Page 4 of Don't Burn Bridges
“Exactly. Seth, do you mind running into town? I have a short list inside of a few other things I forgot to ask you to get.” While her husband was busy making funny faces to entice Ashley to laugh, Paige’s eyes widened as she stared at Seth and cocked her head toward the door. Clearly, whatever she needed had to do with the surprise for tomorrow’s party.
“Uh. Sure.” He hurried up the three steps and opened the screened door for Paige, making sure Sassy, an eight-month-old pit bull/Basset hound mix, didn’t escape. Somehow, Arianna had talked her parents into adopting the goofy-looking dog as a pet, since the ranch’s two working dogs slept in the bunkhouse with the hands. The ranch’s cats lived in the barn and kept the rodent population down, so they never went inside the house.
Sassy had the basic commands down, but she was still a work in progress, and Seth was more than happy to help with her training because she was so darn cute. “Need anything else while I’m out, Shane?”
“I don’t think so, but I’ll text if I do.” He winked at his wife. “Love you, sweetheart.”
“Love you too. Don’t forget that dinner will be ready at five. Remind Tuck. I have my book club tonight.”
“I didn’t forget. We’ll both be on time.”
As Shane descended the steps and grabbed Rufus’s reins, Seth followed Paige through the kitchen and into the family room, as Sassy tried to knock him over. Instead, tripped on her own feet. She was a bit of a low-rider, or in other words, short-legged, but she was still growing.
After making sure his boss was out of hearing distance and the dog wasn’t underfoot, he asked, “Okay, what did you really forget?”
“A box!”
“Huh? Of what?”
“No, an empty box big enough to put the balloons in. The ones from deliveries we got last week already went out with the recycling and were picked up yesterday. So, of course, today is when I realized I need an empty box.”
Okay. Now he understood what she was talking about. She had him purchase a package of balloons, some matching ribbon, and a disposable canister of helium earlier. When Shane opened the box and the balloons floated out, he and Tucker would discover the gender of the baby Paige was carrying. She was just about five months pregnant, and her baby bump had only recently started to show under her loose-fitting shirts. After having two daughters, her husbands would flip when the gender was revealed, in a good way. So would Tuck’s parents and sister.
Like Paige, Shane was an only child, and both sets of parents had passed away years ago. Shane had a few aunts, uncles, and cousins, but they all lived over three hours away, and he rarely saw them, even though he kept in touch with them via phone calls, emails, and social media. Paige didn’t even have that, but after her arrival in Hazard Falls, it didn’t take long before the men and women who worked at the Triple-R accepted her as part of the family.
At first, Seth had been interested in getting Paige into his bed, but after Shane and Tuck squashed that idea, she became like a sister to him. Sometimes, it felt odd since he wasn’t close to his two half-sisters at all. The oldest was ten years younger than him, and he hadn’t seen them in almost twelve years. They lived in Oregon with his father and their mother, who’d disliked Seth from the get-go. The feeling was mutual, and he moved out as soon as he turned eighteen and graduated from high school.
His biological mother had suffered from mental health issues and committed suicide after his father filed for divorce when Seth was seven. Even as a young child, he sensed that her erratic manic/depressive behavior was not normal, but he’d loved her. However, he barely remembered her now, and didn’t even have any photos of her since his wicked step-monster, Stacy, threw everything out when she moved in, refusing to allow anything in the house that had belonged to “that woman.”
As for his father, Seth only spoke to him on birthdays and holidays now, and the conversations were always the same—short, boring, and strained.
Stacy was the complete opposite of Paige, who made sure no one forgot about Arianna’s mom. Pictures of Sarah were mixed in with all the recent family photos, which included Paige, and everyone at the ranch fondly remembered her. Seth often thought the two women would’ve been good friends if they had ever met.
After putting Ashley in her playpen, Paige turned to him. “Just ask Marla or Al if they’ve got a box about this big.” She gestured with her hands, and he estimated the size to be about sixteen squared inches. “And then grab three rolls of Happy Birthday wrapping paper and a big bow.”
Marla and Al Oberman owned both the Stop & Go—a combination grocery and general store—and Al’s Hardware & Gear. The businesses filled a full block on Main Street, with indoor walkways linking the sections so customers could shop it all without ever stepping outside.
“Is that it?”
“No. The Anbesol wasn’t a red herring. We need that too.”
He chuckled. “Okay. Anything else?”
Staring up at the ceiling, she sighed. “Probably, but I can’t think of anything else right now. This pregnancy fog sucks.” She waved him off. “That’s it for now. I’ll text you if I think of anything.”
“No problem.”
Fifteen minutes later, he parked in front of the Stop & Go, surprised and pleased to see a familiar-looking, beat-up red Ford Ranger a few spots down. Maybe he’d get a second chance to hook up with Shylo after all.
He climbed out of the vehicle, strode into the grocery store, and headed straight toward the customer service desk, where he found Marla. Her face lit up when she saw him. “Hey, Seth. How are you?”
“Good, Marla. You?”
“Couldn’t be better. What can I get you?”
“Paige needs a big box for one of Shane’s birthday presents.”
The older woman pointed toward the stockroom at the rear of the store. “Theo just finished restocking, so there should be a bunch of folded ones back there. Take whatever you need.”
