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“Mickey? I heard he was the last one standing.” Ally glanced in before turning back Major’s way. “He’s pond scum, but he has connections. And don’t think my mom doesn’t calculate her every move when it comes to him. No one loves that part, but some of us handle it better than others. I would handle the attention far better than Brynn because I don’t have the same level of human emotion that my sister has. I’m an actress. All my emotion is for the stage or screen or wherever I happen to be working. My career is everything to me. It’s my heart and soul. It’s the only child I ever want, the only spouse I’ll ever have. That’s what it takes. There are very few real movie stars who have happy families because a Hollywood star belongs to the world. Brynn will be miserable, but I can’t convince anyone of that. Including Brynn. I thought you might be the one to do it.”
“I can’t tell her what to do. It wouldn’t be right.” No matter how much he wanted to. “Brynn is smart, and she knows what she wants.”
Ally shook her head. “So hot, and you haven’t listened to a word I said. It’s okay. I’d try to seduce you myself because I could enjoy all that hotness and not get involved. See my prior comments on emotions. But it wouldn’t work, would it? What do you say I skip my Guber ride and you take me out?”
“Absolutely not.”
“But I would give you what you want, and you wouldn’t have to worry about hurting me. You wouldn’t have to worry about reporters showing up. I’m a very good time.”
He backed up, the thought repulsive to him. “No. I’m not looking for a good time.”
Ally relaxed. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Good for you. Not many men pass that particular test. You’re different, TW. So is Brynn. I hope my sister sees it before it’s too late.”
She turned and walked into the clinic.
He stared inside as Ally walked up and her mother frowned her way. Gavin was talking to the reporter like they were old friends.
He didn’t understand any of it.
He turned because it was time to get back to the world he did understand. Diane was right. There was no place for him here.
He started walking back down the street, passing the café and making it to the park where kids were playing. It was the place where Wednesday morning yoga happened. It was a place where he could breathe.
He stopped for a moment and looked up at the sky.
Brynn was right. Those colors were spectacular, and she would miss it. How long would it be before these specific colors graced the sky again? There was a golden haze coming through the blue and white.
Maybe there was one thing he could give her.
Major didn’t care that he probably looked like a weirdo. Hell, weirdo was a good description for most of this town. He walked out on the green grass and laid down on his back, his cell in hand. The sun felt good on his face.
He took pictures, playing around with the capabilities of the camera to catch those colors for her.
A shadow fell over him, and suddenly, instead of a brilliant sky, all he could see was Zep Guidry’s face staring down at him.
“Hey, you okay?” Zep looked concerned.
Major pulled back his phone. “I’m fine. I’m taking some pictures for a friend.”
Zep straightened up. “Oh, good. Then you weren’t attacked by a group of raccoons who’ve formed a small army. Not that they have. That’s only a rumor. I hope. By the way, if you see anything weird, let me know.”
And that was life in Papillon in a nutshell.
Brynn would think that was funny.
Not that he would tell her the town’s animal expert was worried about armed raccoons. But he would send her the pictures of the sky.
It was the least he could do.
* * *
* * *
“She doesn’t need an MRI.” The nurse practitioner had lost her smile. Lots of people did when dealing with her mother. They stood in the lobby of the clinic, having finished with Lila LaVigne’s very thorough scan. “I gave her a CT scan and had one of Dallas’s best neurosurgeons read it.”
“But he’s not here,” her mother argued. “You don’t have one on staff, one who could examine her himself.”
“No, oddly enough in a town of less than five hundred we don’t have a neurologist on staff,” Lila said with a sigh.
“I’m fine, Mom.” Brynn felt a small wave of embarrassment rush over her. It was the same feeling she had any time her mom treated her like she was five and if she broke, the world would break with her. “I don’t have any kind of a concussion and my ankle is much better. All I need is some over-the-counter analgesics and ice. We don’t even have to call the production company, because I’m fine.”
