Page 7 of Finding Home (Willow Valley #1)

SEVEN

EVERETT

I nside, I make my way directly to the bar and give Boyd my name for my takeout order.

He taps the bar before heading to the kitchen to grab it, and I use the time to take in the place again.

Last time I was here, my attention was solely focused on Chloe.

I was a broody asshole then because this town was the last place I wanted to be.

I’m a broody asshole this time because something about seeing that man’s arms wrapped around Chloe and her kissing his cheek had me wanting to punch him.

I’ve only been with her once and I know so little about her, even though I noticed right away she’s wearing a sundress in her favourite colour. That paired with her cowboy boots give a mixed innocent and sexy look that has me wanting her bent over for me.

I’m beginning to wonder if the only thing that will get her out of my system is another fuck.

I find myself thinking about her all the time.

My mind will wander to something random she mentioned that night or to the way she told me exactly how she wanted me to fuck her and took all of it. How pretty she was when she came.

The scent of her perfume pulls me from my thoughts as she stands beside me at the bar. I grunt, acknowledging her, and she shakes her head, but a small smile tugs at her lips.

“As grumpy as ever, I see.”

I stare at her, saying nothing, and her smile grows as she turns to face me .

“You know, I’ve seen you when you decide to participate in conversation. I’m sure if you did it more often, you might make some friends.”

“Don’t need friends,” I say, and she nods.

“Sure, because why have friends when you can be grumpy and holed up in your house with your daughter.”

I can’t help it, the corner of my mouth quirks. No woman has called me out or pulled me out of my grumpy attitude the way Chloe does.

“Are you trying to say you want to be my friend, Chloe?”

Boyd places a bag of food in front of me and a margarita in front of Chloe.

She thanks him before turning back to me. “Nope, just offering some friendly advice.”

She walks away, leaving me staring after her.

I’m in a weird mood when I pull up outside Grandma’s.

I grab our food and head inside, calling, “I’m back,” as I make my way to the kitchen, where I find Grandma working on her puzzle and Lila colouring beside her.

I smile at getting to watch them spend time together.

I know that in the coming months Grandma is going to lose her energy and she won’t be able to do a lot of these things with Lila, which will also mean finding another solution for getting Lila after school on the days I work, but we’re going to take advantage of all the time she’s still feeling like this.

I start digging into the bag and pulling out our order. “Okay, so we’ve got a chicken Caesar wrap for Grandma and some chicken strips for miss Lila May. Are we eatin’ in here or are we hunkerin’ down with a movie?”

“Movie!” Lila calls, and Grandma nods.

I collect everything and take it into the living room, getting Lila set up at the coffee table and pulling out Grandma’s TV tray to get her settled before grabbing drinks and my food and settling on the couch. “What are we watching tonight?”

Lila holds her finger to her chin in deep thought before finally saying, “ Tangled .”

“What about Cinderella ?” Grandma asks.

Lila shakes her head adamantly. “Nope.”

Grandma fakes outrage, and I shake my head with a smile. “And why not?”

“Because Rapunzel is strong.”

That seems enough to satisfy Grandma, because she agrees and puts on the movie.

As we watch, I’m thrown back to my childhood and sitting in this room with Grandma and Grandpa during dinner watching a show or movie I’d pick out before they’d switch the TV to Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy .

Both of them could identify the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for a while, because they sat and watched so many episodes with me.

I loved those moments with them, because they spent the time to enjoy the things I liked.

My parents never gave a crap. They’d stick me in front of TV so they could leave and do what they wanted.

I spent more time with the TV than I did my parents during school months.

It’s why I try to make sure that when Lila gets screen time it’s us together as much as possible.

I play with toys with her, making sure she’s making positive memories with me and knows I love her and enjoy spending time together.

As soon as Lila finishes her food, she climbs onto the couch and curls into my side. Having my little girl this close always relaxes me. She’s out before the movie even finishes.

