Page 90 of Let It Breathe
“Wait, sweetie,” her mom called. “You want a brownie?”
“No, thanks, Mom. Clay, how about you?”
Clay pulled off the oxygen mask again and shook his head. “I’m good, thanks.”
Reese’s mom smiled down at him. “Thank you so much for everything you did, honey. We owe you a lot more than a brownie.”
Axl snickered and looked at Reese. Reese ignored him.
“It was nothing.”
Reese’s mom shook her head and began rearranging the brownies on her tray. “We sure got lucky tonight, didn’t we, Reese?”
Axl snorted, still looking at Reese. “Sure did. Got lucky, all right.”
Reese glared at him. “Come on, Grandpa—let’s check out the winery barn.”
She grabbed Axl by the arm and dragged him away, ignoring the neighbor who made a snide comment about manhandling an old man.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Reese stopped walking and glared at Axl.
“What the hell was that about?”
Axl grinned. “Nice beard burn on your cheek.”
Reese raised a hand to her face, feeling herself flush. “So? I had a date tonight. With that hot vet, the one from yesterday.”
“It wasn’t the vet who left you grinning like a cat who got porked with a Q-tip,” Axl said. “Looked like Clay hadn’t shaved this evening, you notice that? That five o’clock shadow sure can chafe sensitive skin, eh?”
Reese closed her eyes and shook her head. “Axl?—”
“And then there’s the claw marks on his shoulder,” Axl continued. “Oh, and the lipstick on his earlobe. Same shade you were wearing earlier, wasn’t it?”
Reese sighed. “What do you want?”
“You to admit it.”
“Admit what?”
“That you scratched your itch with that boy. That you two stroked the lamb’s head, got hay for your donkey, did the wild monkey dance, tickled the?—”
“Okay, fine!” Reese snapped. “Stop! We did, okay? Is that what you want? It wasn’t a big deal.”
Axl grinned. “The hell it wasn’t. You two have been hot for each other for years. ’Bout damn time you did something about it.”
“Can we just drop it?”
“Sure, sure,” he said, waving a hand as he glanced over at the barn. “Whatever you want, Peanut Butter Cup.”
Reese gritted her teeth. “I want something to cover the beard burn. Give me your scarf.”
“Nah. There’s no beard burn. I just wanted you to admit it. I can die happy now.”
Reese glared at him and wondered about the penalties for elder abuse. “Keep that up, you’ll be dying a lot sooner. Come on. Let’s go look at the damage.”
“You go ahead,” Axl said, turning back the direction they’d just come from. “I gotta go check the woods, make sure nothing damaged my ’shrooms, you know what I’m sayin’?”
“No, I really don’t. That’s usually best, isn’t it?”
