Who would pay twenty thousand dollars for a dog? Obviously a man who wouldn’t know a good deal when it bit him on the butt.
Willa looked at the dog hopefully. “Would you bite him on the butt if I asked you to?”#p#分页标题#e#
Chapter 18
Travis Russell was a rugged man and nothing like his half-sister and brother. He was always polite and respectful and handled the children sternly yet fairly. Over the last month and a half, the younger girls had already fallen in love with him, and even Leanne and Charlie, though slower to accept him, were growing more comfortable in his presence. Charlie was especially excited when he found out his uncle was an adept video game player. They spent thirty minutes a day playing before Travis would grab the football he had bought Charlie and take him and the rest of the kids to the park. She would remain behind, giving them their alone time.
Each day, she felt them growing farther away from her as they began looking for their uncle when they woke up. Willa had, after the second day he had visited, invited him to stay at her house. He learned their schedules, and the last two mornings, she had awoken to find breakfast cooked and Caroline and Chrissy eating their oatmeal and toast.
Since he was at her house, Flora had gained permission for Sissy to return until their departure in two weeks. The girl wasn’t happy about it, but her attitude was checked by Travis, who would tell her to go to her room and then deny her the use of her electronics. The first time, she had smarted off to him, and he had given her a warning, telling her ladies her age should know how to behave. The second time, Sissy had smarted off to Willa, and he had picked her phone up, which had been sitting next to her at the kitchen table, and tossed it into the garbage disposal. Sissy’s mouth had fallen open, but she had been polite since, at least in front of Travis.
Willa pushed the buggy down the grocery aisle, looking sideways at the lean cowboy walking next to her, pushing the grocery cart that resembled a fire truck. The girls were buckled in, taking turns tugging on the rope to ring the plastic bell. Leanne and Charlie had remained at home after returning from having lunch with their uncle.
With Travis’s help with the children, it didn’t take long before they were checked out and rolling the carts filled with groceries to her van.
Willa turned her head when she recognized a truck that had pulled in and parked a few spaces from her.
Shade, Lucky, and Lily got out. There was no way to avoid them. It wouldn’t have bothered her not speaking to Lucky, but she couldn’t bring herself to be rude to Lily and Shade.
“Hi, Lily, Shade.”
“Hi, Willa,” Lily responded while Shade gave her a nod.
“Willa.”
“Lucky,” she returned his greeting without looking at him.
The three didn’t move on, and Willa was forced to introduce Travis.
Lily’s eyes didn’t budge from the tall Texan, who was wearing faded jeans, scuffed boots, a T-shirt, and a cowboy hat.
“Where are you from?”
“Tyler, Texas, ma’am.”
Lily’s eyes widened.
“He owns a ranch where the children will be moving with him in a couple of weeks. He’s staying with me and the children until they leave,” Willa explained.
“In your house?”
Lucky’s sharp question had Travis raising a brow in his direction.
“Yes. That way, he can get to know the kids better, and it won’t be as traumatic when they leave.” Willa was angry at herself for caring that he might get the wrong impression of Travis staying with her.
“Do you have horses?” Lily asked, breaking the tense silence.
“Wouldn’t be called a ranch if I didn’t.”
“We need to hurry, Lily. We don’t want to leave John alone for long with Raci babysitting.”#p#分页标题#e#
“It was nice—” Lily was tugged away before she could finish her sentence.
Willa started to push the buggy forward, but was blocked by Lucky.
“If you need any help packing their things, I could come by.”
“No, thanks. Travis and I have it under control.” Willa shoved the buggy forward, leaving Lucky to decide whether to get run over or move. Wisely, he moved out of the way, walking into the store.
Travis helped her buckle the girls into their car seats then load the groceries into the van before opening the passenger door for her then getting in on the driver’s side. As he pulled out of the parking lot, Willa saw Lucky staring out the window of the grocery store.
“He an old boyfriend?”
“No,” Willa choked out.
“Want me to go back and punch him for you?”
Willa had to think about it for a minute then decided the good, Christian girl couldn’t see Lucky get hurt.