“What times your appointment on Tuesday?” I ask Grandma.

“Noon.”

I nod. “Okay, I’ll be here at a quarter after eleven to pick you up.”

“Thank you for being here, Everett. I know you’re not a huge fan of being here, but I’m happy that you are.”

“Nowhere else I’d rather be, Grandma. You and Grandpa were there for me as a kid; there’s no way I wouldn’t be here for you now. ”

She looks lovingly at my daughter curled into my side. “Your grandfather would have loved your little girl.”

That chokes me up a bit. I wish he had gotten to meet her and that Lila would have gotten the opportunity to know the man who had such an influence on me growing up, even from afar.

I often miss him, wishing I could call him and get his parenting advice.

He was always so easy to talk to. I had a bond with him different from the one I have with Grandma.

I’m not sure where I’d be in life if it wasn’t for both of them.

“I’m sure he’d have her on the lake fishing with him or be building her some homemade slip ’n slide,” I say, shaking my head with a soft laugh.

“She’d have him wrapped around her little finger,” Grandma says. “He’d know she has you at home for stability and be giving in to her every whim.”

I don’t doubt that for a second.

“Is there anything I should know before your appointment?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “No. We’ll just be discussing a treatment plan.”

I sigh. When Grandma first called and told me that she was diagnosed with breast cancer, it was like a stab to the gut.

I knew I needed to be here to take care of her and be there for all her treatments.

I need to be there for her through it all, the way her and Grandpa stood by me as a kid.

Lila has slowly warmed up to her over the last week.

I’ve made sure we’re over here for a little bit even on days I don’t work so they can spend as much time together before all the doctor’s visits and treatment.

“I think I’ll just let this one crash here tonight instead of bringing her over in the morning. I can drop a bag of stuff off for her on my way to work,” I say, running my hand over Lila’s hair.

“How is work?” Grandma asks.

“It’s fine. I’ve only had the one shift so far.

I read all of their files, and a few of them could stand for some more training, so I need to figure that out,” I say.

I know this is a small town, but I’m surprised the last chief didn’t make sure everyone had all the latest training or even get some of the guys more training.

“I’m not sure how any of them feel about the change.

I never met the old chief, and everything to get me set up has been communicated through email.

I don’t know what the culture was like before, I don’t want to deal with any drama, and I know what a fire house can be like. ”

“Those are some good boys there, Everett. If you’re good to them, they’ll be good to you.”

I try hard not to roll my eyes. We’re living in a place where I’m sure these guys were raised to behave around their elders, but as soon as their backs are turned, they’re getting into all kinds of shit.

“Give them a chance, who knows, maybe you’ll find yourself making friends.”

I can’t help my chuckle as I think about Chloe talking about me making friends. Grandma watches me, eyebrow quirked, but shakes her head and moves on.

“You can get her settled in her bed, and I’ll get her breakfast in the morning. I’m going to head to bed myself,” Grandma says before getting out of her chair and making her way towards her room.

I lift Lila into my arms and carry her to the room I stayed in as a kid. I get her tucked in, kissing her forehead before quietly closing the door behind me. I slowly make my way through the house. I haven’t taken time to walk through and reminisce since we’ve been here.

I take in the family photos on the wall in the hallway.

There are pictures of my mother as a kid, her brunette hair pulled into pigtails, very similar to what Lila’s grown to love as well.

Even in this picture of her at ten years old, you can see her free spirit.

She looks happy, and I’m not surprised that as she grew up, she wanted to explore and see more of the world than this small town, but I wish she had taken the time to make me a part of her life while she did it.

On the mantel in the living room, there are several pictures of me with my grandparents.

Right in the centre is one of Grandpa and me in a small cove up the lake that he’d take me to.

It was always quiet. He’d take me after a disappointing call with my mother, or when I was particularly frustrated with something.

I miss the hell out of Grandpa, and I’m going to do everything I can to take care of Grandma because that’s exactly what he’d have wanted.