Page 20 of Spencer and the Younger Girl
She looked to him in the dark with a glint in her eye. “Yes.” Just one word. She owned it before turning her attention to the goat. “Now, Stammer, I have to leave you.”
“Stammer? You named this one?”
“Yes,” she bit out. “After Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning legend.”
So, Hadley was a hockey-crazed, trouble-making, goat whisperer. And he kind of liked it.
She pulled the goat into her arms as she sat on the ground. “You’re going to have a fun night, buddy. Roman will be here if you need anything.”
“What could he need? He’s a goat.”
She ignored him. “Rome will bring you water and food before he leaves. You have a very important job to do. I need you to be in here when Mr. Thompson arrives. Feel free to bite him if need be.”
“Do goats bite?”
She shrugged. “How should I know? But they don’t bite me.” She ran a hand down Stammer’s neck and patted his side before releasing him and getting to her feet. “Come on, we have to get the rest of the goats.” A sigh rattled from her throat.
“Are you okay?”
“No.” She crossed her arms.
He shouldn’t ask. That was asking for a whole bucket load of crazy. But he couldn’t seem to help himself. “What’s wrong?”
“I just…” She sighed again, this time more dramatically. “Now, I really want a goat.”
A laugh boomed out of him. “Goats aren’t pets.”
“In my house, he would be.” She looked back at Stammer one more time.
She was ridiculous, but he couldn’t help smiling at the pout she wore when he followed her back to the parking lot.
Roman helped goats out of the back of a mini-van. “There is goat crap in the car.”
Spencer laughed. “Price of doing business.”
Hadley scowled at him before walking around him to the car.
Spencer stepped up beside Roman. “Is she always this…?”
Roman didn’t need him to finish the question. “Always. But her ridiculousness is the best thing about her.”
He could see that. As she threw her head back and laughed at something Brayden said, he wanted to hear the sound, to know what put the joy into her eyes.
Snapping himself out of it, he led another couple goats across the lot, joining Damien at the door.
“You cool, bro?”
Damien grinned. “Yeah. This is fun.” He leaned in. “On a scale of one to ten, how dead will we be when Ma finds out?”
“Try eleven.”
He winced. “That’s what I thought. Are we sure this was a good idea?”
Spencer glanced back over his shoulder at a still-laughing Hadley. It was just a prank, but she was doing something every high schooler strived for: Making a mark.
This building didn’t remember him. He was just a name on a list to the people who passed through, but he doubted anyone forgot a girl like Hadley Gibson.
“Yeah.” He nudged his brother’s shoulder. “This was the best idea.”
