Page 39 of Down in Flames

A tiny pot-bellied stove sat in one corner of the room, and beside it was a brand-new dog bed and two dishes filled with water and puppy chow. They were the only things in the office that weren’t worn out and broken.

West chuckled.

“What?” Derek asked defensively as he crouched and settled the puppy on her cushion.

“Nothing.” He coughed into his fist. “It’s just surprising sometimes how good you are with little creatures. James’ and Susan’s kids would hang all over you if you let them. But you never do.”

“They’re a nuisance,” Derek muttered, avoiding his eyes.

“Yeah, well, you’re going to have to put up with them next Sunday because the rails for Dad’s shower have come in and James wants to help.”

“I can do it by myself.”

“And let you hold it over our heads for the rest of our lives? I don’t think so.”

“Then he can damn well get a babysitter. I already did my part raising you all. I don’t need his brats running around with a hacksaw.”

“It’s okay to love them,” West said through his teeth, barely hanging onto his patience. “It doesn’t make you any less of a tough guy. Who knows? You might even make a great father someday.”

An ugly expression crossed Derek’s face, and he shot to his feet so fast the puppy startled in her bed. Cutting West a vicious look, he stormed out of the office. The door slammed so hard that dust sifted down from between the wooden ceiling planks. The puppy sneezed, and somewhere out in the yard the low whine of a machine started up.

“Shit,” West said, scrubbing at his face. He crouched down beside Patches and tousled her floppy ears. “I almost regret leaving you here. But I think he might need you even more than you need him.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“—so then Noah told me they had two hearts, but I didn’t believe him. So, we looked it up in the library, and they don’t. But did you know that humans can be born with snake hearts?”

“Eh?” West draped one wrist over the top of the steering wheel and stretched out an arm across the passenger seat, waiting for the most pointless light in Sweetwater to turn green. Most locals ran it, but traffic always picked up a little once school was out, and West wasn’t taking any chances with Michael’s little girl riding shotgun.

He didn’t think he’d ever forget the joy on Abby’s face when she’d spotted him idling in front of the school after the bell rang. Right then and there, he vowed that he’d always be there when she needed him, no matter what happened between him and her father. He knew she considered him one of her best friends, and she didn’t have many of those. She was too different. The other children didn’t know what to make of her, and they kept their distance. He knew how that felt. Kids had been the same way when he was in and out of school with every sniffle.

Abby dangled one hand out the open window, catching the crisp breeze between her fingers as she chattered. She was all sweetness and sass, with those freckles and a messy braid that always stuck out around her face like a straw halo. Just looking at her tightened his throat up a little, and he thought of his brother. He wondered how hard a man had to let himself become to look at such joyful, tiny little people and only see a nuisance.

“It’s called atavism!”

“What is?”

She rolled her eyes. “Are you even listening? The man who was born with the snake heart. He was almost sixty years old before they discovered it! A reptilian circulation system, and it worked just fine nearly his whole life!”

West laughed and rubbed at his sternum. “Lucky him.”

“I figure if something like that can happen, then Sir Hiss can regrow a tail.” She patted the plastic tote on her lap where the gopher snake coiled.

“That’s a good name.”

“Daddy picked it out.” She beamed at him. “He was in such a good mood this morning that he didn’t even mind keeping Sir Hiss next to him on the seat when we stopped for hot chocolate!”

“Oh, was he?” West asked, biting back a grin and turning into the parking lot behind the veterinary clinic.

He didn’t think it was ego to assume he’d been the one to put Michael in such a good mood, but it was still hard to wrap his head around. It made him feel powerful. Maybe gods could make the sun rise and set and call up storms at sea, but he could make Michael Whittaker happy, and what could be better than that?

He remembered the flash of Michael’s smile in the dark, and how rough his hands had been on his bare skin. Sense memory had been tugging at him all day, leaving him aching and restless. He’d pulled his cell phone out of his pocket a dozen times, anxious just to hear his voice, but he’d always tucked it away before making a complete fool of himself.

Michael was full of surprises, but he was still a fiercely independent man who’d been living on his own for a long time. He didn’t need West holding on too tightly.

“He said you’re dating him now. Like how Cal and Eli do, or Tucker and Nate. Kissing and stuff.” She said it casually, but West noticed the way she began to fidget with her seatbelt.

Oh, shit. West cut the engine and braced both hands on the steering wheel, breathing deep through his nose and letting it out through his mouth. Michael could have at least called to give him some warning. He could take no chances with a conversation like this.

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