Page 55 of Totally Opposed

“Want to test that theory?” Alan says under his breath, but still loud enough for me to hear. If Gramps heard him, though, he isn’t letting on. I pick Precious up off the counter and carry her around to the couch.

“I can’t believe you just did that,” he says as I sit on the lounge, and Precious curls up in my lap, nuzzling her head into the crook of my arm.

“She’s sweet, you just have to give her a chance,” I reason.

“Nope, not happening. You stay there, I’ll finish cleaning up. I’ll have to disinfect the kitchen counter now that Satan’s feet have been on it.”

Gramps shakes his head and carries the bowling bag down the hallway.

“I’ll set her litter up in here, but she won’t need it.”

“No problem, Gramps,” Kelly calls, and Alan just stares at her wide-eyed and open-mouthed.

“No problem? It is a big problem. The guys are going to get here soon, and the spawn of Satan is going to either scratch their eyes out or seduce them into submission like with my boyfriend over there,” Alan argues, and Kelly raises her brow, a smile creeping onto her lips.

“So, boyfriend, huh?”

“Shut up and go make sure your windows are closed. He might be confident in its ability to find its way home, but I’m not, and I don’t want to spend my evening searching the city for that thing.”

She laughs but does as he asks.

“Do you think she can tell you hate her?” I ask, and Alan turns to me, shocked.

“I don’t hate Kelly.”

“Not Kelly, you daft fool. Precious. I reckon if you stopped worrying so much about her attacking you, she might stop trying to.”

“Yeah, I’m not so sure that’s it. But you just stay there keepingithappy, and I will take care of everything else.”

“Gramps will be bringing her to the ranch, too, remember. He bought the carrier?”

“What’s this I hear about the ranch?” Gramps asks, walking in. Precious immediately picks her head up and watches himuntil he takes a seat in the cozy chair opposite me. That appears to be her cue to climb off my lap and trade it for his.

“We were just talking about the trip we’ve organized,” I say, and Gramps side-eyes Alan.

“I was thinking about that. You young fellas don’t need an old codger around like me on your trip.”

“Actually,” I say before Alan can respond. “We were hoping while we were there, you would tell us all about how the ranch used to be. You grew up there, didn’t you? I’m sure you have loads of stories about the palace.”

“Yeah, Gramps, you used to tell us stories about the ranch all the time as kids,” Alan adds, and Don settles back into the chair.

“We’ll see. I’m not sure what’s left of the old place now that your brothers have been doin’ it up, though.”

“Oh, they’ve kept it almost the same,” Alan says, pulling out his phone and bringing it over to Gramps. It’s the closest he’s gotten to Precious in the whole time we’ve been here and his excitement to show Don the photos of the ranch overpowering his fear of being attacked. “Look, the main house is exactly like I remember it as a kid. They even got the old banister rails replaced where the ram got in that time. A local wood guy made them by hand just like they were done originally.”

Gramps’s head tilts to the side a little, his eyes getting that far-off look to them as Alan scrolls through the pages. Does he miss the ranch? Has he wanted to go back before now and just never had the chance? It’s his ranch, so it seems odd he wouldn’t just go, but Alan said he hasn’t left his house at all in years. Maybe this is the first step to getting him back there.

“The cabins are new, though,” Alan says, taking his phone back, shoving it into his pocket, and heading back to the kitchen to continue to wipe over the counter for what has to be the third time now. Either he’s a germaphobe and I never noticed, or he’s really worried about how tonight’s going to go.

“So tell me about these new additions?” Gramps asks.

“They had them built in sections already vacant,” Alan begins. “So there are a few smaller ones that only suit a couple or single, but further back there are some great sized family ones, too. They’ve been booking up pretty quickly as well, so it was lucky we wanted the week they blocked out for the pool install. We’ve got the whole place, so you won’t have to deal with strangers.”

“They’re putting in a pool?”

“It’s more like a pond,” I reply.

“And you’ve invited the people you work with?” Gramps asks, patting Precious.

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