top of her head and brush back her wild hair Red and I are still trying to figure out how to tame. “Baby, don’t be rude.”
“Why don’t you have any pets?” Saylor asks, skipping in circles. “I have goats. And a donkey. And my new sister has a dog. And we have cats but they live outside and aren’t friendly like the goats. You should get a cat because I saw a mouse when we were playing hide and seek and I never see a mouse at our house.”
Abbott keeps talking to me like Saylor isn’t standing right in front of us. “She sounds like Dr. Seuss.”
“I love Dr. Seuss!” Saylor exclaims. “Asa—I mean my new dad—reads it to me all the time.”
“Saylor?!” We all turn toward the back of the house where Keelie is standing at the door. “It’s time to go. We need to get out of their hair.”
I feel Abbott’s body relax against my leg where she’s attached like a spider monkey.
“Gotta go.” Saylor doesn’t even glance at us and hops to Keelie, who must have the patience of a saint. I’ve known Asa for years but from the looks of him at his wedding, he’s happy and loves his new blended family. We have no trouble hearing every word Saylor bosses when she reaches her mother. “Next time, you can come to my house and we’ll play with the goats!”
Keelie smiles at her daughter before waving to us. “I’ll have Asa call and we’ll get together when Bella feels up to it. If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to call.”
“I appreciate it.” I wave back at the same time Abbott whispers, “I’ll stay with Grandpa.”
“Don’t blame you, peanut. That’s not a party I’d leave the house for, either,” Red agrees.
“Can we get a cat?” I look down at Abbott who’s wearing a different kind of frown that has more to do with panic than irritation. “I don’t wanna see that mouse.”
I question my parenting skills on a daily basis, but before I can say no because I don’t need to add an animal to my list of things to fuck up, Red reaches down to snatch Abbott up, pulling her into a grizzly hug. “I’ll take you to the pound and you can pick one out.”
All of a sudden, Abbott is happier than I’ve seen her in a week and I don’t think the timing of Bella crashing back into my life is a coincidence.
Speaking of the woman who almost died twice in the back of an ambulance, I head for the house. “Stay out here with your grandpa.”
“I’m gonna get a cat!” she squeals and I shoot my father a glare as I open the back door.
All I can say is, thank God for small miracles—my father has my old air conditioner running smoother than a fine, aged bourbon and colder than Bella, who’s swimming in a sea of red right now. I slam the door behind me and stop to take it all in.
Gracie wasn’t kidding. They did some damage to Jarvis’s card.
“You’re as irritating as always, Cole Carson.” Bella is sitting in the middle of an explosion of clothes, bottles, and tubes of crap that women like, and more shoes than she’ll need while she’s here since I don’t plan on her stepping foot off my property. Her fingers are flying over the screen of the phone I had delivered this morning and she doesn’t spare me a glance as she multitasks. “I’d rather wear Red’s dirty overalls than make you happy by wearing the color of the devil himself.”
I can’t help but smile and make my way to the old recliner my father refuses to part with. “I don’t think Red’s into sharing clothes.”
She jabs at the screen a few more times before tossing the phone into the mountainous wardrobe. “Your father hates me, and from the looks of it, your daughter isn’t far behind.”
“Abbott doesn’t hate you. She’s six and has mommy issues—I’m working on it. She doesn’t know she has a shit mom and I don’t feel like telling her because that reflects on me. I walk that line with my daughter every single day. It doesn’t matter if you’re here, I’d be doing it anyway. And Red doesn’t hate you, he loves me. All he saw was that I came home from the Middle East pissed and empty-handed. He blames you.”
Her eyes fall shut and she leans back into the sofa. “I didn’t bend to your wishes. I