Page 28 of 40 and (So Over) Fixing It
As he backed down the driveway, he told himself not to ask. It was bad enough she knew he’d thought Willard was human. He didn’t need to make things worse by asking about a father-in-law.
And yet…
“You said he belongs to your father-in-law?”
Idiot.
But Erin didn’t slap back with a sassy reply. Instead she gestured toward the barn. “My in-laws own Cardinal Farms. Willard just refuses to stay over there.”
In-laws?He cleared his throat.
“My husband worked with his dad on the farm until his death a few years ago,” Erin explained without him having to ask. And really, it made him an asshole that the tension drained from his body at the worddeath,didn’t it? Not that he was happy her husband had died; he wasn’t. He was just glad there wasn’t a husband.
Christ. No, he wasn’t glad. He wasn’t anything when it came to Erin. Whether or not she had a husband wasn’t any of his business, nor was how good she smelled or how mesmerizing her eyes were, especially when the green lit with sparks of temper. He needed to start actually believing that instead of simply repeating it in his head.
As he pulled even with the farmhouse, a small figure darted out into the road. Erin groaned as Carter brought the SUV to a halt.
Thad leaned as far forward as his seat belt would allow him. “Is that a calf?”
“It is.” She unlocked her seat belt. “How do you feel about meeting him?” she asked Thad. “We have to catch him first.”
Thad bounced in his seat. “Let’s go.”
Carter put the SUV in park and gave his son a nod. “Have fun.”
While Thad wrestled himself out of his seat, Erin gave Carter a sly look. “Not joining us?”
Run around the road trying to catch an animal with two more legs and a lot less weight than him? Sounded like a job for a young’un, as they say. “Not on your life.”
ChapterTwelve
Thursday was typically pub night according to JD, though tonight would be cut short due to everyone pitching in to set up for the town’s harvest festival this weekend. JD had assured him it was okay to bring Thad, so this time it was the four of them—JD, Carter, Thad, and Erin—piled into the SUV to head back into town at dusk.
Erin had showered at the house. The scent of her damp hair and the fresh, clean smell of the soap she’d used reached him in the driver’s seat and sent frissons of awareness down his spine, tingling in places he really wanted to ignore, especially with his son in the car. And yet he was also getting used to it. It seemed like that heightened awareness was now a given anytime he and Erin were in the same room. Not like he had to do anything about it.
Keep telling yourself that, man.
The town square was a bustling hive of activity as he pulled the SUV into a parking space in front of the town bakery, Gimme Sugar. The owner, Claire, was dating his friend Lincoln long distance, but Carter and Thad had not gotten around to meeting her yet this trip. From what Linc said, she was a handful—probably exactly what his friend needed. Too many women bowed down to Linc’s looks and his celebrity. From what JD had mentioned to Carter, Claire had no such illusions about their friend, and no qualms about standing up to him when necessary.
“Have you gotten to visit the bakery?” Erin asked Thad in the back seat where the two were unbuckling their seat belts.
“Not yet.”
“Let's stop in. We have a few minutes before we have to meet everyone for dinner.”
“Great idea,” JD said, stepping out of the SUV. “You guys say hi to Claire while I go on over to the Drunken Otter and make sure we have tables saved. Everything’s hopping tonight.”
JD headed toward the square, and Erin and Thad joined Carter on the sidewalk.
“Why is the otter drunk?”
Erin smirked. “Because it’s Irish.”
Carter choked on a laugh. “More like an Irish tradition.” He had no idea if that was true or not, but he didn’t want Thad trying to figure out all night how an otter got drunk.
Thad contemplated that as they headed for the bakery. “To have drunk otters?”
Erin was full-on laughing by now, with no attempt to hide it. When she met his eyes, he mouthed,Thanks.
