1
Grady Wilde
If I had to guess, I’d say it’s too damn early to be awake right now. My eyes burn and my body feels heavy, but I know without even cracking an eyelid, the sun is pouring in through the blinds. Grumbling and silently cursing the gods for being awake already, I roll onto my side, wanting to bury my face into the pillow and will myself back to sleep. Except when I roll over and swipe an arm across the bed, it’s a tiny body I find instead.
Giggles erupt in the otherwise quiet room. “Morning, Uncle Grady.” The small, cheerful voice comes from right beside my head, sounding way too perky for how early I’m sure it is.
Peeling an eye open, I glance over at my four-year-old niece, her blonde bouncy curls falling over her shoulders messily, chocolate brown eyes staring down at me, with a wide grin aimed at me. She’s wearing her usual Disney princess pajamas—today, it’s an Elsa nightgown—and she’s got a tablet in her lap and her back pressed against my headboard.
“Morning, Suzy Q,” I reply, voice thick and raspy from sleep. “Where’s your mama?”
“Downstairs cleaning.”
“And you aren’t helping her?” I mock, appalled.
“I put my cereal bowl in the dishwasher,” she offers with a shrug.
“What a helpful girl you are.”
“I know.” Suzy giggles. “Can you please take me to the pool today?”
Scrubbing a hand over my face, I sit up, reaching for my phone on the nightstand. “What time is it?”
“I don’t know.”
I groan when the screen lights up and I see it’s barely after eight in the morning. “Child, it’s too damn early to be awake.”
“You’re not supposed to say damn, Uncle Grady.”
With a snort, I toss my legs over the side of the bed and stand up. “Yeah, neither are you.”
“Where are you going?”
“The bathroom and then downstairs to talk to your mom.”
It’s been about three weeks since I left Bishop-Presley University for summer break. About a week before my classes ended for the semester, I called my sister last minute, asking if I could come spend the summer in our hometown, Copper Lake, with her and my niece. The original plan was to stay on campus because going home seemed like too much trouble, but the more that plan set in, the more I realized there is nothing I wanted less than to stay in Colorado, in my dorm room, for the entire summer. Especially because there isn’t a single part of me that wants to return in the fall when classes resume.
Nobody knows that, though. Not even my sister. She probably wouldn’t have let me come stay with her had she known. Hell, the only reason she probably even said yes was because her husband is gone during the summer for the rodeo,and she knew I could help with her daughter. Boone Stanton is a big, famous professional bull rider—emphasis on thebig—and he travels four or five months out of the year for that. Jade, my sister, usually travels with him, so I was surprised to find her home at all.
After washing and drying my hands, I pull open the door to the bathroom and find Mabel, my sister’s chocolate lab puppy, waiting for me. She’s only six or seven months old, and come to think about it, she could be the reason my sister decided to stay home instead of traveling with Boone the way she normally does. I’d imagine it would be a pain in the ass traveling so frequently with a puppy.
“Hi, pretty girl.” Her tail wags at the sound of my voice, and she prances in place like she’s so excited she can’t contain herself. Throwing a quick glance toward the bedroom I’m occupying, I spot the empty bed. Suzy must’ve already gone to find her mom.
Meandering down the stairs, I rake my fingers through my hair, wincing when I snag on a knot. I need to take a shower and take a brush to my hair, but it’s too damn early for that. My sister and Boone’s house is nice, the space open and airy. It was built for them, but it resembles old farm style homes. The bottom of the staircase opens up into the living room, which has a wall of windows that overlooks their spacious backyard. I’m not sure how many acres they live on, but it’s a lot.
White leather furniture fills the large room—which seems like a ballsy color choice to have with a small child and a puppy, but what do I know—with various throw blankets and pillows laid everywhere. An all-black rocking chair that’s only big enough for a child sits beside the couch. If I’m not mistaken, I believe Boone made that himself when Jade was pregnant with Suzy. A small Little Mermaid blanket is thrown over one of the tiny arms to the chair. There’s a fireplace on the wall straightahead, sitting below a huge flat-screen TV mounted on the wall, and on either side of the fireplace are cream-colored wicker baskets; one that holds toys for Suzy, the other with toys for Mabel.
Padding across the space, the hardwood beneath my feet is cold, and I wish I’d slipped some socks on before I came down here. The dining room is on the other side of the wall that the fireplace is on, which leads right to the open-concept kitchen that my sister is currently occupying. She’s standing in front of the sink, the water running as she places dishes into the open dishwasher beside her. Suzy is now sitting at the bar, a bowl of mixed fruit in front of her as she watches whatever cartoon is playing on her tablet. Jade is pretty strict about tablet time during the day. She likes Suzy to play outside and run off some of the energy she carries inside of her, but morning times, I’ve noticed she lets her watch a show or two while they get ready for the day.
“Morning,” I mutter as I grab a glass out of the cabinet and fill it up with water from the door of the fridge. Even though I know this water comes directly from the tap, it’s still superior to sink water. Nobody can convince me otherwise.
Jade glances at me over her shoulder before returning her attention to the dishes again. “You’re up early.”
I snort. “Yeah, ask little miss Suzy Q about that.”
Suzy giggles.
“Got any plans today?” Jade asks.
