Page 4 of Yours To Hold
Willow helps get Daisy into the bath. My four-legged kid is well trained, getting lathered up and rinsed off without a whine.
“I don’t think the paint is coming off,” Willow says, pouring another cup of water over Daisy’s fur.
Green. She’s tinted green. My poor girl who loves Willow more than she loves me looks like she’s getting moldy.
“Are we going to have to cut her fur off?” Willow asks, looking like she wants to cry. “I didn’t mean to turn her green.”
“I know. We’ll give her another bath tomorrow and she should be fine.”
Drying her off, Willow gives her a kiss before going to get changed.
“You’re my good girl, aren’t you?” Her tongue hangs out of her mouth. “Hopefully you won’t stay green forever.”
The rest of the day goes by without incident. Even though I’m dragging Willow all over town to help my brother, she keeps herself busy with coloring books and reading to Daisy.
I wish it wasn’t like this. I hate that she can’t be outside running around on an early spring day like this one. With my family all just as busy, there’s no one that I can readily rely on to watch her.
By the time we get home, I’m exhausted. Every muscle in my body aches like I just ran a marathon and not worked my regular Saturday. If possible, today was even longer than yesterday. There aren’t enough hours in the day for me to get everything I need done. With things getting busier at the bar, it’s going to mean a lot more days like today, working myself to the bone with not enough time spent with my daughter.
Who is now curling up in my lap, ready to read a book before bed.
“Daddy. Is my dress clean?”
Damn it.
Fucking laundry.
ChapterTwo
IVY
Ihate this town.
After picking up my coffee—at the only coffee shop in town—before my hike, I was stopped no less than three times by the town’s historical romance book club. All the older women in town belong. Since I got home from school in January, they’ve been asking me about my love life.
Okay, maybe hate is a strong word.
But why is the only way I can be successful is if I settle down?
I’m in a huffy mood by the time I meet Gemma at the trailhead.
Her brown hair is tucked away under a winter hat. Winter still has its stranglehold on the weather. Spring is trying to arrive, but nothing.
“What’s got you in a mood?”
I zip up my black down jacket, burrowing farther into it. “Mrs. Reynolds.”
Gemma nods. “Say no more. What was it today?”
“How in the Victorian times I would be considered an old hag because I’m not married.”
“Seriously?”
I nod. “You’re lucky you get your coffee from the ranch.”
“What can I say?” She gives me her brightest smile. “One of the perks of living and working there.”
“Ready to get going?” I loop my arm through hers and take off on the easy walking trail between the town’s main drag and the mountains beyond.
