Chapter 3
LIAM
The office door swings open just as Gizmo goes careening across the wood floor, chasing the tennis ball I found for him, and almost slams into Killian’s leg.
Killian freezes and glances down as Gizmo snags the ball that ricochets off the wall and races back to me, then sits and drops it at my feet. One of Killian’s blond brows rises, and he offers an incredulous look. “You got a dog?”
I scoop up the ball, bounce it a few times. Gizmo watches intently, waiting and prancing on his paws until I fire it across the small space again, letting it bounce off the wall while Gizmo goes charging for it. “No.” I shake my head. “Dog-sitting. It’s a long story.”
And not one I particularly want to get into because big brother will have endless questions about why in the world I would offer to watch the dog of a woman I don’t know at all.
Nudging the door the rest of the way open, Killian walks in and Willow follows, with Niall sleeping in her arms.
Her warm gray gaze lights up even more the moment she sees Gizmo. “Ooh, a puppy!”
I watch him chew on the ball, trying desperately to pull the bright yellow felt off the outside. “I actually don’t know how old he is.”
She rolls her eyes. “All dogs are puppies to me. Age is completely irrelevant.”
Killian offers a snort of laughter at that, and Willow hands the baby off to him, then bends down to say hi to Gizmo.
The dog immediately rolls onto his back for her, offering his stomach for a belly rub.
Willow doesn’t waste a second complying. “Well, aren’t you just the cutest thing ever?” She glances up at me. “Where did he come from?”
I sigh and scrub my hands over my face.
There goes any chance of getting away with simply saying it’s a long story and leaving it at that…
“I almost hit him with my truck last night.”
Willow gapes at me. “You what?”
Killian moves over to his desk, uses his foot to pull the chair back, then sits, cradling Niall against his chest. “Sounds like there’s a story there.”
I shrug, leaning back in my chair until the old thing creaks. “Not really. He darted out in front of the truck as I made the turn around the mountain. It’s a miracle I didn’t hit him.”
My brother’s blue gaze travels to the pup who is enjoying endless attention from his wife. “What was he doing out there?”
I offer another shrug because that’s precisely what I still want to know, but if I express that interest to either of them, they will latch onto Lucky and probe at me even harder than they already do. “Who the hell knows?”
Willow rubs Gizmo’s head as he leans into her touch. “What about his owner?”
Lucky flashes through my mind, that blue hair and matching eyes that assessed me so cooly at the diner when her brief touch somehow offered such a strange warmth. “A woman named Lucky.”
Killian shakes his head. “I don’t know anyone by that name.”
Anywhere else, it might seem odd for someone to automatically assume they’re acquainted with every single person in the community, but it’s not for Killian, Connor, or me.
Mom was the rock of McBride Mountain, and that meant we all stepped into roles as her little helpers, even when we were very young.
Anything anyone needed, we helped provide it or found someone else who could.
We facilitated, and that meant getting to know literally every face and name in and around McBride Mountain.
“She isn’t from around here.”
And she certainly wasn’t in town for the festival like she claimed.
The way she tensed up every time I asked her a question felt all too familiar, and it wasn’t hard to tell she was lying. Elaine saw what was happening from her perch behind the counter, stepping in with her offer to help the woman, even if she was reluctant to take it.
Elaine certainly could use help at the diner for a few days after the festival for any stranglers leftover in town, but she’s been running that place mostly alone for the past two years anyway with only a few part-time waitresses who came in for a shift or two to give her a little breather.
That woman saw Lucky needed money and maybe a place to stay and made sure she couldn’t say no by offering it in the only way she knew Lucky would accept—as a favor to her.
And ultimately, it doesn’t matter why Lucky is staying, just that she is.
Because something tells me she does need somewhere soft and safe to land, and McBride Mountain is exactly that place.
As long as you aren’t me.
“And why isn’t the dog with her now?” Willow scoops him up, snuggling him like he’s her baby rather than the infant in Killian’s arms. “Not that I’m complaining.”
Killian chuckles, pointing to their son. “You know, we have a baby right here.”
She grins at him. “I know, but this one has fur.”
He rolls his eyes and leans forward to search for something on his desk. “So, where is this Lucky?”
“Working at the diner, actually. Elaine needed help, and Lucky was there. And it seemed like she could use the money, so I offered to take him so she could work a shift.”
