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“You have a pig?” Missy asked at the same time Connor burst into giggles in the kitchen.
“I told you to put everything up,” Ted said, nudging Missy to keep going. “Sorry, Spence. She won’t be here much longer.”
He’d found the perfect teacup piglet for Emma, and Nate had taken him to pick her up last night. He’d learned more about small, indoor pigs as pets than he’d thought possible, and he hoped Emma would like the one he’d picked out for her.
In the kitchen, he set down his groceries and watched as Connor held the feeding pellets in his hand for the piglet to eat. He giggled again, and Missy put her bags down too and went to join him.
“Oh, she is so cute,” she cooed. She giggled too as the pink piglet with tawny, light brown hair around her eyes and down her back nosed her. “Can I hold her?”
“Sure,” Connor said. Missy scooped her into her arms, and when Ted finally looked away, he caught the look on Nate’s face.
“What?”
“What? What do you mean what?” Nate kept lifting boxes of granola and protein bars out of the grocery sacks.
“I mean, you’re looking at me like I’m doing something wrong.” Ted took out a couple of bricks of cream cheese and a pound of butter from a bag and turned to put them in the fridge. “I just want her back.”
“Even with the girl?”
“Yes,” Ted said without hesitation. He turned and looked at Missy and the piglet. “She doesn’t change anything for me.”
“I’m just…” Nate exhaled heavily and finally looked at Ted. Concern sat in his eyes, and Ted appreciated it. He really did. “It feels fast, Teddy. That’s all. You’ve been here, what? Five weeks?”
“Six,” Ted said, as he still counted down the days until he’d be truly free. “And I know. I’m not going to ask her to marry me today, Nate. I’m going to ask her for a second chance. That’s a lot different.”
“What if she says no?”
Ted didn’t even want to consider such a possibility. “Then I put my head down and get through the next two months.” He also didn’t know how to do that. The past week had been torture. The dance was painful and exhausting. “Then I’ll go live in that big house your brother left you and figure out my next steps.” He looked steadily back at Nate, who blinked at the mention of his brother’s house.
“I need to go clean out that house,” he murmured. “I just don’t want to.” He too looked to the children on the floor, playing with the piglet. They were so carefree, and Ted envied them.
“I’ll go with you,” Ted said.
“I’m worried about what it’ll do to Connor,” Nate said, returning to the groceries.
“Don’t take him,” Ted said. “You and I will go, and we’ll figure it out.” He put his hand on his best friend’s arm for a beat. Nate stilled and looked at Ted, and he saw the pain there. Fresh and raw, it made Ted’s heart expand for his friend. “Isn’t that we said we’d do? Once we got out, we’d help each other figure everything out.”
Extreme gratitude filled Ted, and his throat narrowed. “You did that for me by getting me here. Let me help you with this.”
Nate swallowed, his jaw so tight. His eyes shone, and he nodded a couple of times. They finished unpacking the groceries before Nate said, “Not next weekend. It’s Connor’s birthday. The weekend after that?”
“Works for me,” Ted said.
“I’ll talk to Ginger. We’re going to need a few days.” He sighed as he folded up the reusable grocery bags. “Someone will have to watch Connor, and I don’t know if she can let us both go at the same time.”
“Just let me know,” Ted said. “I’ll have to talk to Martin.”
Nate nodded, stuffed the bags in the drawer where they kept them, and said, “Come on, Connor. We have chores on the ranch this morning.”
The little boy got up and let Nate help him into a pair of cowboy boots while Missy put down the piglet and looked at Ted.
“All right,” he said, blowing out his breath. “I called your…” He had no idea how to reference Fran. “Fran. Missy, what should I call her? Your mom? Yourothermom? Fran?”
Missy climbed up onto a barstool, her dark hair falling over her shoulders. “It doesn’t matter. Momma calls her my other mom. Fran calls Momma my mom.” She shrugged as if this wasn’t an odd situation at all.
Ted didn’t want it to be odd for them either. “Okay,” he said. “I called your other mom, and she gave me the recipe you two used when you made these cookies before.” He put his phone down and slid it toward her. “So it’s right there. I’m not great in the kitchen, so you’re gonna have to come help me.”
Missy picked up his phone and smiled. “All right.” She got up and rounded the island. “Do you have an apron?”
