Page 68 of Shadows of You

Cady bobbed her head in a nod as she looked back at me. “I’d be real sad if I had to be away from my mama.”

My heart squeezed.

Lawson gave me a chin lift. “You’ve got even more than the last time I was here. An emu?”

I gave him a sheepish smile as I cast a quick look at Emmaline in a pasture with a few of the goats. “She needed a place to go.”

Lawson shook his head. “Can’t wait to see what shows up next.”

“I think I want a grizzly bear next,” Cady piped in.

Lawson choked on a laugh. “I think Roan might have to arrest you then.”

Cady glanced up at Roan. “Arrest me?”

Roan’s lips twitched. “Bears aren’t meant to be domesticated. They could hurt you without meaning to.”

Cady’s mouth pressed into a firm line. “Not if we’re friends, and he’s had a snack.”

I squeezed Cady’s shoulders. “How about we getyoua snack before you start taking us out one by one?”

She giggled and turned around to fake nibble on my arm. “Tastes just like Cap’n Crunch.”

I laughed and led the way to the house. At the top of the stairs, I reached for my little piece of wood in the doorframe, unlocked the deadbolts and doorknob, and ushered everyone inside.

Chauncey lumbered toward us, and I gave him a quick pat as I held the door for him to go out and do his business.

Roan eyed the space suspiciously. “Where’s the demon?”

Lawson’s brows hit his hairline. “The demon?”

“You ever meet that one-eyed creature from hell?” he challenged.

Chauncey lumbered back up the steps and inside. I locked the door, even though the house was full of people. Some habits were hard to break.

“My cat. He’s scared of a poor, innocent cat,” I informed Lawson.

His eyes filled with humor as he turned back to Roan. “You’re scared of a cat? You work with the most dangerous wildlife in the county, and a cat did you in?”

“That so-calledcatnearly took my toe and my eye,” he grumbled.

“That just means Pirate likes you,” Cady said.

“She could like me a little less,” Roan muttered.

“Can we go play in my room?” Cady asked.

“Don’t you want a snack?”

She shook her head. “I wanna show Charlie my new game.”

“Okay. But let me know if you guys get hungry.”

Charlie glanced over his shoulder. “We’re still making the chocolate peanut butter muffins, right?”

“You know it,” I promised.

As the two kids disappeared down the hall, I turned to the men dwarfing my living space. “Can I get you something to drink? I’ve got coffee, tea, water, and juice.”

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