Page 5

5

J ude and Rope had been remarkably amiable when Fox suggested he and Amelia stay with Trent for a bit. They were surprised, but also seemed pleased, which was odd because he didn’t think he’d been a terrible house guest.

He’d even washed dishes.

But in his more honest moments, he had to admit that Jude was kind and generous to let him stay, but worried and fussed over him so much it had become kind of uncomfortable. In the week or so since he’d arrived, Jude had been keeping him either entertained or busy, and he hadn’t had a moment to himself.

He hadn’t even seen Trent in the hour since he and Amelia showed up except to be pointed in the direction of the guest rooms.

There was more air in this house, and more elbow room, even though it was smaller than Rope and Jude’s place.

Amelia was off somewhere with Silas, and he couldn’t have been happier about their fast friendship, she needed it, and Silas was the sweetest kid on earth. That left him on his own, so he decided he’d take a little walk.

Maybe check out the yaks again.

He caught himself grinning about that.

The grass was green and lush, and there were rows and rows of some sort of tree making a fake little street out to a big barn. He headed out that way, allowing himself to just walk.

“Pretty,” he said out loud to himself as he strolled along the path with his hands tucked into his pockets. Trent had put some time into making this walk special. He felt like Trent liked details, little things that made bigger things better.

The trees were heavy with… pods. Green pods.

He looked around the base of the tree and found some broken nut shells, oval and deep brown.

Pecans.

These were pecan trees, and there were dozens of them.

“Wow.” That was pretty cool. He’d never seen pecans on the tree, but he definitely liked to eat them. He nosed around but didn’t see any that looked ripe and figured it must not be time yet.

Everything was so different here. He liked it, but he also felt like he had a lot to learn if he was going to really understand it all.

He moved to the barn, finding a long shotgun building. The front area was a workshop with wood, carefully organized, all sorts of power tools, and a huge workbench with a cradle mostly put together on it.

As he wandered farther, he found four empty, cleaned stalls with watering troughs. After that, there was storage—bags of feed for chickens and horses and cattle, bales of hay, a tack room that smelled of leather and oil. In the very back, there was an ATV parked outside, covered by a short car park.

Now, that looked like fun.

He climbed into the driver’s seat, just to see what it felt like.

The keys were in it, so he started the vehicle. It was an automatic. How hard could it be?

He probably should ask permission, he was generally a rule-follower, but he felt like Trent would get it. He just wanted to try it out. He found and turned off the parking brakes, then hit the throttle and rolled out of the little covered shed.

He stayed close to the barn and took it slow because he had no idea what he was doing, but even moving slowly was fun. He turned in a circle in one direction, then backtracked and went the other way.

One of the horses came up to the fence, and then, to his utter shock, started copying him. It was as if the beast was playing with him.

After a couple more turns, he stopped and put the brake on again, then slid off the ATV and headed over to the fence. “Hey, there.” He reached out and let the horse nose his fingers. That worked with dogs, so he figured it was good for horses too.

It lipped at his fingers, then pushed at his chest, hard.

“She wants a bite of apple.” Trent came wandering out. “Hey, Candy girl. I got you covered.”

A piece of juicy apple appeared in Trent’s hand, and she nibbled it off his palm.

“I knew she wanted something .” He stroked his hand down Candy’s neck. “She was playing with me. I took your ATV out for a couple of slow circles, and she was doing the circles with me.”

“Oh, she’s trained to a treat. She’ll pretty much do anything you ask her to, and she’s bored.” Trent grinned at her. “I ought to get you some donkeys to play with.”

He figured he’d better start carrying some treats.

“Hope you don’t mind me messing with your ATV.”

“Hell, no. You’re great. You aren’t going to break it.”

Candy grabbed the hat off Trent’s head, backing off and waving it.

“She stole your hat.” But without it, he got a better look at Trent. He hadn’t realized the man was so handsome.

He was nut brown—tanned skin, brunette hair, with green and brown and gold eyes, which had lovely laugh lines.

Fox stared a bit longer than he’d intended to.

“Come here, Candy.” He waved her back over. “Give the cowboy his hat back.” It wasn’t like Trent was going to chase her.

“Try this.” Trent whistled, long and hard, and Candy came right to the gate. “Ta-da!”

Well, that worked. “I don’t think I can whistle like that.”

“No? My daddy taught me to do it to call horses when I was a kid. It’s a handy skill to have.”

“Show me how?” He immediately regretted asking. He sounded like a kid.

“Absolutely. I’d love to.” Trent winked at him. “Stick your fingers against your tongue, squeeze the corners of your mouth, and blow.”

