude, it’s just a joke. Can Willow come with us?”
I nod.
Giving Granny permission basically opens the floodgates. Her visit kicks off a small, steady flow of people following Willow into the barn, two at a time, to get a look at the beast who’s caused so much drama.
Something dawns on me then.
Once Willow exits the barn for the last time, I ask, “How’d you get those paw prints for the girls, anyway?”
She cocks her head. “It was just flour, salt, and water, mixed into a dough. Then I baked them until they were hard.”
“No, I mean how did you get the paw print in the dough?”
Her cheeks turn pink as she looks everywhere but at me. “I pressed his paw into the clay...”
“Damn, isn’t that against your own rule? Never getting too close unless it’s absolutely necessary?” I bite back a smile.
She gives me a shaky nod, twirling her hair pensively.
“Yes, but I wanted the girls to have something to remember him by. I took a risk and I’m kinda glad I did...” Her eyes drift to the house. “I can’t believe this, Grady. How all these people turned out to help. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
