Page 39 of Wrangling the Orc Cowboy

Mom grunted but said nothing.

“We worry about you,” Dad added. “About your future. What happens if things don’t work out? What will you do then?”

“I’ll figure it out. I always do.”

“But why should you have to?” Mom asked. “This reunion is a golden opportunity. You know it is. You could walk away set for life. Start any business you want, launch any dream. The world would be yours.”

“There it is,” I muttered under my breath, glaring at the phone lying on the bed beside me, now partly covered with tissue shreds.

“There what is?” The confusion in Dad's voice was infuriatingly unconvincing.

“Like I said the last time you called, it’s always about the money with you two. Always.”

“How dare you—” Venom crept into Mom's voice, showing me who she truly was inside.

“I've got to go.” I dug the phone out from under the tissue fragments. “Someone's knocking on my door.”

“But—”

I ended the call.

Sighing, I picked up all the tissue bits and stuffed them into the trash.

When I went downstairs, Tark was sitting at a table in the main part of the saloon with his aunt and an elderly lady I hadn't met before across from him.

“Gracie.” He stood so fast at seeing me that his chair shot backward. It would've toppled to the floor if the gray-haired woman hadn't latched onto it and straightened it.

“Excited, Tark?” Her gaze homed in on me as I reached the ground floor and started toward them. Rising, she met up with me, holding out her hand. “Welcome, little lady. I'm Grannie Lil. Technically I'm only Jessi's grandmother, but it has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? I always wanted a big family. You'll call me Grannie too, won't you?”

“Sure.”

She urged me to join them, nudging me down into the seat next to Tark. He'd dropped back into his own and was staring at me, not saying a word.

“Cat got your tongue, Tark?” Grannie Lil cackled, and Aunt Inla joined in, her chest bouncing with her laugh.

I would’ve rushed to his defense, but she looked at him as if she adored him, so I bit my tongue.

“Tark made coffee cake,” Aunt Inla said, waving to the thick slices mounded on a platter in the center of the table.

“It doesn’t have coffee in it,” Tark said with a frown, staring at the cream-colored cake topped with brown sugar and cinnamon. I was going to balloon with all this amazing food, and oh, how fun that would be. “I don’t know why it’s called coffee cake if it doesn’t have coffee. Grannie Lil told me how to make it.”

“It looks wonderful. I can’t wait to try it,” I said.

On the set, they’d watched everything I put into my mouth and chided me all the time for eating. I understood why.The camera always adds at least ten pounds,Mom used to say. And they wanted me to look good on film.

Good, meaning not fat.

I’d let myself go since then, per Mom, but I was me, and I liked my body in every shape and form.

I was so glad those days were finished. Pray I never had to return to them again.

Grannie Lil beamed as she looked from Tark to me before she nudged Inla with her elbow. “Let’s let these two have a nice breakfast alone, shall we?”

“Be nice, Tark,” Inla said sternly, standing. “Don’t fart and don’t monopolize the conversation.” She glanced down at Lil who’d also gotten up and was beaming at Tark.

“Wise advice, Inla. Wise advice.” Grannie Lil took Tark's aunt by the arm. “We’re outta here, Inla. We’ll let Tark practice being sweet and adorable. We’ve got more exciting things to do than watch them.”

He was adorable. It was exciting being with him. No denying that.

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