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He’d done as I’d asked and gotten himself a winter coat, but it hadn’t taken a genius to tell that he’d bought it from a thrift store, because it had been too large for him and wore the telltale signs that it’d had a previous owner. I wouldn’t have had an issue with that fact if he’d at least taken the rest of the money and spent it on some boots or something. But instead, he’d returned a large chunk of it to me, though not directly. He’d left it sitting on my office desk, so I hadn’t even noticed it until the very next day. When I’d tried to argue with him about it, he’d shut me down and insisted he was fine until payday.
Payday had come and gone and he was still wearing the same worn tennis shoes and threadbare shirts. My only hope was that he’d at least splurged on some thermal underwear to put on beneath the clothes.
I’d managed to keep my distance from Nolan, but hell if it hadn’t been one of the hardest things I’d had to do, especially in those moments when his vulnerability would show through.
And there were quite a few of those moments.
I hadn’t asked, but I suspected things weren’t going well for Nolan at home. I’d seen Nolan’s parents a few times in church when I’d been a kid, but I’d never really met them or seen how they’d interacted with Nolan. I’d gotten the impression of stiff, unbending people who were more invested in their church than their child, because I’d seen them every Sunday without fail, but I’d never once seen them at school for any of the performances Nolan had given, either as a solo musician or as part of the small school orchestra.
Despite the stress that Nolan seemed to continue to be under, he’d continued to work hard, and when I’d tried to shift his responsibilities so that he was spending more time in the heated buildings, he’d called me on it. For someone who was supposed to be meek and timid, the man had no issue with standing up to me. Afterward, color would heat up his skin and he’d seem surprised by his own actions, but he never backed down.
He was definitely out to prove something.
It was a need I was all too familiar with.
So I’d backed off and left him alone, though I still found myself checking on him several times a day, despite my own heavy workload.
Like now.
The little bit of snow that had fallen that morning crunched beneath my boots as I made my way to the enclosure where most of the livestock lived. Loki was trotting next to me, but I wasn’t surprised when he took off toward the barn. He’d gotten quite attached to Nolan and was starting to split his time between shadowing me and following Nolan around as he did his work. Fortunately, the other animals had grown used to Loki’s presence over the years, so there weren’t any issues with the wolf hybrid being around them and causing them to panic as their natural instincts to avoid predators kicked in.
As I neared the barn, I used the many trees lining the path to hide my presence from Nolan, since I didn’t want to explain why I was checking on him as often as I was. It was a creeper move, but it was what it was. I’d long ago accepted that.
It took me a moment to locate Nolan. I’d expected him to be cleaning out the stalls, but to my surprise, he was sitting on the edge of the water trough. Standing in front of him was Jerry. All the other animals had wisely sought out the warmth of the barn. I thought at first that it was some kind of weird stare-off as the pair watched one another. But as Jerry’s ears flicked back and forth, the truth hit me.
Nolan was talking to Jerry.
And the damn zebra was actually listening to him.
The one-sided conversation went on for several minutes, and while I’d been amused at first, I recognized the subtle changes in Nolan’s body language and at one point, he dashed at his eyes. His frosty breath came in puffs the more he talked, and I hated that I was too far away to hear him. When he’d seemingly finished telling his story, he hung his head, and I bit back the urge to go to him.
Jerry ended up beating me to it.
At first, I was afraid the animal was going to knock Nolan backward into the trough, and I cursed the fact that I couldn’t call out to Nolan or make any kind of sound he’d hear. But to my surprise, Jerry merely dropped his head and pushed his muzzle against Nolan’s chest.
And damned if Nolan didn’t wrap his arms around Jerry’s neck.
