Page 12 of Gifts

“He’s…” the blonde starts but then pauses for a second, thinking up a lie. “He was delivering something. For my parents. For their business. I think stationery?”

I tip my head. “Stationery?”

“Yeah.” She gives me a little nod. “Or letterhead. I’m not sure which.”

“I gotta go,” Ritchie announces and makes his way down the porch steps to leave. “I’ve got more deliveries.”

“I bet you do,” I agree. “Good to meet you, Ritchie.”

“Ah … yeah,” he mumbles and before I know it, we all hear the growl of his old engine start up and he’s off faster than a blink.

“Asa—” Keelie starts and tries to push against me, but I don’t let her go.

I interrupt, “I hope you girls feel better soon. I’ve gotta say, you don’t look a bit sick. We’ll get out of your hair so you can rest up. I’m sure you’ll be anxious to get back to school on Monday. Everyone loves Mondays, right?”

The girls’ expressions are a mix of relief and confusion, but I ignore them and turn Keelie on the porch, leading her down the steps, and straight to her van.

“But, I need to talk to them,” she hisses under her breath.

“You girls have a good weekend,” I call over my shoulder. They don’t answer, but scoot into the house in record time.

I give her one more squeeze and murmur into the side of her hair, “Time to go.”

When I get to her minivan, I open the door for her. She stands there for a brief moment before letting out a frustrated huff and climbs in. I slam her door and head for my truck. She pulls out of the driveway and passes me where I’m parked at the curb. I fire up my truck and follow.

I have no idea where she’s going, but she’s got to stop sooner or later. We leave the development and I stay on her tail.

We head west about two miles—it only takes us five minutes to arrive at another property. Keelie pulls up the long drive when I see a garage door go up.

Ms. Keelie Lockhart lives here?

There’s no other house in sight, and when I drive around the gravel lane to the front of the old home, it’s a plain mess. The front of the house has been ripped off and there’s construction happening everywhere.

When I open my door, I’m bombarded with farm sounds. Dogs barking mixed with what sounds like goats, and, if I’m not mistaken, maybe a donkey.

I hear Keelie’s car door slam and when I make my way to her, she’s looking to where the animals are making a ruckus and yells, “I’m home. You can hush up now!”

They didn’t listen completely, but the volume drops plenty and the donkey quiets altogether.

She shifts back to me. “What was that about? I left school early to see what was up with those two and you dragged me off. I have a job to do.” Her arms come out low and fall to her sides. “And what were you doing there?”

I look at her, this beautiful tiny woman with the sexiest hair I’ve ever seen, and since I’ve pressed my face into it, I can attest I’ve never felt softer. She’s standing here in her gravel driveway in front of a house that’s torn to bits, and I now know she has the ability to hush dogs and a donkey while standing in a sexy-as-fuck dress and boots. She doesn’t seem to be able to tame goats, but as two medium sized dogs swarm her feet, I stand here surprised and impressed.

I cross my arms. “You live here?”

“Asa.” She bites out my name. “How did you know I was there?”

“Gotta say.” I shake my head. “Never pictured you as a donkey whisperer.”

“Jasmine is old. All you have to do is acknowledge her and she’ll hush up. I’m hardly a donkey whisperer.”

I nod and keep looking around, still finding it hard to see how Keelie fits in here.

“Asa?” she calls for me again.

I look to her from the barn, which seems to be in better shape than the house. “I decided to do a little looking of my own. Told you I’m new to the full-time dad thing, and thought it would be a good idea to at least know where Emma’s friends lived, even if she’s not hanging with them right now. Went by Beth’s first and when I got to Maggie’s, I saw the girls walking up. I guess they were supposed to be sick today, huh?”

She says nothing but narrows her eyes.

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