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Chapter Twenty-Six
Afew days later, Vance rapped his knuckles on the arched gate to the Foxes’ backyard, and soon Twyla was bounding up to them, red hair in a high ponytail pulled through the top of a sparkly rainbow sun visor, dirt smudged on her cheek, and a spade in her garden-gloved hand.
“You’re here!”
The corner of his mouth tugged up reflexively. God love littles and their enthusiasm.
“Sure are. Can we come in?”
“Oh, yes please,” Twyla said, fumbling with the latch before swinging the gate open and waving them inside.
Gunnar had texted him a few days ago to ask if he was free to give them some gardening advice. He hadn’t wanted to ask Jethro—even though Vance was sure the owner of Del Bosque’s Gardening Center wouldn’t mind because it seemed like the only things that man loved talking about more than plants were his wife, four daughters, and two dogs—because it’d be like asking a chef to cook for you after a full day in the kitchen at work, and he’d seen Vance’s yard before.
Vance was happy to help, put his green thumb to work. Plus the idea of introducing Lil to the high school teacher and his part-time college student, part-time admin wife didn’t make his stomach roil the way it did when he considered bringing Lil by Tyndall, Soames, and Yardley.
Fuck, he hadn’t even told Arthur and Nikki that Lilith was living with him at the townhouse now. Was sort of on tenterhooks waiting for them to ask about her actually because if they knew she was here, they would want to meet her and…that made him kinda queasy.
No, Twyla could wear some pretty eccentric things and Gunnar was one of the most easygoing and unflappable men he knew—good thing since he spent his days with a bunch of hormonal teenagers. Lilith’s dramatic makeup and dress wouldn’t faze either of them at all.
As Twyla led them into the fenced space, he saw a bunch of beds had been dug up around the perimeter of the otherwise tidy yard, and a blanket had been set up on the edge of the patio.
“Daddy just went inside to get snacks,” Twyla told them. “I told him I would do it, but he said I’d get things dirty and I didn’t want to get spanked in front of our guests, did I?”
The petite redhead shrugged as if she wouldn’t have actually minded. Maybe she wouldn’t have. Some littles were painfully shy and would’ve been mortified at the prospect but he didn’t think of Twyla as being particularly modest or self-conscious.
“Oh, sorry, introductions,” she said, dropping her spade to the ground and tugging off her soiled gloves. “I’m Twyla and you must be Lilith. It’s nice to meet you, I like your dress.”
Lilith flushed beside him and did a little curtsey because she was the most darling thing on earth. Even if she was wearing white tights and white boots that were dyed to look as though they’d been spattered with blood. At least he hoped it was dye.
“Thanks, and it’s nice to meet you too. I like your socks.”
The pale blue knee socks with pastel narwhals on them didn’t really seem like Lil’s jam, but okay. It had been good manners to return the compliment.
“Want to come sit on my blanket? It’s a special outside blanket so my butt doesn’t get wet from the grass and there’s some coloring we can do. If you like coloring. Do you like coloring? And did you bring a stuffie? I brought Pinky outside. Daddy doesn’t usually let me bring Pinky outside so she doesn’t get dirty but he said this was a special occasion and I could bring Pinky into the yard as long as she stayed on the blanket. Do you even like stuffies?”
Hie heart warmed as he watched Twyla grab Lil’s hand and tow her over to where the blanket was spread out under an enormous umbrella. Both the girls were pale and it would let Lil put down her black lace parasol. She loved that thing, but he hoped she’d also love being able to play stuffies with Twyla. He knew she had Flaps with her in her Maleficent backpack. But did she trust him enough to believe that Twyla and Gunnar would be happy to see the little side of her as he’d promised?
Maybe he didn’t need to worry because Twyla was a chatty little monkey who left no doubt about how she felt about Pinky and her coloring books and the juice box she’d grabbed after plopping down on the blanket.
It was only a second later that Gunnar was jogging down the couple of steps to the patio, arms laden with dishes and a pitcher.
Vance strode over to help divest Gunnar of his load, setting out a bunch of snacks and plates and cups on the picnic table that was on the edge of the patio right near the blanket.
“Hey, man, thanks for coming. Figured I’d feed you guys before I put you to work.”
“Anytime. And it’s nice for Lilith to spend time with another little girl. I don’t think she’s been able to do that much recently.”
The men both looked over to where the girls seemed to be introducing their stuffies, making the shabby bat and the well-loved dog shake wing and paw. He and Gunnar shared a smile of understanding. Their darling girls were simply the best.
* * *
After they had lunch and her daddy had helped Mr. Fox with the plants, the men asked if they’d like to go get ice cream. Hell yeah she wanted some ice cream.
So she and Twyla and Pinky and Flaps piled into the back of her daddy’s big sedan and talked on the way to what Twyla claimed was the best ice cream ever.
Twyla was chattering on about school—she was taking a couple summer classes at Clover City Community College—and Lilith felt a twinge of envy. She’d never really considered going to college because while she’d been a fine student, she hadn’t gotten good enough grades to get a full ride scholarship and she would’ve needed one.
Plus what was she going to do with a college degree anyway? Unlike some people who’d grown up knowing they wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer or a scientist, those sorts of ambitions had died early for her. Working in retail or food service or hospitality seemed like her best bets around Thistledon and that’s where she’d ended up. Didn’t need a college diploma to man the desk at a crappy campground.
