“Have a good night, Zullie.”
He also had no idea what that meant to me. “Thank you, sir.”
“Two things. For the love of God, stop calling me sir.” He moved closer, getting somewhat in my face. But there was no animosity, no anger. Just a man telling a rookie a few things. “One more thing and this is very important. Grace Monroe is my goddaughter. Her father, God rest his soul, asked me to look out for her. He did the day she was born and then again a week after 9-11 after we crawled from the rubble together. She’s like my own daughter. I understand you’re living with her.”
“Not… living. I mean cohabitating because she’s so kind and…” Holy hell. I’d never felt so tongue tied in my life.
He clapped me on the shoulder. “I get the meaning and that’s none of my business. Her safety and her happiness are. Don’t be cruel or hurt her in any way. If you do, I’ll know and trust me. You won’t like me if that happens. Are we square?”
“Yes… Landen. We’re square.”
“Awesome. Now, do me a favor and remind her about the damn carrot cake.”
As he walked away, I leaned against the truck. Maybe, just maybe I was going to like it here.
CHAPTER 14
Grace
Who let the dogs out…
The line to a goofy song rolled through my mind every time I heard the dogs yapping, barking, and generally enjoying the hell out of themselves. They’d taken over the house, jumping over furniture and acting as if they owned the place.
Even with music playing in the background, which I could no longer hear, the serenade was all about their joy of being together. I’d sequestered myself in my father’s office, putting the finishing touches on the painting I’d decided to spruce up with a new idea.
Only the splash of color on the canvas was entirely different than before I’d started the session. The faces of two dogs peered through the haze of a sunny day, their happy smiles and wagging tongues presenting exactly the emotion I’d been going for.
Sheer joy.
I don’t know why I’d felt it necessary to capture their adoration of each other. Perhaps because their obvious love was a pure, easy expression and the very one I hoped to achieve one day.
Just like my parents.
Their barking kicked up in intensity and I realized they hadn’t been out in a few hours. Maybe it was time to take a break myself. Backing away from the painting, I gave it the Grace nod of approval. If all went well, I could drop it off with Roxie in a couple of days.
Maybe I’d paint another one for myself. To remember their joy.
All before Sailor’s dad took him to live elsewhere.
And that’s what needed to happen. For both our sanity. If Viper was feeling even half of the emotions and desires kicking through my body, we were both in trouble. One thing I knew for certain was that reacting on physical yearning mentally or emotionally was the wrong thing to do.
That’s how I’d ended up wasting eight long months of my life. One stupid night of losing control and the man’s toothbrush was in my holder. Nope. I wasn’t going to make that mistake twice.
I wiped my hands, groaning in seeing just how much paint I’d gotten all over my fingers. I wasn’t usually so sloppy. As I backed away, I decided to leave the light on. I’d return because I was a perfectionist in everything I did.
Other than your love life.
There was the incessant, pain-in-the-ass nagging inner voice I couldn’t shut off.
“Alright, guys. I’ll let you out but don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right there.”
The pups were certainly bossy as they fought their way out the door. I stood for a few seconds in the doorway, tipping my head toward the fading sun. With the crisscrossing colors of fuchsia and violet in the sky, I had a feeling a major storm was brewing.
After closing the door, I headed into the kitchen to wash my hands. The untaped boxes caught my eye. Just another reminder that I was living in the past. Despite all the promises I’d made the day before to myself, I’d only stuffed two boxes full of items. Two. I guess letting go of the past wasn’t my forte.
As soon as I stepped outside, the joy of seeing the ranch in a colorful halo was something I’d never done as a child. How strange that the beauty of the outdoors was so much more important now that I was older.
With a peaceful smile on my face, I headed off the porch, surprised I didn’t see or hear the dogs anywhere. “Where’d you guys go?”