Willow and Killian share a look, and she sets the dog back on the floor. He immediately snatches the ball again and runs over to me, dropping it near my feet.
The little guy definitely has energy to burn today, and it gives me an excuse not to work for a while.
I toss the ball for him, but instead of following it, my gaze drifts to the maps of the mountain on the wall, drawn over centuries by various McBrides to show what areas have been felled and where we’ve replanted.
Our current project on the far side of the mountain, beyond the gorge, was well-intentioned.
Killian thought destroying all the evidence of what my father did to Willow would help both of us, so he set to work ensuring that cabin where she was held was razed, and now that the trees in that area are all large enough, we can finally log it all again.
Giving the land a fresh start the same way he had hoped to give Willow and me one.
And it seems to be working for her.
Watching the way she lights up around her husband and son—and even this little white dog—demonstrates how resilient she really is.
Nothing happened to me.
Not really.
Yet, there are days it feels like I can’t even breathe.
Willow wanders over to lean on the edge of Killian’s desk, giving me more room to re-throw the ball once I drag my gaze off the map. “That’s very nice of you to offer to help her.”
I shrug again, trying to be nonchalant about it. “It seemed like…”
Her brow furrows. “Like what?”
For a second, I consider how much to tell them.
Of course, if Lucky’s working at the diner, they’ll eventually see and meet her, but that doesn’t mean I have to offer them the little information I do have on her, or the speculations I’ve had since the moment she walked in that door and the bells jingled above her.
But they also see a lot, and if they can help her, they would want to.
“It seemed like…maybe she needed the money and doesn’t have anywhere to go.”
“Oh.” Willow’s face falls, the good mood she had while playing with Gizmo suddenly disappearing as easily as it appeared. “Well, maybe she’ll stick around a while. I know they definitely need a good waitress.”
“For sure.”
Elaine works too hard and should be looking to cut back on her hours rather than taking more on, but she kept insisting she could handle it when Maryann “retired” to stay home with her new grandbaby.
Willow watches Gizmo bring me the ball again. “So, you’re going to drop him off back there later today?”
I nod and throw the toy. Gizmo’s little paws shoot out across the room, and he snags it when it hits the wall and brings it right back.
Killian watches us play fetch for a minute. “He seems well trained.”
“He is a very sweet dog, which is funny”—I release a little laugh—”because Lucky said he generally doesn’t like men.”
With a snort, Killian raises a brow. “Really?”
He hands the baby off to Willow and comes across the office and squats near us. Cautiously, he reaches a hand out toward Gizmo where he sits near my feet, and a low growl sounds in the back of the dog’s throat that I haven’t heard from him before.
I can’t help my grin. “Apparently, he’s a good judge of character.”
Killian offers me a dirty look. “Ha fucking ha.” He’s smart enough to pull his hand back before he gets bitten, and I reach down and scoop up the dog with no problem, settling him into my lap easily. “What does that mean for your work today?”
“I was going to be here anyway, dealing with the load coming in from the other side of the mountain, so”—I shrug, trying to appear unaffected by the project even as that same icy coolness spreads across my skin thinking about it—“it doesn’t really affect my day at all.”
Willow grins at me. “Except you get to sit in here and play with a puppy, which is fun.”
Leave it to her to see the bright side of everything.
After all she’s suffered, her endearing spirit and refusal to allow what my father did to her dictate her future is enough to give anyone hope.
And that’s what I’ve clung to for months.
The fact that she could find happiness and some sort of peace.
Which meant it had to happen for me, too.
Eventually.
Right?
Time sure hasn’t proven that to be true.
But I still force myself to return her grin. “True.”
She waggles her eyebrows. “Speaking of fun…”
The tone in her voice makes my shoulders stiffen. “What?”
“Well, I was hoping you could help me with some shelves, and maybe some seating for the candle shop.”
My gaze cuts over to Killian, who gives me the please do it look.
Considering everything Willow has been through at the hands of my father, there isn’t any way in Hell I would be denying this woman anything—even if Killian wasn’t asking me to help.
I nod. “I can help you out with that. I’ll stop by so you can show me exactly what you’re thinking.”
“Oh, great!” Niall releases a tiny little strangled wail, and she pushes up from the desk chair. “I’m going to head home with him. It’s the witching hour, and he definitely needs a nap in his own crib.”