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“Hey, Nix.”
He doesn’t linger, walking out of the shop before I can say anything more. I turn back to Willa, who’s frowning at the door as if she’s trying to solve a puzzle.
Good luck trying to figure out Nix. He’s an enigma wrapped in a conundrum. He’s always come across as the laid-back playboy, never intending to settle his free spirit. In reality, he puts up a big front to keep people at arm’s length. It’s one of the worst-kept secrets in the family. But I have a feeling he’s got a few that have been well hidden.
“Go pick out a bouquet for Mama,” I tell Luddy. She skips straight to the middle of the store, where a tiered stand of metal buckets holds a wide variety of flower bouquets. The other shelves and tables in the space hold a multitude of bath and body products Willa makes herself, and along the walls are hundreds of bottles of home remedies for most anything that ails you.
The apothecary vibe brings it all together, creating a homey store you want to hang out in for a while.
“You okay, Willa?” I ask once I get up to the counter.
She sighs. “I’m fine. You can tone down the protector mode. Nix is harmless, and I can handle whatever he’s throwing at me.”
I grin. “How’d you know I was getting protective?”
“’Cause when you’ve experienced the opposite enough times, you recognize when someone is ready to go to bat for you.”
Her response deflates my teasing. “I’m sorry you had to learn a lesson like that.”
“Thanks, Gray. It’s because of guys like you and the rest of your friends I’ve gotten a little hope back.”
“You need anything, you call. You hear me? Any time, any place.”
She softens, losing the tension in her shoulders. “Thanks.”
“Those aren’t empty words, Willa. I mean it. You call one of us if you need us.”
She nods. “I will.”
“Daddy! What about this one?” Luddy runs over with the biggest bouquet of flowers I’ve ever seen.
“Did you pick the biggest one you could find?”
Luddy grins. “Yep. Plus, it’s pretty.”
Willa cracks up at that while I run my palm down Luddy’s hair. “It sure is.”
I pay for the flowers, and after a quick stop at the grocery store, Luddy and I head home.
As soon as we’re inside, we get busy preparing dinner. We’ve got a couple of hours before Kylie gets here, so we start marinating the meat and put the potatoes in to bake. I’m not the best cook, but I’ve mastered a few things over the years. Grilled pork chops and twice-baked potatoes are two of them.
Luddy sets to work on a card for Kylie. She asks for help spelling some of the words, but she writes them out herself. Then she colors pictures in the blank spaces. By the time she’s done, Kylie’s on her way home, and Luddy and I are putting the finishing touches on dinner.
The front door opening has Luddy gasping and racing to greet Kylie. “Oh. My. Gosh. Do we get to keep it?”
My eyebrows pinch at Luddy’s question. Keep what?
I walk out of the kitchen and into the living room to find Luddy on the floor with a tiny golden puppy doing its best to lick every inch of London’s face.
One glance at Kylie’s guilty expression tells me we’re about to get a new addition to our family.
I wink at her to tell her I’m not mad and squat down in front of Luddy. “Who is this little one?”
“Daddy, he’s sooo cute. Look at him!”
I give the scruffy puppy a scratch on his blond head and confirm he truly is a boy. “Hello, little man. Where did you come from?”
Kylie sets her stuff on the coffee table before coming over to sit with us on the floor. “I found him in the alley next to Holt’s office. He was a dirty mess before I brought him inside and cleaned him up in the sink.”
