Page 62 of The Grizzly Situation
“He has that air about him. People can feel relaxed in his presence. When I spoke with Uncle Dom about Uly working at the coffee shop he told me he hated letting him go. He tried to think of things he could do to keep him there, because Uly was unique. Yes, he constantly messed up, but people always forgave him due to his style that put them at ease.”
Yes, that was how I’d felt that day. He calmed my anger about the money, helped me to think my way through and listen when he said something.
“He protected so many jobs, just because I listened to him.”
“He’s not dumb.”
“What? No, I never said he was!” I blurted out.
“Not you. The people around us, the ones outside of our family, have always picked on Uly. Made him feel less than hehad the potential for. Even our parents, who we know love us, insisted that his problems werecute. They weren’t something that needed to be looked at, just accepted. That was no help at all to Uly.”
“Will you be okay with me dating Uly?” I recalled that kiss and hungered for another. “I mean, will it be an issue?”
“Honestly? I do have a problem with it. He’s your employee. I don’t want him feeling pressured to do something he might not want.”
And that made perfect sense to me. Uly needed to know that I wanted him because of who he was, not because he was a conquest.
“That is a sound concern. I guarantee you, this isn’t going to be an issue as he’s not working for the company directly. He wants to stay and take care of the boys. He says it’ll give him practice for when the two of you have yours. And congratulations, by the way. I will work hard to keep Uly safe and grounded,” I promised. “Now, can you tell me what he likes?”
“Mr. Lockhart, I would be proud to.”
Chapter Seventeen
ULY
The next morningBrent had to go into the office and asked if I was absolutely certain I was okay with babysitting for a while. The boys clung to me until I came up with a project for them to do. We were sitting in the great room, me watching them color on big sheets of snow white paper. They were so focused on what they were doing they had their tongues poking out. I leaned over to take a look, and found both of them were drawing family pictures. Of course, everyone on the sheets had names. There was Daddy, Momma, Eddie, and Jack. Judging by the greenest trees I’d ever seen, plus the bluest lake, I assumed we were outside. The place looked beautiful.
“Here, Momma. We made these for you.”
I shook the cobwebs out and smiled at the boys holding their drawings in shaky hands to me. I took them and held them up, eyeing them critically.
“These are lovely,” I told them.
“Whose is better?” Jack wanted to know, his eyes alight with excitement.
No way would I fall into that trap, because neither was better than the other. Jack’s was lovely and Eddie’s was stunning. “They’re both very special in their own way. You have the sun and I see you made it reflect on the water. That shows you have a keen eye. Eddie has eagles flying in the trees, looking for a place to build a nest for their family. That tells me he knows a lot about nature.”
His eyes widened. “You knew what they were?”
“Sure, because I love eagles too.”
Honestly, I’d had no idea, but guessed. Fortunately, it turned out to be the right thing.
“Momma?”
I smiled down at Jack, who was worrying his lower lip. “Yes?”
He put his hands on my shirt, stroking it. “Do you love us?”
The question rattled me. “Of course I do. Why would you think I didn’t?”
He sniffled. “Because you went away for a long time.”
Of everything he could have said, this wasn’t what I was expecting. I lifted him off the floor and onto my lap, He smiled and snuggled in. A moment later, Eddie climbed up too. They both sat there, staring expectantly at me.
“Sometimes there are things we can’t control, and they cause us problems. I swear to you, if something hadn’t happened, Momma would never have left you and that’s a promise.”
“What happened?”
