Page 96 of Revival

My niece laughs louder, her little footsteps bringing her closer. The receptionist scans her clipboard.

“I’m sorry. I don’t see a Belly.”

“You know what, you’re right. I think it was Smelly.”

“Smelly!” Nellie’s laugh is music to my ears. She runs behind the desk. “Uncle, I’m not Smelly, I’m Eleanor!”

“Oh, that’s right! It’s Ellie.”

“No, it’s not Ellie. It’s Nellie!”

I snap my fingers. “Nellie! How could I forget?”

Without hesitation, that little girl who shares half my brother’s DNA comes to my side and slips her small hand in mine. “Hi, Uncle.”

I drop down onto one knee, resting my elbow on my thigh and shake her hand still clasped around mine. “Hey, kiddo. Got all your stuff?”

“Yep.” She throws her hands out to her sides. “It’s just me.”

“Easy, peasy. Ready to go?”

“Are we getting ice cream?”

I tuck my ID back into my wallet and finish signing her out. “Definitely. Your dad was so sad he couldn’t come get you that he said I can even get you two scoops.”

“Yippee!” She skips out the front door. “Daddy never lets me get two.”

Whoops.

Picturing Sutton’s scowl has me debating whether or not I should get her three.Andsprinkles.

“It’s your lucky day.”

I let her skip ahead of me as we walk down the block to the ice cream shop. The July sun is making itself known. My habit of packing on the sunscreen every morning is paying off. The freshly healed skin on my face and neck is exposed, but the short duration shouldn’t be enough to do more damage.

Nellie comes to a stop at a storefront a few businesses away from our destination.

“What’s caught your eye, Nellie?”

“Can we go in here?” She presses her face against the glass. “There’s a kitty!”

Oh hell. Sutton is going to kick my ass if I get her hooked on some animal at a pet store. Merit would probably turn a kitty into dinner.

By the time I catch up, she’s already tugging open the entrance.

“Hang on there, Nell.” I wrap my fingers around the closing door as she slips inside the crack.

“Hi, do you have kitties here?” Her little voice sounds full of confidence as she inquires to the receptionist. This girl is going to give her father hell, and I’m on my way to earning a front row ticket to the show.

A bell rings as I yank the door wider to step in. With one glance around the lobby, it becomes obvious this isn’t a pet store.

It’s a vet clinic.

The unfamiliar woman at the reception flits her amused gaze to me before addressing Nellie.

“You have to bring your own kitties here. We don’t have them.”

Nellie looks back at me with a pout. “I don’t have my own kitty.”

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