Page 170 of Patching Over

“No new table,” Brick states, his voice now hard. “That was made by the original President, and we’ve been using it all this time. It’s held through the test of time, it’ll hold some more.”

“Works for me,” Hawg says. “We were thinking, since we have all this land and the Cedar Creek brothers are gonna be here for an undetermined time, about getting in some mobile homes, and even some of those tiny homes, so that those with families have their privacy. The single brothers can bunk at the clubhouse, of course.”

“I like that idea, Hawg,” Kracken interjects. “Do you have any links for those yet?”

“Got a few marked and once Brick gives the go-ahead, I’ll send the links to you, along with a note letting you know which ones we’ll be getting,” Hawg replies.

“Thanks, Brother,” Kracken says.

“Anything else we need to discuss?” Brick questions.

A chorus of ‘nays’ come through the speaker, Kracken adding his like he did earlier.

“Church dismissed,” Brick booms out. “Kracken, you and Moira enjoy yourselves. We’ll let you know when it’s safe to head home.”

“Appreciate it, Pres,” Kracken replies. He then disconnects from the call and tosses his phone onto the coffee table, beforestanding and striding toward me. “How do you feel about us going into town and exploring a bit?”

My eyes light up at the thought of being with him. “I’d like that, just need to put my shoes on. Are we taking the bike?” I ask, hoping beyond hope that he says yes.

“This has been such a great day,” I mumble, while chewing on a turkey leg.

When we got into town, riding his bike no less, we found out that there was a community festival going on, with tons of street vendors, as well as food trucks. After Kracken found I had never eaten a turkey leg, he immediately got me one. Well, after we traipsed through every single tent that was there. They even had a bigger tent with animals that could be adopted, something we were heading toward now.

He grins down at me then gently wipes at the juice that’s running down my chin. “Got it,” he murmurs. “Let’s go see if we can find a furry kid for you, baby.”

I can’t help squealing. I’veneverhad a pet in my life, because my father hated animals in the house, but Kracken is willing to get me one!

“Is it okay if we get one while we’re here? The owner of the cabin won’t mind?” I ask.

“Naw, babe, he’s not gonna care at all,” he states.

“Wait, how will we get back to the cabin on the bike with an animal?” I question.

“We’ll talk to them about that, figure something out, Moira,” he patiently replies. I’m so excited right now, I’m practically bouncing alongside him, which makes him chuckle.

He’s already made several trips back to the bike and the saddlebags are loaded up with little trinkets I found. Some of them are for me, a few are for Selah and Belle, but the ones I love the most are the tiny, bejeweled tiaras I found for Hannah and her sisters. I wasn’t happy that Kracken wouldn’t let me pay for anything, but he said that he wanted to, that I was his ol’ lady and that was part of him taking care of me. Since he seemed so adamant about it, I decided I’d let him do whatever he needed to do.

I drop his hand, which I’ve been holding since I tossed the demolished turkey leg, and rush into the tent holding all the animals there to be adopted. Full-grown dogs and tiny puppies bark and yip, the sounds a cacophony of noise that’s slightly headache inducing. Ignoring them, I go over to the crates that are holding the cats.

“Oh, look at all the pretty babies,” I murmur, hitting my knees. While many of the cats and kittens seem to be ignoring me, I watch as two little black kittens climb over the others, meowing as loud as they can, until they get to the bars.

Tiny paws come through, patting at my hands, and I giggle when I feel their little tongues licking my fingers. “It feels like sandpaper,” I say, looking up at Kracken, who’s grinning down at me.

“Reckon so,” he replies. “Looks like these two chose you, babe. Want to go see those people about a few kittens?”

“Both of them?” I ask incredulously. “Really?” I can feel tears welling in my eyes.

“They look like they’re bonded or whatever that shit’s called,” he says. “Besides, we have the cat tree to end all cat trees already at the clubhouse for the other three that live there.”

I remember seeing Ryleigh’s two cats, Calvin and Hobbes, and Rory’s cat, Sassy. “You don’t think they’d hurt these two, do you?” she asks.

“No, babe, they won’t,” he promises. “We’ll figure it out, roisin, I promise.”

“Okay,” I reply, taking the hand he offers so I can stand back up. “Let’s go see some people about some cats.”

CHAPTER

SIXTEEN

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