He copied what Trent was doing and tried it, mostly just making a fool out of himself. He tried a couple more times and got the idea but not the whistle. He smiled sheepishly. “Something to work on.”

“There you go. The first time it works, you’re going to scare the hell out of yourself.” Trent didn’t seem the slightest bit concerned or embarrassed.

His phone buzzed, and it was Jude.

Jude

The neighbors are taking a van full of kids to the movies @5. Can A go?

“Oh. Cool.” He smiled and texted back.

Fox

She would love that. I’ll bring the kids over in time. They’re around here somewhere.

“Kids are going to the movies later.”

“Good on them. I’m seriously considering watching TV and dreaming about burgers.”

“I’m pretty sure I can manage to make a cheeseburger if you want one.” He was a fan of binging things on TV too.

“Yeah? Hell, man. I’ll give you my truck keys if you want to get a couple in town.” Trent sounded almost desperate.

“I can do that. That sounds pretty good actually. Easy. I’ve got my rental. I’m going to take the kids over to Jude and Rope’s later, and I’ll head into town after that. I just need the name of the place you want me to go.” He had GPS. He’d find it. And he liked the idea of an adventure into town. He hadn’t been there yet.

“The Dairy Dart. They have the best onion rings on earth.” Trent grinned at him. “That would rock. I’ll buy.”

“Oh, no. I’m staying rent free in your space. Dinner is on me.” Candy nibbled at his shoulder, and he reached out and stroked her neck. “Including a mountain of onion rings.”

“Uhn. Yes, please. Thank you.” That was a sex noise if he’d ever heard one.

He was kind of surprised he recognized it; he hadn’t heard one in a long while. “Next best thing to an orgasm, huh?”

“Man, I’m so fucking tired of Ensure, and I’m retired! I can eat!”

Ensure. Trent said his beer fridge was full of it. “Is that all you’ve been eating?” His eyes went wide, and he knew he was gaping, but seriously, a man needed cheeseburgers.

“Unless I’m next door, pretty much. I ain’t a great cook, but grilling takes two hands, you know?”

Well, he knew what his job was for now. He had to eat too, right? “I got you covered. I’m not a gourmet chef, but I know my way around a kitchen. I have a kid, so I have to. No more Ensure for you. Yuck.” It was the least he could do for Trent for allowing him and Amelia to stay for a while.

“Yeah? I don’t need fancy, and I can buy groceries and all, but I’d love real supper.” Trent offered him a warm, happy smile that felt damn good.

It was pretty cute on the cowboy too.

“Good because I don’t do fancy. I do whatever Amelia will eat and spice it up a bit for myself. I haven’t grilled much, but I’m game.”

“No? Do you not like it?” Trent looked so confused, and it was weirdly adorable.

“I love it. I don’t have a grill in the city. Very few people do because of all the fire safety laws. You’re used to a lot more space here.”

“Oh, God yes.” Trent leaned against the fence post. “I been a couple of times. It’s overwhelming, a little, the way y’all live one on top of the other. Fascinating.”

He nodded. Overwhelming was the story of his life. It was all too much. “It is that. I’ve lived there a long time. Married Xan there, had Amelia. You’d think I’d think more fondly of the place than I do right now.”

“Well, I reckon there’s some real hard memories. It sounds like you needed something brand new.”

“That’s what everyone says.” Literally everyone. “Go somewhere, get out of the city, get a change of scenery, try something new, meet new people.” He winked at Trent. “I guess I can check all of that off now. I picked the right place.”

“Yep. Now you got new friends, a new set of kids for Amelia, and the need to learn how to whistle.”

He tried again with no luck. “I’m going to get it. You’ll see.” He helped Trent get steady after leaning against the fence, and they headed back toward the house. “I love the pecan trees along the walkway. So pretty, all that green.”

“They’ll start dropping in late August, early September. I’ll have to pay all the neighbor kids to come harvest for me.”

“Amelia will love that. She and Silas can organize it, and we can have a little party.” He blinked at Trent. First of all, what was he thinking, and secondly, what was he thinking ? “Uh. Well, we probably won’t be here actually, but it sounded like fun.”

“It will be, and you ain’t got to do a thing but breathe right now and love on your little girl. No stress.” Trent grinned at him, nice and easy.

That was true. He was all about reconnecting with Amelia. He didn’t feel stressed. He’d just remembered for a moment that he had no job and no plan beyond waking up here tomorrow. It wasn’t as stressful as it was weird. “And learn to whistle.”

“That’s super crazy important. Whistling and watching movies while the kids make mud puddles.” Trent winked at him.

He felt himself smile again and knew it was a quirky one. “Thank goodness Amelia is as into mud puddles as she is into dresses and nail polish.” His girl would rock jeans and party dresses equally well.

