Kian was at the back of the parade, not wanting her to drive the damn car, but since she insisted on not leaving it, he had no choice. He was tense the entire thirty-mile drive. He was buying her a new car and then dropping hers off a damn bridge. That thought cheered him up immensely.
They got to the farm, and a couple of the local kids were doing volunteer work, including Jeff, who ran up to see what was happening. He insisted on helping Doc take the deer into the barn, and there really wasn’t much for Kian to do.
“Want to get your hands dirty?” Evan asked.
“Nah, do you know what these hands are worth?” Kian said with a smug smile.
“Not much, in my opinion,” Evan told him with a wink.
Kian wasn’t at all offended. Evan had grown up with money himself but had never taken advantage of it. Evan hadn’t been as lucky as Kian and his siblings, though. His family had been super assholes who had treated Evan like shit. If it hadn’t been for his grandmother, he wouldn’t have received a dime to even go to school after his dad ran away with the nanny and his mom married some rich foreign guy and fled the country.
His parents were both pissed when his grandmother left her entire estate to Evan, and instead of giving either parent a dime, he invested in the community and continued his work as a vet. He was a good guy and somebody Kian easily called a friend.
“Can I take Lily to see the pigs? Mama just had a litter last week, and they’re pretty cute,” Jeff said.
Roxie looked to Kian for confirmation that their daughter was safe with Jeff, and he nodded, his chest puffing out that she was turning to him to ask.
“That would be wonderful, Jeff. Thank you,” she said, and the boy glowed at being trusted. It warmed Kian’s heart. It also went right over his head that he’d thought of Lily as their daughter. That might freak him out if he took the time to think about it.
“Can you grab that antiseptic, Roxie?” Evan asked.
“Of course,” she said, and for the next hour, she was Evan’s assistant, and Kian found himself on edge as the doc flirted shamelessly with Roxie, making Kian grind his teeth. He knew his friend was doing it on purpose to get a reaction from him. He also knew Evan wouldn’t make a move on her since everyone in the town knew she was his, but that didn’t mean Evan wasn’t going to torture the hell out of him. Kian looked forward to payback. He wouldn’t forget, not even if it took a few years.
“I think this guy might actually make it. He sure as hell is lucky you’re the one that hit him,” Evan said as he sat back on his heels, surprise in his eyes, his clothes bloody and hairy.
“Really? You aren’t just saying that to make me feel better?” Roxie said, wringing her hands.
“I really think he’ll make it,” he said again.
Kian found himself clenching his jaw so tightly, he was surprised his teeth didn’t snap when Roxie launched herself across the small space between her and Evan and held on tightly as she gave him a big hug.
She pulled back and gripped his cheeks, and for a moment, Kian saw the doc completely mesmerized by her. Yeah, she had that effect on people.
“Thank you so much, Evan, thank you,” she told him before hugging him one more time and giving him a smacking loud kiss on the cheek. “You’re the best.”
“Well, hell, if I’d have known I’d get that reaction, I would have been trying to hit deer just to save them,” he said with a chuckle.
“Yeah, you’re a true hero,” Kian grumbled.
“Damn straight,” Evan said as he winked at Kian. “I saved the day this time, and you had to stand by and watch me work.”
Kian grumbled at the doc, trying to decide if it was okay to punch him now that the animal was out of danger. He decided that might not earn him too many brownie points with Roxie, and right now he needed all the merit badges he could get.
Jeff and Lily came running back into the barn right then, both of their cheeks flushed as Lily talked a million miles a minute about how cute the pigs were.
“Can I have a pig, please, can I?” Lily asked, her eyes wide in her excitement.
“We don’t have anywhere to keep one,” Roxie said, and Kian felt his own heart breaking when tears sprang to Lily’s eyes and spilled over.
“I’ll bring the pigs to my house,” Kian said. The girl could have asked for anything, and he would have granted it, just to make that heartbroken expression disappear.
She turned to Kian and gave him a watery smile. “Can we live there?” she asked.
Hell yes! He was about to yell just that when Roxie cleared her throat, and he looked up, finding her intense look on him. He would be toast if he said that. Of course Lily was going to live with him, but he had to do it in the right way.
“Why don’t you come and visit first,” he said. He wasn’t going to tell her she wasn’t going to live there because they all knew she was. But, for the sake of his relationship with Roxie, he could slow down his normally wicked-fast pace.
“Can we visit the pigs, Mama?” Lily asked.
Everyone went silent as Lily spoke those words. It seemed like time stopped altogether, but Kian knew only a second or two had passed. He looked at Roxie’s radiant face, and his heart broke a little. She truly did love his little girl, and the slip of her calling Roxie Mama had sealed her fate. Lily needed Roxie. Kian needed Lily. It was pretty simple, in his own mind. The three of them would become a family. He just wasn’t sure how he was going to make that happen.
“Of course we can, sweetie, but they won’t be leaving their mama for a while, so we’ll just have to come here,” she said. Kian could hear the relief in her voice. She was afraid to come to his place. She was afraid of what she would feel. He had no doubt about it.
“I also have a cat that’s going to have kittens at any time,” Kian said, wanting to draw Lily back into insisting on coming to his house.
“Really?” Lily said, her eyes going wide again.
“Yep, so you and your . . .” He paused. Was he supposed to say aunt or mama? He didn’t know. “Um, you and Roxie can come and see them, maybe even be there when they are born.”
“Can we, please?” Lily asked Roxie.
Roxie was refusing to look at him. She was irritated he’d put her on the spot. Well, too bad. He knew what he wanted, and he wasn’t afraid to go after it. He’d told a white lie, though. He didn’t actually have a mama cat, but his brother had been complaining about a big pregnant cat that wouldn’t leave his back porch. It appeared as if Kian was officially adopting the stray now. He’d pick it up on his way home and hope the damn thing hadn’t popped already. He’d have to call his cleaning lady and see if she could pick up whatever the hell he needed to take care of a cat.
“I guess we’ll have to do that,” Roxie finally said, and Kian wanted to jump in the air and pound his fists. He wanted them to come to his place. Victory was his.
“Why don’t you all come out here this coming Saturday?” Evan asked, making Kian turn. He’d forgotten other people were even around. Roxie consumed him so much, he felt sucked into his own world whenever they were in a space together.
“What’s happening Saturday?” Kian asked. He wasn’t sure how much he wanted Roxie around his very eligible friend.