She’s an evil woman, and the crazy part is, I don’t think she has a damn clue what she’s doing to me. She has no idea how many times since leaving the house that I’ve wanted to draw her into my side or kiss her perfect lips. Just the brush of her hand when she passed me Andy on our walk into the festival was enough to light me on fire. It’s the closest we’ve been since I got back, and it was enough to make me forgo the plan to only spend time with Andy.
Three weeks is a long enough wait to profess my love for her, right?
The silent walk toward the petting zoo keeps my lips sealed.
She’s cordial today, but there isn’t a single hint that she wants more than a little help with Andy today. She isn’t smiling and laughing. She’s not finding a reason to brush against me. If anything, she’s been keeping her distance since the second we accidentally touched earlier.
“Can we have two?” Izzy asks the lady selling pebbled food for the animals.
I pull out my wallet to pay for them before she can dig through her purse.
“You don’t have to pay for that.”
I wink at her. “Sure I do.”
Doesn’t she understand that I owe her so much? I spent the first sixteen months of my son’s life in prison without being able to send so much as a nickel her way. Lawson, with the help of Shadow’s expertise, was able to assist me in getting accounts set up for Andy, but Izzy has been refusing any type of support.
At first, the cynical side of me thought that she didn’t want me to pay for anything because she didn’t want me to have any more leverage if I tried to fight for a court-ordered custody agreement, but Hound assured me that she was just stubborn and wanted to do things on her own. I’ve been giving that money weekly to Hound. I have no idea what the man uses it for, but he’s been supporting Izzy and Andy, so whatever it is goes to help them both. Eventually, the woman is going to have to give in, but it’s not something I’m willing to pick a fight over right now. Business at the shop is very good, and Lawson pays me a great wage. I haven’t even looked for other jobs because I’ve realized just how much I like working with my hands.
“The goat is in a mood, so keep an eye on her,” the lady warns as she opens the gate for us to walk through.
“Are their eyes always so beady?” Izzy asks, keeping close to the fence while the goats just stare in our direction on the other side of the pen.
Izzy had the right idea about showing up early. We’re the only ones at the petting zoo right now, and I’m happy to have this time alone with the two people I love most in this world.
“No goats in Arizona?” She grins.
“Not in the city. I didn’t grow up in the country.”
“They’re harmless,” I assure her, but then the goat notices the bag of food in my hand and starts to walk in our direction, her jaw working back and forth like she can already taste the treats we have to offer. I get a flash of teeth, and I’m not scared, but I’m not taking the chance of Andy getting his fingers bitten either.
He’s wiggling in my arms, excited for the experience.
“Like this,” I tell him, placing a few pebbles in his hand and moving his arm out so the food drops to the ground a few feet away.
The goat, spoiled from being hand-fed for hours on end doesn’t look very impressed with having to bend her head down to eat from the ground.
Andy squeals again, his little hand digging into the bag. He makes a little noise, one I’ve heard him use with Lawson’s dog Raider.
“Like this.” I show him again how to drop it on the ground. It takes three tries before he gives up on the idea of getting closer to the goat.
Izzy takes pictures. The woman’s always taking pictures, and as grateful as I was to get them in prison, I wish she was beside us making these memories as a participant rather than just behind a lens.
“Why don’t you hold him? I’ll feed the goat and he can pet it.”
Her nose scrunches.
“Is that look because you don’t want him to touch it, or because you’re afraid it’ll touch you?”
“Can it be a little of both?”
“Come on,” I urge. “You have a gallon of hand sanitizer in the diaper bag. Don’t be a baby.”
She grins, putting her phone away before holding out her hands to take Andy. Her fingers brush my chest, and at least I’m able to keep from releasing a hiss this time around. When it happened earlier, she asked if she shocked me. I couldn’t admit that I was electrified, just not in the way she meant.
“Stand to the back. You can let him down.”
“The side,” she barters. “Don’t those things poop without warning?”
“They’re pellets not explosive feces,” I tell her with a chuckle.
Her brows furrow again, but at least she’s still smiling.
I bend in front of the goat, distracting it with a handful of food as Izzy inches closer with Andy. She hasn’t put him down. She’s crouched with him sitting on her bent leg, slowly guiding his hand toward the animal.
“Soft, like with Raider,” Izzy instructs, then squeals when the goat turns to face them.
I was too busy watching them that I didn’t realize the thing had eaten all the food out of my hand.
“I think that’s enough,” Izzy says, standing with Andy in her arms. “Not much of a petting zoo with only a single goat, but I think that’s probably best.”
“We have ponies coming later,” the woman at the gate says with a forced smile. “The girl with the rabbits has a stomach virus and couldn’t make it.”
“Too bad,” Izzy says. “I could cuddle a rabbit.”
“Did it bite you?”
I turn to see Sophia and Colton approaching.
“Thankfully, no.”
“So you’re planning to eat that yourself?” Sophia points down at the second bag of feed we didn’t use. Izzy passes it off to a kid walking up, much to the chagrin of the lady selling the food. I know she was hoping to make another sale, but come on. One goat? She may not get much action around here until the ponies do arrive.
“Drew, good to see you.” I shake Colton’s hand.
“You working today?”
“The Chief wanted a presence. I’m not technically on the clock, but he’s well aware that encouraging us to dress in uniform will keep us busy all day. I’ll spend the day telling people where the port-a-potties are like the police department are the ones hosting the event.”
“Well, I’m not complaining.” Sophia looks her man up and down, eyes waggling comically.
“Oh,” I say turning to her. “I hear congratulations are in order.”
They were going to announce their news to everyone at Easter, but that was the same day Delilah found out she was pregnant. Having been trying for so long, their celebration took precedence. Sophia and Colton didn’t tell anyone that I know of but Rick, Colton’s son. Rick posted the news on social media, alerting everyone last week. Lawson mentioned at work a couple days ago that he felt bad they didn’t feel like they could share their news. Delilah felt guilty as well. Dominic was livid they kept it to themselves.
Her hand automatically goes to her flat belly. “Thank you.”