“So she seems to be happy out here. She’s so curious and bright. I don’t see how you keep up with her.”

That made him smile. Trent didn’t need to notice kids, but he saw Amelia. Trent paid attention. “She’s going to fly right by me one day, I’m sure. She just loves learning anything. Everything.”

He liked to think she’d gotten that from him.

“That and reading are the two biggest things she can have. Good on her. Are you a reader?”

He nodded. “I read. Not as much as I’d like to, but I do. And I read with Amelia a lot too.” Amelia liked all kinds of books.

“I like some stories a lot, some I don’t. What do y’all like? I don’t got any little girl books here, but there’s a small library…” Trent moved to sit in the ATV. “You can drive.”

He nodded, grinning. “Seems like the best idea.” He started it up again, and they rolled slowly toward the house. “I’ll take her to the library. That’s a great idea. Maybe we’ll go tomorrow and then hit the market for some groceries.”

“Sounds good. It’s not big, but it’s got the basics—jalapenos, tomatoes, tortillas…”

“Ground beef? Pasta? Chicken nuggets? I’m not sure Amelia will survive without macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets.”

“Mac and cheese is proof there’s a God, man.” Trent nodded happily. “And I’ll eat all that. You don’t ever need to buy meat or chicken, though. It’s in the chest freezer.”

“Oh. Right. Farm.” He pulled up in front of the house and put on the brake. “Door to door service. Hope the ride wasn’t too bouncy for that arm.”

“You did fine. It was a good?—”

“Daddy!”

“Uncle Trent!”

“Look what we found!”

“Can we keep them?”

Trent grinned. “Oh fuck.”

“Oh. Uh…” He glanced at Trent, then they headed over, and there was a litter of squirming little mewling kittens. “You have barn cats? Isn’t that a thing?”

“I have, but I try to keep them fixed, and I give them their shots. I don’t want a bunch of feral cats spreading disease.”

“We can get them fixed!”

“And shots!” Amelia said carrying two—or wait, maybe three—kittens in her arm.

“Is that all of them? Maybe we should take them to a shelter?” That’s what people did in the city anyway.

“Well… let’s call the doc. He’ll tell us what they need. Call your dad, Silas. See how many he wants.” Trent rolled his head on his neck. “And you have to talk to your daddy about keeping some, little bit. It’s a lot of work.”

Amelia turned her big eyes on him. “I can do it, Daddy. I promise.”

He shook his head. He felt bad, but he couldn’t say yes. “I know you can, but we can’t have pets in New York, honey.” He’d like to say yes, but his building was service animals only. “You can help take care of any kittens that Silas is allowed to keep while we’re here though.”

“Don’t you need some kittens, Uncle Trent? That way they can be Amelia’s Texas kittens.” Silas’s eyes were huge, willing Trent to say yes, and Fox knew, at that moment, he was fucked.

He sighed and shrugged at Trent. “I’ll cover the doc visit and the shots and everything.” And neuter them when it came time, and… whatever else Amelia asked him to do because he was that dad.

Trent chuckled softly. “I’ll do the shots, but sure. You two figure this out—about how many go where, get them some food and water, all that. I’ll call Doc Trimble. Fair?”

“Okay! Thank you, Uncle Trent!” Silas leaned in Trent’s direction, arms full of kittens. “Can we put them in a stall for now? While we call Daddy and all?”

“Go get that box out of the mud room and put some towels in it and put them in the mud room. Shut the screen door so the dogs don’t get at them, just in case.” Trent looked so tired, almost bruised now.

“Okay. Come on, Amelia.” Silas hurried off with Amelia at his heels.

“Ready to head inside?” Trent looked set up for a nap. Poor guy. “Maybe some pain meds or something?” He climbed out of the ATV and went around to help Trent out.

“Yeah, after I help Frick and Frack there, I’ll totally crash for a few.”

“I can deal with the kittens, Uncle Trent. I swear!”

“Me too!” Amelia was going to shake apart.

“I can handle it. They’re kittens, not yaks.” Fox pretended not to notice Trent wince as his feet hit the ground. “You crash, and when you wake up, kittens will be sorted and burgers will be on the way.”

Trent looked utterly confused. “You sure, man?”

He figured Trent wasn’t used to people around to help. “Sure. I got this. You look like you’re ready to fall over.”

“It’s been a long day. Let me get you come cash for supper and gas.”

Trent was adorable, taking care of him.

He followed Trent inside without arguing, even though he had no intention of using Trent’s money. Dinner was the least he could do.

Trent seemed like he could probably use a little taking care of himself.