Page 74 of Beauty and the Bayou

Sawyer didnotlike that idea at all.Tori would have to get down on the banks under the far dock to get near where Gus hung out.Down where there could be cottonmouths and God knew what else.Just as he’d told Juliet the first day.In the dark it would be even more dangerous.She’d need to watch where she stepped, and it could be hard to judge the water depth even in the light.Tori, while definitely more of a tomboy than Juliet, was not a bayou girl.She’d grown up on a farm in Iowa.She was no expert around the murky waters of the swamp.

But he forced himself to breathe in and out and swallow his protests.He became aware that his finger was curled tightly around Juliet’s, but she wasn’t trying to get free or asking him to loosen his hold.In fact, when he did start to relax, she trapped his finger with hers, squeezing.

“We can build a whole enclosure thing for him.Even get one of those little plastic swimming pools for him,” Owen said.“We’ll put it behind Leo’s trailer.No one will think anything’s goin’ on over there.The damned thing looks abandoned anyway.”

Sawyer couldn’t disagree.Their grandpa had moved out of the house he’d shared with Ellie into a double-wide about a hundred yards away when they’d split up.He didn’t bother with things like painting it or fixing the roof, claiming that it felt a lot like camping and he loved being able to look up at the stars through his living room roof.The truth—that was suspected by everyone including his ex-wife—was that he didn’t fix the place up because it meant he got to sleep at Ellie’s when it got stormy.Initially, he’d slept on the couch.Now, everyone was pretty sure he was back in the bedroom.And not just when it was raining.But no one asked specifically because Ellie and Leo were both more than willing to share far more information than anyone in the family really needed or wanted to have.

“Hell, we can set the eagle and wolves up in the trailer, too,” Josh said.“Make it into a mini preserve.No one will go looking and it will give Leo a great excuse to stay with Ellie.”

That got a grin out of Tori.“Why don’t they just tell us they’re back together?”

“And be boring and traditional?”Owen asked with a laugh.“Just not their style.”

Sawyer didn’t laugh with them.Instead, he was biting back words.Lots of words.Words about how making Leo’s old trailer into a wildlife preserve for potentially dangerous and mostly endangered animals—that could get them fined or arrested or both if discovered—was a terrible idea.Words about how if the cops showed up to arrest Tori, he knew Leo would tell them it was his trailer and the animals were all his and he’d go to jail for it and how ridiculous that was.Words about how Sawyer knew the Boys of the Bayou would pay whatever fines there were but how stupid that would be when they really could use the money for so many other things.But he didn’t.Gus was important to Tori.And hell, Gus shouldn’t suffer because Maddie had tried to defend Josh.Sure, she should have thought it through and not overreacted, but that was how Maddie did things…passionately.And Sawyer wouldn’t change that about her, even if it did—and always would—make his life a little more chaotic.

Tori shouldn’t have an eagle and a wolf secretly under her care, either, but Tori’s heart for animals was one of the things they all loved most about her.

He wouldn’t change either of these women.He didn’t want either of them to be more “careful” if that meant being less of who they were.So that meant dealing with the consequences of the things they did and said.Bandaging it all up later.

They were going to move a wolf, an otter, and a bald eagle into their grandfather’s trailer, risking snake bites, jail time for Leo, and debt and bad news coverage for the business.And Sawyer wasn’t going to say one damned word.

He focused on Juliet’s finger.Then thought of all the other places he’d like to have her fingers.Then shifted, slid all of his fingers between hers, linking their hands together, and said, “Okay, so Juliet and I are going to go work on the dock.”

He started for the door.

There was total silence other than the sound of Juliet’s boots on the wood floor as she tripped along behind him, clearly as surprised as the rest of them.

“You are?”Owen finally said.“That’s it?”

Sawyer stopped and looked down at Juliet.She was watching him with surprise and satisfaction.That was all he needed to see to know he’d made the right call.He looked up at his family.“Yeah, that’s it.”

“You don’t want to talk us out of this?”Maddie asked.

“I…” He took a deep breath.“Of course I do,” he told them honestly.“But I’m not going to.”

“You’re not?”Tori looked stunned.“You’re not even going to run down all the things we should be sure to think about and plan out?”

He gave her a sincere smile.She was expecting a bunch of What-Ifs.She and Maddie and Josh and Owen—and hell, Leo and Ellie and everyone else—might sometimes make his life a little more adrenaline filled than he’d like, but he would do anything for any of them.Tori and Maddie had come into their lives more recently and brought a hell of a lot more good than bad.

“Let me know if you need a bandage for any bloody knees,” he said.Of course, that was totally for Juliet’s sake.And he was rewarded with a squeeze to his hand.

“Um…okay,” Tori said slowly.

“And call me if you need help building anything at Leo’s or carrying stuff over there,” he said.“Or bail money.Or an alibi.Or…anything.”

Tori gave him a big smile, her eyes bright, almost as if they were watery.“I will.”

He gave her a little nod and then headed out the door with Juliet in tow.

7

They madeit a few steps up the wooden planks that led to the sidewalk when Juliet pulled him to a stop.“Hey.”

He turned to face her but didn’t let go of her hand.

“That was great,” she told him with a big smile.“You did good.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

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