Page 42 of Toxic

I blinked at her. “Oh…” I gave them all a weak grin. “Sheep, goats, cows, horses, llamas…” They were all staring at me in shock. “Puppies and kittens,” I added, feeling lame.

“And more, I’m sure,” Dani tacked on. “You guys know Billie owns a cattle ranch. That’s where Toxic and Butcher have been each day helping.”

“Thanks for keeping Butcher out of my hair,” Isla said with a grin. She was cleaning her fingernails with a knife.

“Thanks for…letting me borrow him,” I said, rocking the baby and staring at her blade. I had one in my pocket, too. It was stupid to go anywhere on a farm or ranch without a knife. But she was handling hers so…casually. Not to mention she had that same dangerous vibe around her that the guys did.

Something tugged on my t-shirt and I looked down into four hopeful faces. “Did you say horses?” One of the girls asked, a glint in her eyes.

A crunching sound interrupted my answer and I stared in horror as one of the younger girls finished one of the carrots she’d pilfered from my pocket. They were baby carrots, andclean, mostly. There’d probably only been a few specks of dirt on it from whatever was inside my pocket at the time. How had I not felt her take that carrot?

Jenny groaned. “Priest is going to kill me. He’s been waiting until you or Toxic give an official invite to bring the girls out. They love animals,” she said. “These are my four little hellions,” she said, affection coloring every word.

“Hell-” I broke off when one of the girls tugged on my shirt again.

“Can I ride your horses?”

“Sure,” I replied, eyeing Jenny. It was hard to want to agree that a child could do something without knowing if the parent would agree or not. “As long as it’s okay with your mom,” I tacked on.

A chorus of ‘please’ filled the room and I laughed along with the others at the girls’ antics. That was when I relaxed. It was impossible not to around these women. They were so open and welcoming.

“Come sit down,” Kit said and everyone moved over to the table and chair area. “We have a few more old ladies who live here too, they’re going to be bummed they missed meeting you.”

“Next time, though,” Seek said, “you’ll get to meet them.”

I wasn’t sure there was going to be a next time, but their excitement was infectious so I agreed. When the baby in my arms started fussing, I handed her back to Dani, though I would have happily held onto her forever. There was just something about rocking a baby that warmed you.

We sat there, chatting, with me checking in on Gramps occasionally. He was happy sitting at the bar talking with Scarlett and Sylvia and the kids, though. They asked me a million questions about my ranch.

“You’re welcome to come out anytime,” I told them enthusiastically. “There’s so many animals for the kids to play with and pet. They’ll love it.”

Seek snorted out a laugh. “Are you kidding?We’lllove it!”

I looked around and gave a hesitant smile. “Toxic mentioned someone here has a pet bobcat…”

“Oh, that’s me!” Isla said, raising her hand. “Do you want to meet her?”

I gave her the same look the barn cats gave me when I fed them treats. That big eyed, yes please, I’ll do anything for you, kind of look. “So badly!”

She laughed. “I’ll go get her. Seek, are the boys put away?”

“Yeah, they’re up in my apartment pouting,” she said with a laugh. “I didn’t want to make anyone nervous by having them down here with new people. Not everyone is a dog person…apparently.” She said the last word like it was an inconceivable—and unacceptable—thought.

“I love all animals,” I told her with a laugh as Isla got up from the table. “I have a cattle dog. She’s a blast.”

“Oh I can’t wait to meet her,” Seek said. “Mine are Belgian Malinois.”

“Maligators!” I replied happily. “Such awesome dogs.”

“Malinois and cattle dogs are very similar,” Seek told the others with a laugh.

“How?” Kit asked. “They’re like, totally opposite. One’s big, one’s like…medium sized. One is tall and sleek, the other short and squat.” She held up both her hands as she listed things off.

“They both have the crazy gene,” I told her.

Seek pointed at me. “Exactly. They’re both a little nuts. And high energy working dogs.”

Everyone laughed at that.

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