Freakin’ crazy town.
Josh shoved the door open and sucked in a deep, calming breath. The woodsy, clean scent was something he’d never get tired of.
Town Hall couldn’t be too far away, so he left his truck where it was and made his way out to Main Street.
He turned the corner and nearly tripped over a kid who sat on the raised wooden sidewalk beside a golden retriever twice the little boy’s size. His head was bent over one of the dog’s big paws.
Josh kneeled down beside them. When the dog whimpered, he reached out and gave it a pat. “Everything okay?”
The kid shook his head. “Wilbur got a splinter from the wood.”
“Ah.” Josh reached to his belt for the more innocuous Leather-man tool, which he’d decided to carry instead of his throwing knife. Growing up, he’d spent most of his free time with the animals at the ranch and hated to see one in pain. “Mind if I take a look?”
The boy’s brow furrowed with confliction. “You’re that guy I saw at the diner last night, right?” The boy’s grip grew tighter on his dog. “Uncle Zeke said you’re trying to take Haley away. We aren’t supposed to talk to you.”
It was like a broken record.
Josh went to work on the dog’s paw. “I was at the diner last night, but I’m not trying to take Haley away. I just want to meet her.” He held up the three-inch splinter. “That had to hurt.”
“Yeah, ummm, I . . . better go.” The boy and his dog scurried off down the street, avoiding the wooden sidewalk this time. The kid looked over his shoulder one last time, as if frightened Josh would follow behind.
Great. His status as a child snatcher had all the little kids in town running scared too? He needed to find a little old lady to help across the street to save his reputation.
With none in sight, he checked out the town that surrounded a large park. In the middle of the grass stood a big whitewashed bandstand, like he’d seen in the movies as a kid. He’d naïvely imagined he’d end up in a town just like this once he got adopted. What an idiot. He soon found out older kids rarely got adopted and, if so, didn’t end up in places like this.
Anderson Butte was so Disneyland clean and tidy it seemed fake, like a movie set. He was tempted to go around the back to see if it was all a façade.
Colorful wildflowers everywhere offset the vivid green of the grass and the surrounding gigantic trees. The buildings were a mix of old and new, but somehow they all blended to form a welcoming, peaceful, postcard-worthy sight.
Yeah. He could totally see himself finally living in a town like Anderson Butte.
Families and couples, clearly on vacation, slowly meandered up and down the street perusing the shops. The town had everything a body could want. Besides a few little touristy specialty stores, there was the diner, a place to get your hair cut, a little drugstore, the post office, a T-shirt shop, a water sports shop, a mini-market, and a toy store with matching colorful wooden soldiers as tall as he was, standing guard out front.
He’d never been inside a toy store. He’d never had toys of his own growing up at the ranch. Had he been free to, he would have liked to shop at places like this for Haley’s birthdays and the Christmases he’d missed. Hopefully he’d be able to make up for those lost years by spending enough time with her to let her see how much he cared. But right now, he was nothing more than a stranger to his own daughter.
Maybe he should get something for Haley to soften the blow when they finally met. But what? He pulled out his phone and was just about to Google the most popular toys for two-year-olds, but stopped. The shopkeepers probably knew Haley.
He threw his empty water bottle into a green recycling can, pulled the door open, and entered the cluttered little shop. It overflowed with stuffed animals, games, dolls, trucks, and things Josh couldn’t identify. A tiny woman, maybe in her late twenties, stood behind the counter and lifted her chin slightly in greeting while she helped a familiar-looking blond man with a couple of kids standing next to him. Josh headed toward the counter as the man tucked his wallet into his back pocket and then spun around.
Another movie star? What were the chances?
The guy smiled at him and hustled his boys out the door.
Josh shook his head, then moved to the counter. “Brad Pitt, huh? And I could have sworn I saw Ashton Kutcher yesterday.”
The lady, petite, brunette, and so fragile-looking she reminded Josh of a fairy, blinked her eyes. “You must be mistaken, sir. Why would people like that visit here?” She even had a squeaky little Tinker Bell voice.
He threw his thumb over his shoulder. “That man who was just here with his two kids . . .”