Page 33 of Hard to Hold
I couldn’t help but think we’d made some progress this afternoon, spending time together on the range. I had been paying attention to how she reacted to Rhys. Even I noticed the moment she relaxed her guard with him.
After rubbing the towel over my hair, I tossed it over the shower door and went to my bedroom to get dressed.
“What’s up, old man?” I called out to my father when I walked into the small one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment above the Cedar Door store an hour later.
“Hey, kid,” my father greeted from his recliner in front of the television. “What’re you doin’ over here tonight? Shouldn’t you be out startin’ shit at Reagan’s?”
“Lynx is the one who starts shit,” I told him as I did every time I came over.
“That’s what they all say.”
“’Cause it’s true.”
“Seriously, what brings you by?” Calvin asked, peering over at me.
“Just wanted to check in. See if you needed anything?”
“Got some iced tea, popcorn, and a baseball game. I’d say I’m all set.”
“You wanna come down to the bar? I’ll buy you a beer.”
My father chuckled. “These old bones are gonna sit right here for the rest of the night. That is, till I drag my old ass right to that bedroom in there.”
Old bones, my ass. At fifty-two, Calvin Caine was in as good of shape as he’d been all his life.
“You sure?”
Calvin nodded.
“All right. Don’t say I didn’t ask.”
Another chuckle came from the old man. “How’s that little gal workin’ out? Amy, right?”
“Yep. She’s doin’ good. Catchin’ on quick and she’s cleanin’ shit up.”
“Really?” My father seemed more interested. “Think maybe she can come by the store? Try to get the office organized?”
I figured Amy would love that. Plus, I wanted the old man and Amy to get along. Aside from Lynx, my father was the closest person in my life, and I enjoyed every minute I got to spend with him. These days, we didn’t do much more than chat for a few minutes here and there.
“If you ask her nicely,” I told him, “I’m sure she’d be happy to.”
“Heard the sheriff’s been stoppin’ in.” Calvin’s gray eyebrows rose. “Things good?”
“Yeah. He’s just checkin’ in.”
Emerald-green eyes so like my own stared back at me. I knew my father was a smart man. He’d heard the rumors, knew what my cousin and I had been up to all these years. If I had to guess, the man probably even knew about my preference for men and women. Not that we’d ever talked about it. My father tended to stay out of my business when it came to shit like that.
“Heard you had ’em both out at the house this afternoon.”
Well, no one said anything was sacred in a small town. I had no idea how word had traveled that fast, but it didn’t surprise me.
“Teachin’ Amy to shoot.”
“Good idea.”
I was tempted to ask him what he’d heard but decided against it. Until I figured out what was going on with Amy, I didn’t want any speculation to cloud his thoughts or anyone else’s.
“All right. I’m meetin’ up with Lynx at Reagan’s. Talk to you later.”
