Page 109 of Hard to Love
Alex and Cal might’ve gotten off to a rough start, but from now on, they were going to get along like beer and chips.
“So, you actually won both the competition and the contract.” Her mouth twisted and she suppressed a chuckle. “Although you probably wouldn’t want to claim his work.”
Greer came striding up, dressed in one of those skimpy little dresses Alex loved so much and her prophecy boots. “Cal, where’s the fire—” She took in everything before her, casting a quick glance at Nic and Maria, balanced on a ladder spraying the hell out of the side of the barn. Then her attention moved on to Delaney and got stuck on the box in her arms. “Delaney, he didn’t…you can’t…”
Delaney turned to Alex. “You have a little something you want to show the crowd?”
This was it. If he pulled out that envelope, there’d be no turning back. Greer’s life would be intertwined with his from now until forever.
He slipped his hand into his shirt pocket and retrieved the envelope he’d tried like hell to smooth out. It looked as if it had taken a spin in the washer.
Greer grabbed his hand, her grip strong, but her fingers were trembling. Good to know she wasn’t completely calm either. “Alex, this is something that can’t be undone.”
“If you don’t want him to have what’s in that box, you’ll have to take it from Delaney,” Cal said, humor clear in his tone. “But I tell you what, she might be knocked up, but she’s still scrappy.”
Greer glanced over at Delaney and began laughing. “This is my choice? Beat up a pregnant woman or step aside?”
Delaney pointed at Greer’s feet. “You already made your choice. This one is totally up to Alex.”
He passed the envelope to Delaney as if it were an invitation required for admission to a secret club.
Her smile was so sunny that every fear still lingering in Alex’s heart dropped away. She knew. She knew this was the way it was supposed to be. “People usually like to have their family around them.” She motioned for Nic andMaria.
Once they joined the circle, Delaney handed the heavy box to Alex. It was simple in design, but the weight of it, the simple gravity of what it held, was beyond description. His hands clenched and unclenched on the sides. “Greer, what do you want me to do?”
He looked up from the box to find a glossy sheen in her eyes. “Stop fighting what you feel and do what you know is right,” she said.
He flung open the lid, and it bounced on the hinges. The paper that women liked to put in presents obscured the good stuff, so he shoved the box into his brother’s hands. “Hold this.”
Then he tore through the paper to find most beautiful leather artwork he’d ever seen. He glanced up at Delaney. “They’re incredible.”
But Delaney wasn’t paying a lick of attention to the scene around her anymore. Instead, she was staring at Maria, completely transfixed. “Oh, my God. I need a piece of paper. Now.”
Her gaze swinging back and forth between Delaney and Maria, Greer said, “Are you saying that you can see…”
Delaney’s head bobbed up in a dazed movement. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.” She grabbed Maria by the arm and herded her toward the barn, with everyone besides Greer and Alex following.
“What was that all about?” he asked Greer.
“With each prophecy bootmaker, there comes a twist in the magic. Pretty sure Delaney just discovered hers.”
“She’s drawing boots for Maria? I thought that only happened when people were babies.”
Greer smiled up at him, her face so bright and happy, it yanked the breath from his chest. “That’s why it’s called atwist. Now, don’t you think it’s time to worry about your own boots?”
Alex lifted the boots from the box as though they were newborns and simply stared at them.
The vamps were a simple chocolate brown stitched with a black toebug.
But the shafts were a completely different story. Each inside panel was a smooth piece of lighter brown calfskin. The front quarters were a deceptively intricate inlay of the sun rising. And the backs showed the same sun ending the day. Delaney was truly a master at her craft, using multiple shades of yellow, orange, and red leather on the sunrise and pieces of blue, pink, and a dusky purple on the sunsets.
He ran a finger along the stitching, perfectly even bumps of thread. Not a rough edge or mistake anywhere.
Looking closer, he spotted a symbol inside each of the suns. One diamond, club, spade, and heart, matching the larger ones on Greer’s boots.
“What do you think?” she asked.
“That Delaney is a genius. And if your dad were here, I would shake his hand, thanking him for two incredible gifts. One, a work of art I don’t deserve. Two, a woman I probably don’t deserve either. But I’m going to take them both and treasure them until the day I’m laid in the ground.” He toed off his old boots and kicked them aside.
