Chapter Seven
Hunter
“Wake up, buddy. Let’s eat our breakfast.” I shook Vince’s leg, inviting him to join me in my early meal. He stretched and yawned, his tummy sticking out of his shirt. He seemed to have outgrown his clothes.
He sat up while rubbing his eyes. I picked up him and kissed his cheek. “Good morning, buddy.”
He wrapped his arms around my neck, resting his head on my chest. “Did the cops find anything last night at Miss Kylie’s house?”
“No, buddy.” I pressed my cheek to his forehead and carried him to the living room.
Despite the craziness of the night before, we’d had a blast together. The dark circles under my eyes were proof of our fun movie marathon. We stayed up until the wee hours of the morning with Vince falling asleep on the couch as we watched his favorite cartoon movies.
He lifted his head up and sniffed. “I’m hungry, Daddy. What are we having for breakfast?”
“I’ve made a pile of blueberry pancakes, and of course your favorite too.”
“Bacon?” He untangled his hold on me and pushed at my chest, forcing me to put him down. He grinned and took off toward the kitchen.
I walked in lazily to find him sitting in his favorite chair at the dining room table, swinging his feet merrily as he waited. I made it quickly and fixed myself on too before sitting down in front of him.
“You like it?” I picked up a piece of bacon and took a bite as he tore into his food. The little guy wasn’t going to be little if he kept eating so much, and so fast
“Love it. You’re a great cooker, Dad.” He licked his fingers and smiled, his innocence drawing me in deep.
I ate my meal, hungered by last night’s tiring fun. I almost finished my plate when Vince spoke, asking about yesterday’s incident.
“Dad, what happened yesterday? Why were there police officers at Miss Kylie’s house anyway? What were they looking for? Clues?” He took another bite of his food and watched me with wonderment.
I wasn’t sure what to tell him, but the truth seemed like the best answer. He was too smart as it were. He’d figure that shit out on his own without me. “Bad guys broke into her house yesterday, Vince.”
He looked at me with a worried look, putting the fork down on his plate. “Dad, are bad guys around here? Near our house? Will they come here too?” His eyes widened as he shrunk back in his chair.
“No, buddy. Those bad guys won’t take a good boy like you. In case they come, I’ll wrestle them down and punish them hard. Nothing to worry about with your dad right here, okay?” I patted his hand and made sure he was okay.
A smile replaced the skeptical look on his face, the little tike probably grateful to hear that he had protection he could count on. He took his fork and continued eating, speeding his pace up so he could help me clean around the house.
Right after we finished the household chores, Vince and I prepped to go to the gun shop. It would be hard since Garren was out of town for the weekend, but we could handle it. I’d manned the shop a million times by myself over the years. After securing the lock, we left the house and drove off in the direction of the gun shop. I couldn’t help but glance back, not sure if I’d find Kylie’s car there or not.
Nope. Good. She didn’t need to be alone for a few days. My stomach tightened at the thought of her coming to stay with us. She wouldn’t, but I sure as fuck wished she would. So beautiful. Perfect.
I forced myself to focus on the road and made small talk with Vince as we drove the rest of the way up to the shop. He held my hand as we walked into the shop, and a big smile spread across his face as the bell above the door jingled.
“I like this place.” He gave me a curt nod and took his backpack with some books, crayons, toys, and snacks in it and walked away. He sat on the desk as he watched me clean up, right before customers started pouring in. Weekends were always crazy.
“Are you okay there, buddy?” I asked every now and then, making sure that Vince was occupied until the end of the shop hours.
“Yeah, Daddy. I’m coloring this book until the last page today!” he exclaimed, excited to finish the book off. He was humming happily as he kept himself busy, behaving well while se
ated at my desk as I continued to work.
As customers went in and out of the shop, I thought of Kylie. She said she would come today and buy a gun. The thought of seeing her left my pulse spiking. What was it about the woman? Had to be her unassuming attitude. Or maybe the fact that she was the only woman in town who didn’t throw herself at me.
It left me wanting to test the theory that she was pure, untouched. How beautiful would it be to have her open herself up to me? To trust me with her body. With her heart.
I served customers until I could not count, yet there was still no trace of her. Did she forget? Had she changed her mind? Why was I even thinking about her? I should focus on the work in front of me, not on her. It was a busy day, and getting sidetracked was doing nothing but slowing me down.
Just when the sun was about to set, I spotted Kylie coming in. Unexplainable relief flowed in my veins, and my heart skipped a beat. It was a little disturbing. How long had I wanted to get to know this woman, my neighbor?