Page 53 of My Best Friend's Mardi Gras Wedding

He was still holding her hand and she loved the feel of it.It was big and warm, his skin roughened by working outdoors with his hands every day.She liked that about him.They didn’t do the same kind of work, but clearly Josh wasn’t afraid to get a little dirty and he didn’t buff the calluses off his palms.

She really wanted to feel those hands all over her body.Allover her body.

It had been a really long time since she’d had sex.Areallylong time.But it was how much she wanted to now that was really nagging at her.She didn’t think about sex that much.Now she couldn’t seem to stop.

“Tori?”

She focused on Josh’s face.Oh right.They’d been talking.

“Why would Andrew’s parents think that your farm is weird?”

She wanted to get this talking stuff over with.“Because it’s mostly full of special needs animals.”

He just looked at her.For several long moments.

“About ninety percent of my animals have some kind of issue.Some have a missing leg.Or a toe.One of my cats is paralyzed in her back legs.One cat only has one eye.The milk cow doesn’t give milk.One of my dogs has PTSD.My chicken is mentally ill.They all have…something going on with them.”

He was still just looking at her.

“See?Weird.”

“You have a farm full of special needs animals,” he said.

It wasn’t a question, but she nodded.

“Okay.How did that happen?”

He wanted to know more?“Um…well, technically it started with me refusing to put Frank down when he was born with a cleft palate,” she said.“They didn’t want him, so I took him home with me and fed him with a tube and took care of him until he was old enough to undergo surgery.Then we corrected the cleft as best we could.He still needs some feeding help but he’s one of my best friends.”

Tori winced.See, that was the kind of stuff that had gotten her teased for years.

“And Frank is?”Josh asked.

He was looking at her with…affection.That was unusual.

“An English bulldog,” Tori said.Josh wasn’t looking at her like she was weird.He wasn’t even leaning back.In fact, he might have leaned closer.So she took a deep breath and said, “Okay,officiallythis all started when I was eight and found a baby squirrel that had been knocked out of his nest.I nursed him with a little doll’s bottle and kept him in my bedroom, hidden from my parents, until he was old enough to release.But he’d never really leave.He kept hanging around, and climbing up to my window and stuff.So I’d let him in at night, and I built him a little house outside and fed him for…a while after that.”

“A while?”Josh tipped his head so she would look at him.

She nodded.“About four years.”

He was clearly surprised.“Squirrels live that long?”

“Most live about six years—provided they’ve got food and shelter and predators don’t get to them—though they can live up to twelve.”

“Wow.”

She couldn’t help but smile.If he found that interesting, she had all kinds of crazy facts about animals.“I had a raccoon for three years.”

Josh’s eyes widened.“In yourbedroom?”

“Only for a week.When she was a baby.Until my mom found out.But then I kept her in our barn.”

He finally smiled completely.“What else?How many other animals did you have as pseudo pets?”

“A family of rabbits.Chipmunks.Mice.”

He shook his head.“Wow.”

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