“Want me to come with you?”
She nods, and we go upstairs and get into her bed. Danielle pulls the blankets up over her and turns to me, burying her head against my chest as she cries. I rub her back until she falls asleep. Carefully moving out of bed so I don’t wake her up, I tuck her in and go downstairs.
Carol is in the kitchen, with a bottle of Jack on the counter.
“My father and I didn’t see eye to eye on most things,” she starts, pouring a small amount of whiskey in a glass. “But we both cared about the girls.” She drinks the whiskey. “I’m glad Danielle has you.”
“Yeah. She does have me.”
Carol adds another splash of whiskey to the glass. “I…I need to make funeral arrangements. Will you stay with Danielle?”
“Of course. Do you need anything?” I run my hand through my hair, not sure what I can do to help.
Carol blinks away tears. “No, thank you though.” One of the cats jumps up on the counter, and Carol shoos it away. “Actually, do you know where the cat food is? I think they are hungry?”
I go into the pantry but don’t find any food. “Looks like you’re all out. I can run out and get some.”
“That would be helpful. Thank you.” Carol looks at the cat that’s twisting around her ankles. “I don’t know their names.”
“They’re easy. There’s Black Cat, Orange Cat, and Tabby Cat.”
She smiles and blinks back tears. “That sounds like my dad.”
“And the horses are Sundance, Bailey, and Alibi.”
“Oh my God. I forgot about them. I don’t know anything about horses.”
“We had horses when we were kids. My sister was into showing for a while. I’ll take care of them too.” And the chickens and goats, but I don’t bring them up. Carol seems overwhelmed enough as it is.
“Thank you,” she says again, and this time has a harder time controlling her emotions. I go outside to check on the horses first. Luckily, they were out in the pasture and not in their stalls, and have access to grass, water, and shade. I top off their water trough and give each horse a scoop of grain before heading out to the store.
Quinn calls as I turn onto the road.
“How’s Danielle?” she asks.
“Really sad. She just fell asleep, and I’m leaving to get cat food for her grandpa’s cats.”
“That’s all you need?”
“Yeah. They’re out.”
“Come here. I’m only a few miles away and have more than enough. I can give you enough to last a few days.”
“Thanks. That saves me a trip into town.”
“I’ll see you in a bit then. The front door is unlocked. I just put Emma down for a nap so come on in.”
I end the call and drive to Quinn’s, going in through the front door and silently closing it behind me. I find Quinn in the kitchen.
“Are you making a bomb?” I ask, looking at the computer parts and wires on the table.
Quinn arches an eyebrow. “Yes, Logan. I’m making a bomb.” She shakes her head. She flips something over. “I’m making a robot.”
“For fun?”
“Yeah. Why else do you build robots?”
“You are such a nerd.”
She narrows her eyes. “You won’t be calling me a nerd when this bad boy wins the robot fight.”
“Just hearing you say robot fight makes you an even bigger nerd.”
She puts down a pair of pliers and gets up, going into her pantry to get the cat food. “I feel so bad for Danielle.”
“Me too. It was the last thing we expected. One minute we’re dancing and drinking at the reception, and the next, Weston is calling.”
“How was the wedding and pretending you two were engaged?” Quinn puts several cans of cat food into a cloth grocery bag and hands it to me.
“It was fun, actually. And everyone bought our fake engagement.”
“Really?”
“You sound surprised.”
Quinn wrinkles her nose and picks up one of her million cats, bringing it out of the pantry so she can close the door. “I am. I didn’t think you’d be able to pull it off. I mean…didn’t people wonder when you weren’t being all affectionate?” She puts her hand on her stomach and makes a face.
“You okay, sis?”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“You look like you’re going to puke.”
She holds up her hand. “There’s a good chance I might.”
“Are you pregnant again?”
She pulls her lips over her teeth and nods. “I just found out yesterday. Only Archer knows. We were going to tell everyone tonight, but we’ll wait a few days until after the funeral and everything.”
“You’re serious?”
“Yeah. Emma is going to be a big sister.”
I smile and give Quinn a one-armed hug. “Congrats!”
“Thanks. I feel like this is the worst timing to tell you, but you did ask. Anyway…tell me about Hawaii.” She goes to the fridge and gets out a sparkling water. “How did you convince everyone you were really engaged?”