“I think that’s pretty much been erased from the possibilities. I can’t believe someone killed a tarantula like that, though.”
“Yeah, that’s fucked up. I doubt Bex would have ordered them if she’d known something like that was in it.” Logan reached out and picked it up from where it’d bounced near us to inspect it. “I wonder what it tastes like?”
Taking a step away from him, DB made the sign of the cross with his fingers. “Keep that shit away from me.”
“Hey, Alex, take a picture of me biting into it.”
Not seeing an issue with this, I pulled my phone out while DB pulled his own. “You take the photo, Dad, and I’ll take a video of it.”
With the women still screaming on the trampoline, Logan bit into the spider and started chewing.
Almost immediately, the smug smirk he’d been wearing dropped, and he went slightly paler than he’d been at the beginning.
“What’s it like?” I asked, doing my best not to look down at the remainder of the poor creature in his hand.
“It’s…” he gulped and then immediately gagged. “It’s hairy.”
“That poor bastard should be in the wild or living the life of a king in a terrarium somewhere,” DB sighed. “I’m not big on arachnids—especially not ones that big—but I feel like it’s animal cruelty of a whole new lev—”
Whatever my son was about to say next was cut off by another loud scream from the trampoline at the same time that Logan began spitting out whatever part of the spider he’d been chewing on.
Two months ago, this level of random would have had me hightailing it back to the security of my house.
Now, I was laughing until I hurt, feeling sorry for a tarantula, wondering why people thought up shit like this, and missing a kid that wasn’t my own but who I cared about a great deal.
“We’re totally doing this when he gets back,” I sighed, bumping my shoulder against my son’s as he watched our friend and colleague retch behind the fist he’d pressed tightly against his mouth.
“I miss that kid.”
“We should—” Logan gagged “—totally—” his stomach visibly clenched as he squeezed his eyes shut, making both of us take a step back from him. Then, once he had it under control, he rasped, “We should start training him to join the department early.”
As far as ideas went, that wasn’t a bad one. And judging by the look on my son’s face, he was thinking along the same lines.
Chapter Sixteen
Evie
After everyone left and I’d had a shower to wash the bug debris out of my hair, I lay out on the couch with my thighs resting over Alex’s, spinning the glass of wine he’d brought me between my hands.
“Who comes up with an idea like that? That poor, poor spider.”
“That’s what we were saying while y’all were screaming on the trampoline.” Alex stopped, and then his deep chuckle filled the room. “I’m going to need you to send me that video.”
“I can’t believe Logan tried it. Can you imagine biting into it?”
“Gotta say, we’re not doing that when Bud gets back. While you guys were pulling the mealworms out of your hair, I looked up other things we could try with him.”
“They’re not wild animals who’d be better off dancing around forests or sandy dunes, is it?” I asked warily.
“Not even close.”
Leaning back again, I closed my eyes and thought about the fun we’d had tonight—well, poor dead animals aside.
“You know, we only ever planned to do a couple of videos online and then focus on the business, but now it’s become a way of life for us all. After the divorce, I felt really…” I struggled to find the correct word to describe it.
“Vulnerable? Uncertain?” he suggested, hitting the nail on the head with both of them.
“Exactly. Although I’d basically raised Cody by myself, his dad had always been there in the background. We shared bills, and he had an input—albeit small, and there was at least some security with him being part of the household. I should have ended it years ago, and I regret not doing it, but at the same time, everything happens for a reason, so I can’t dwell on it.”
He nodded understandingly. Alex’s situation with his wife may have been different, but he’d understand what I was saying all the same.
“Being the one in control of everything, starting up a business so I could provide for my son and keep a roof over our heads, running the business, finding a new ‘norm’ for Cody and me… I just wasn’t sure how I’d be able to do it.”
“How long has it been since the divorce?”
“My first emancipation date is May thirteenth—that’s the day I ended the marriage,” I explained at his confused frown.
“Because of different factors, though, the divorce took a little bit longer than normal to go through, but my independence day is December second. So basically, it’s been just over three years since we split, and two and a half since the marriage was dissolved.”