CHAPTER 23
Arwyn
A melie’s scream cracked my heart.
There was no way I was letting that serpent hurt her dog.
Once Vennie’s leash slipped, I turned my back on the snake and ran straight for the dog. I reached him in seconds and scooped up the wiggling, agitated bundle of fur. “There, there, it’s okay, Vennie.” I bounced him like a baby and soothed him the only way I knew how as I backed my way toward the porch, keeping my eyes on the vertical pupils of the prairie rattler.
Why on earth wasn’t that snake hibernating? Had the warm weather enticed it out of its den?
Vennie continued to growl. “Shh, you’re fine. You’re fine.”
Another step backward.
“ Arrr rrah rah rah rah !”
I struggled to contain him in my arms. Thinking fast, I reached for the hem of my apron and pulled it upward. Somehow, I was able to swaddle him in the fabric.
But while I was busy wrapping him up, I lost track of the prairie rattler.
I scanned the yard and the driveway, listening for the sound that would give away its location.
I felt Zaki behind me. A quick glance at the porch confirmed Zaki’s axe was leaning by the door.
“Take the dog.” As I turned to hand off Vennie, the stupid man grabbed the axe and ran straight for the snake.
“Zaki, no! It’s venomous!”
“I know! Go inside!”
“I will not!” I couldn’t let him get bit. It was too far to a hospital.
I had to get Vennie to safety first, then I was going after the rattler.
“Girls!” I opened the door a crack and squatted to their level to dump Vennie out of my apron. “Amelie! Bring the dogs into the kitchen and make sure their gate is latched. Isla, run to the bathroom and bring me the biggest towel you can find. Hurry!”
Isla was back in seconds, bless her little heart. I grabbed the towel and slammed the door shut. “Stay inside and don’t come out until your dad or I tells you it’s safe, got it?”
“Got it!”
“Good girl! And don’t worry, ’kay?” I shouted into the door as I took off after her dad.
“Okay!”
Zaki had chased the snake down the gravel driveway toward the turnoff to the main road. I ran at him as fast as my button boots could carry me.
“Don’t let it get away!” I slowed to a stop next to him, panting to catch my breath. The combination of the running and the elevation was making me lightheaded.
“Whoa!” Zaki’s axe-free arm reached out to steady me. My eyes flashed to his. “What do you think you’re going to do with that towel? Yell torro torro and expect it to charge you?”
I held up the towel and laughed. It hadn’t even registered that it was red. “I—I don’t know. Cover it?”
“Not a bad idea. You think snakes can see color? Toss the towel on its head, and while it’s distracted, I can slice it.”
I cringed. “Okay. Let’s do it. But fast. The girls are so upset.” I took a deep breath and tried to keep my voice even. “And Zaki—don’t get bit. Isla and Amelie need their dad.”
I spun on my heel and ran for the snake. When I was within a few feet, I snapped the towel to entice it. The head lunged forward, and I tossed the towel, lifting a prayer that the center of it would land on the head, momentarily blinding it.
The towel hit its target, and the long body whipped and whooshed. Zaki’s axe came down once, then again. A third time. The tail went still, and I turned away once I was sure it was no longer a threat.
“Wynna-bun, are you okay? Talk to me.”
But I couldn’t. One foot in front of the other. As I neared the house, though, I realized I couldn’t let the girls see me in my current state. They didn’t know about my dad, and I didn’t want to upset them any more than they already were.
I turned toward the back of the house and picked up my pace.
Zaki’s boots crunched the gravel behind me. “You have to go inside. They have to see we’re both okay. Then you can disappear if you need to. I’ll give you space, I promise. Just tell them you’re okay first.”
My feet halted. He was right.
He pulled me to him for a quick but firm hug, then with his arm at my back, guided me to the front door and pushed it open.
“Daddy! Wynnie!”
Zaki bent to hug the girls, and they climbed onto him. As he stood up, they reached over to hug me.
“Are you okay? Is the snake gone?” Isla asked.
“He’s gone,” Zaki confirmed. “And he can’t hurt anyone anymore.”
“Daddy!” Amelie gasped. “Did you unalive the snake?”
“Sadly, yes.” His face sombered. “It was a threat to my girls. And no one threatens my girls.”
“But Daddy,” Isla squirmed. “Snakes are God’s creatures.”
“And God gave mankind the authority over them.” Zaki pressed his forehead to each of theirs.
“Well.” Isla leaned back in his arms and tapped her chin. “I think I will need to practice running faster. I don’t want to hurt snakes. At least not until I’m a big girl.”
Zaki laughed. “How about you just yell for me next time?”
“Why, Daddy?” Amelie asked. “Wynnie was handling it. She takes good care of us, you know.”
“I know.” He turned to me. Three pairs of pale blue eyes were upon me, and I couldn’t help but smile back.
“I could never let you get hurt.” I sniffed.
“Hey, girls, how about a ballet lesson in the studio? I’ve been practicing my glissades, but I don’t think they’re any good. I feel like a sideways frog.”
Amelie giggled and patted her dad on his shoulder. “That’s okay, Daddy. We can help!”
“Great! I’ll meet you downstairs in five minutes.” They ran off, and he turned to me. “Take as long as you need. Call me if you want my support. I’m sorry, Wynna-bun. It’s been quite an afternoon.”
I nodded and turned to the stairs to go up to my room. I had a lot to think about.
I pushed the snake and my grief for Dad to the back of my mind. It was times like this I wished my mom was around. I knew she missed him, too. But she was an expert at compartmentalizing, and I’d never seen her fall apart emotionally.
The social media … Yes, I could think about that.
When you stacked it next to Zaki or one of his girls or dogs dying … It couldn’t even be a thing, could it? It bothered me, yes, but it was me who decided how it made me feel.
Over the last two years, I’d watched Penny go from unknown small-town harpist to Wag to world-renowned musician, thanks to Xavier’s job and familial connections. I wasn’t looking to advance my career or become famous.
I was looking for love.
Well, that wasn’t true. I hadn’t looked. But it had found me.
Zaki and I had attended the gala as friends and left as more.
And now, I had to decide what that more was.
This sweet, kind, burly, hockey-playing mountain man at heart loved his family fiercely, and his generous heart was everything I didn’t know I needed.
A glutton for torture, I pulled out my phone and again searched his social media. A new image was trending. A simple blue square with a red border wasn’t anything extraordinary, but the white text inside of it was.
A Statement from Zaki Marsch:
To all the fans who were happy to see me find love again, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. The woman in the pictures is everything to me and I love her. I will do everything to protect her and my girls. Please respect our privacy, and if our relationship is to grow to something more, you know I’ll share it with you. Well, if that’s okay with her. Because I’m smitten, she’s in charge, and I don’t care who knows it.