No Quick Fix (Torus Intercession 1)

I tried not to smile.

“His face swelled up like a balloon.”

I looked down at Winston, and when we stopped at a crosswalk, he looked up at me. “Not too bright, are ya?”

He tipped his head sideways, all innocent.

“Grandma says that Winston does the best he can with what God gave him.”

I snorted.

“Daddy says that Winston was born pretty and that if he was smart and pretty that wouldn’t be fair to the other dogs.”

“No, I expect not,” I said, chuckling as we started walking again.

At the dojo, I had to hold Winston in one hand and fill out Olivia’s application with the other while she talked to all her friends who were there. The man in charge, Sensei Ozumi, was very nice and came out to welcome Olivia to the Ozumi-Tanaka School of Martial Arts.

“Would you like to take classes as well?”

“I’m more a Brazilian Jujitsu and Krav Maga guy,” I explained to the karate master.

He nodded. “You’re in the military?”

“I was.”

“Well, if you’d like to be certified to teach or if you become certified, please let me know. We don’t offer those two styles here and would love to have an instructor.”

“I actually live in Chicago,” I let him know.

“Ah, so you’re just visiting.”

“Yeah.”

His smile was warm. “Well, if you change your mind, please let me know.”

If I changed my mind? About living in Montana? The hell was with everyone in this weird-ass town.

Once we were done and Olivia was carrying her gi home in a bag, she asked if we could stop for ice cream.

“It’s like forty-five degrees out here,” I groused at her. “Are you kidding?”

She shook her head.

“Fine,” I said, yawning, giving up, because who was I to get between a little girl and saturated fat when I knew I’d want some later.

I got a pint for her father and a different one for April, and since Olivia and I both apparently liked double fudge brownie, we got that to share and then headed back.

We passed by the same scene we’d left earlier. The circus was still in town, and everyone waved as we walked by down the street toward home.

“How long does it take to clear everyone out?” I muttered under my breath.

“Everything takes a long time here,” Olivia answered my rhetorical question.

I grunted, and as we approached the house, I saw Emery and April out on the front steps sitting side by side. He was holding her hand, his arm around her as she leaned into him.

“Winston!” April shouted, sitting up straight.

Olivia let go of his leash, and the dog scampered down the street and up to his people.

When we got to the steps, Olivia tumbled into her father’s arms and showed him her gi.

“Brann signed me up, and look, April, we got ice cream, and I got the cookies and cream one you like and the Irish coffee for Daddy.”

“You ran errands?” Emery asked, smiling up at me.

I shrugged. “The dog was a surprise, but I just realized I should have asked you about the karate before I—”

“No,” he stopped me, reaching up to take my hand and squeeze it. “I appreciate it. I was supposed to enroll her a week ago.”

April stood up and bumped into me, arms wrapping quickly around my waist. “Thank you for setting things up so me and Dad could talk to your friend. He was awesome.”

Now both kids were using my word.

I patted her back as I met Emery’s warm gaze. Only then did he let go of my hand.

“He was,” he assured me, his voice soft, caressing. “He was extremely patient, and even though finding out the truth was painful, I think we both feel a lot better knowing everything.”

April nodded into my side.

“Brann saved Mariah and her mom,” Olivia said, leaning back against her father as Winston jumped up into her lap so he had a kid and a dog in his.

Both April and Emery looked up at me.

“It’s not really a thing.”

“That’s not true,” Olivia corrected me. “It was a ginormous thing ’cause Mariah’s mom was bleeding and crying, and so was Mariah when they were hugging him in the street. And Daddy, I wanted to go with him, but he made me stay with Mrs. Whitley until he came out.”

Emery’s eyebrows lifted in question.

“I promise it wasn’t that big a deal.”

“Everyone was clapping.” Olivia added, deflating me completely. Hard to lie with the peanut gallery right there.

“Tell me the truth, Brann,” Emery said hoarsely, “are you a closet superhero?”

“Listen—”

“Because you’ve tackled quite a few things since you’ve arrived, and I’m just wondering if you planned to take a crack at curing the common cold while you’re here as well.”

“It’s not like—”

“And Daddy, all the ladies at the vet thought Brann was super pretty.”

One eyebrow lifted as he gazed up at me. “Is that right?”