a nap outside, like his Pap taught him."
"He said something about a hedgehog, too." Drew looked at the boy. "Are you out here hunting hedgehogs with your bow and arrow?"
"Naw, you don't hunt hedgehogs," Mac said. "There's not even any wild ones around here. They go in cages. We have pet hedgehogs at our house. They live in their cages. I never even hunt hedgehogs. I just pet 'em and hold 'em on my lap. They won't poke you if you hold them real still." He shook his head, staring at Drew seriously. "You're not supposed to hunt hedgehogs—only snakes and rats and spiders and roaches."
He was passionate, speaking with enthusiasm. It was adorable, and the sheer cuteness distracted Drew and prevented him from understanding all of the words. This boy was tough as nails and preciously passionate in his speech and mannerisms. He even used hand gestures.
"Did you say you have pet hedgehogs?" Drew asked looking at the boy.
"Yeah!"
"Yes sir," the mother corrected.
"Yes sir. My mama got two pet hedgehogs so she could learn how to draw them, but she couldn't do it right, so now they're just our regular pets. But we can't let Sport catch 'em because he's a huntin' dog, and he'll eat 'em."
"My parents have a Dachshund named Sport," Lucy explained when Drew looked at her.
"There was the part about Sport," Drew said. "But there was also something else. Why'd you get hedgehogs? To do what with them?"
"So she could learn how to draw them," Mac said.
Drew still couldn't quite understand. "To do what?"
"Draw," Mac said. "Like a picture."
"Oh, draw them." Drew regarded the woman curiously. "You wanted to draw a hedgehog?" he asked, still not understanding.
"It's a long story," she said shaking her head.
And Drew stared at her, feeling like he was in the mood to hear it.
Chapter 3
Lucy
This man on the boat was full of surprises.
He was a complete and total stranger. I had lived in Galveston all my life, and my family knew a lot of people, and I still had no idea who this guy was. He showed up on a boat, pushed himself over to us with a pole like a Vietnamese fisherman, and handed me a diamond ring.
It was pretty much the last thing I expected would happen when he came our way. He had been wearing a neutral expression when he approached, and my initial feeling was to be concerned, like maybe he was out looking for a lost person or even a dog. He could have asked for directions from here to London and it would have been less weird than what actually happened. He could have invited us on a tour of the bay in his boat and it would be less shocking than handing me a giant, seemingly real, diamond ring. He also seemed undaunted by the fact that I introduced myself as a made-up character and told Mac that he was a pirate.
He was about to push out into deeper waters and leave, but then we got to talking about hedgehogs. I told him it would take a while to explain the fact that I was a hopeful children's book author. And then I thought twice about it and realized maybe I could just come out and say that.
"I'm trying to be a children's book author," I said. "I guess I am one by now. I've written a lot of books. I have a little series about a hedgehog family, and I thought maybe I could illustrate them myself if I had some real hedgehogs. But they're really hard to draw. It turns out I'm a way better storyteller than artist."
"And now you're stuck with two pet hedgehogs?"
"I wouldn't say I'm stuck with them. They're pretty cool."
"Do you study them for inspiration?" he asked. "You know, watch them and see how they interact with each other?"
I let out a humorless laugh. "They actually don't interact with each other at all. I didn't know that about them when I got them, but they're not social. They want to be in separate enclosures. We get them out and socialize them with us, but we do it separately. I wondered if it would be a mistake to represent a hedgehog family in my books when they aren't social in real life, but then I remembered that the ones in my story also walk on their hind legs and wear clothing, so I figured it was okay."
Mac cracked up when I said that. He had heard me say