Then he strolls from the room like nothing happened. It isn’t until I hear the front door close behind him that I realize he’s won this round.
4
Colton
I look down at my hand, debating if I should run over to Aunt Jenny’s house to see if I might need stitches. She could do it up real quick for me or I could do it myself. I have a feeling Charlotte would not take to kindly to me stitching myself up at the dining room table.
It was a stupid mistake. I should have put my work gloves on before I’d even jumped down into the ditch to begin with but my mind wasn’t fully with me as it should’ve been. It wasn’t until I was knee deep in mud that I realized barbed wire had been wrapped around the calf’s neck. The harder the animal tried to fight free the tighter it got.
When I cut the wire, the calf moved faster than I thought she might—or maybe I wasn’t running at a hundred percent today. That wire went flying, with part of it catching my hand and giving me a good slice. There was no mistaking that it would leave a scar. It wasn’t the scar that bothered me. It was the fact that I wasn’t paying good enough attention. I’ve never been one to be distracted. Charlotte Bloom has me all twisted up. I won’t be able to rest easy until she wears my ring on her finger, takes my last name and has my child in her belly.
“I’ll send someone out to fix the fence tomorrow,” I tell Annie. I’ve rigged it up so it should hold overnight. “When did you get a calf?” I don’t recall her getting one but I’m not shocked. The woman picks up strays. Not any strays, like an easy cat or dog, no, like sheep, pigs, and that damn llama. My eyes drift over to the thing. I tend to be good with animals but that llama is a fucking asshole. I get this fence fixed and somehow it breaks it again. Every damn time. If I didn’t know any better I’d think the thing was doing it on purpose so I’d show up here. It was two weeks ago it broke out and was walking down the middle of the main road blocking traffic both ways. I swear it knew it was walking perfectly in the middle to block both sides of the road. I still have no idea where she got this llama and I’ve looked for its owners with no success. Annie swears it was hanging out in her front yard one day, inside the fence it’s always breaking out of.
“That’s sweet of you, Colton.” Annie reaches up and pats me on the cheek.
“Anytime,” I tell her before heading toward my truck. I knew when Annie called I had to go. She was my kindergarten teacher and pretty much the town’s sweet grandma. After her husband passed away five years ago she started collecting the animals.
“Miss Minnie is going to be heartbroken when she finds out you got a girl out at your place.”
I look over at the llama, who I’m pretty sure is glaring at me. Word does travel fast. Doesn’t help that my girl has called the police station twice since I left the house. I’m sure everyone is getting a kick out of that. Good. They needed something new to talk about.
I also think Miss Minnie the llama and Annie need a collie. “I’m getting you a collie,” I tell Annie as I open my truck door.
“I don’t know how to take care of a dog.” You’d think I said I was bringing over a gator. How is it that the one animal she doesn’t have around here is a dog?
“He’ll keep an eye on that llama.” And her, but I keep that part to myself. If I was none the wiser I’d think I was seeing things, but the llama side-eyes me and spits in my direction. Is every female going to give me a hard time today? It sure as hell feels like it.
I shake my head, pulling off back toward home. I smile, knowing Charlotte is going to be worked up when I get there. I’m going to enjoy every second of calming her back down. I’ve never witnessed someone’s eyes light up with such passion in my life. The sight is breathtaking. Hell, everything about the woman is.
I’ve never understood how a man could fall so hard and fast for someone. I’ve watched a few men chase Delilah around and found it rather amusing. Now, here I am all but breaking the law to keep Charlotte here. I reckon I am about to break the law, but there isn’t anyone that is going to hold me to it.