Fifteen minutes later, about thirty kids were all lined up for the animal scramble. And Madison, of course.
I stood with Jim, Daisy, Austin, and Lillie, leaning against the fence, watching as Madison waved at us like a lunatic. She was right; nobody tried to stop her. They probably thought she was a confused or a deranged fair-goer. When she walked out there with the kids, it was the first time I’d seen a little of the New York attitude from her. She was eyeing every person she passed, ready to pounce if necessary.
A heavy-set man in Wrangler jeans, a plaid shirt, and a cowboy hat headed in with a microphone in hand.
“Hello, all! Welcome to the Sarpy County Fair Animal Scramble! Here are the rules. Every child can get one animal. Remember, this is all in good fun. And let’s give a round of applause to the local farmers and ranchers who have donated these handsome looking critters!”
The crowd cheered and Daisy jumped up and down like a proud grandma on speed. “Go, Grant and Madison!”
The announcer cleared his throat. “Alright, kids, and, uh, Ma’am.” He shrugged his shoulders. “When you hear the gun, it’s on!”
The gun blasted, and the kids went running like a pack of wild dogs. Madison stuck close to Grant, and they were trying to corner a white bunny who was not having it. Madison was pointing and laughing as she encouraged Grant to grab it. After a moment, he swooped in and got his bunny, which was thumping and wiggling like crazy to get loose. Finally, Madison picked Grant up beneath his armpits while he held the bunny and ran like hell to us. She grabbed the white ball of fluff from Grant and threw it at Jim.
“Don’t let that mother trucker get away!”
They were off again. It was clear they were going for a duck, which was waddling off at high speed. Suddenly Madison dove on her stomach, but the duck was just out of reach. She hopped up and started running, but not before those big old jeans dropped to her knees, exposing that sweet ass in some bright blue panties. Wowza! Apparently, that little pink ribbon did not survive the duck dive.
Madison yanked them up just as the whole place went wild. Cheering, whistles, and “Oh yeahs!” were flying. She tied the ribbon into a bow before taking a dramatic bow to more cheering and clapping. I could see those pink cheeks all the way across the arena. Oofta.
I could tell by her sprint that she was done messing around. She ran like hell and grabbed the damn duck by the neck, spun on her heel, and headed toward us.
“Game over!” She yelled as Grant took the dangling duck from her hand and hugged it. Looked like I was the winner of two freaking animals I didn’t want.
We grabbed two crates, got our two new guys in them, and into the back of my truck with Grant.
CHAPTER17
MADISON
We stopped off at the gas station, where Grant and I roamed the three isles.
“Okay, let’s each choose a snack we can have before bedtime. I’ll grab Jax a Snickers bar because I think he’ll love it. What do you like?”
He grabbed a bag of Doritos while I was choosing between a Dove Chocolate bar and Pringles. That’s when I saw it. Further down the aisle were some grocery items and cans of SpaghettiOs that were singing my name. I practically sprinted over and grabbed two cans with Grant hot on my heels.
“SpaghettiOs for a snack?” Grant leaned in. “That’s weird.”
Gasp. “No, that’s awesome! Grant, I love these so much.” I flipped the can over and scanned the nutrition facts I knew by heart at this point. “AND there are 5 grams of protein and only 170 calories. Yeah, these are an amazing, almost healthy snack.”
He shrugged as we headed toward the cash register. An older woman with blue hair, who wore a pissed off expression, was anything but pleasant as we approached.
I piled our items in front of her, happy to know I had the twenty in my pocket that I earned from babysitting stoned Jax. “Hello, how are you?”
“There’s a pack of Hubba Bubba missing.” Her brow popped up.
“Okay?” I wasn’t sure if this was an inventory issue or what.
“It was on the shelf when you walked in.” She narrowed her eyes while staring a hole in my forehead.
“You think I stole your Hubba Bubba?”
“I don’t know. Maybe your kid’s got sticky fingers or something.” She folded her arms across her chest.
I saw Jax approach. Shock and anger were coursing through my veins. “You think this child, who is an angel dropped from heaven, by the way, took a stupid pack of Hubba Bubba?”
“It was here, and now it’s gone. Give it back, or I’ll call the cops.”
Jax leaned against the counter and flashed his best smile at the blue-haired bitch. “Whoa, what’s going on?”
