23
JENSEN
My radio crackles to life and I wait as dispatch lays out the details of the call, the corner of my lips ticking up with every added word.
Sheriff Kade please report to the area of Elm and Highland for an elderly man in need of assistance with a stubborn goat.
They were unable to get a name, but if I were a bettin’ man I’d say that Hal Greene is waitin’ for me on this fine Tennessee morning. And what a morning it is. I woke up feeling lighter after my haircut and the flirting that ensued with Nessa.
Remi had only gotten up once overnight, and I felt better than I had in a while. “Hard to Forget” by Sam Hunt plays through the speakers of my cruiser, and I can’t help but smile as I drive the short distance, my mind running wild with the possibilities.
Rounding the corner, I’m not disappointed as I find Hal leaning casually against the fence with a leash held loosely in his hand, thestubborngoat, Patches, grazing beside him. Parking the cruiser, I unfold myself from the driver’s seat and return Hal’s smile, although his is more shit-eating than citizen in need of assistance.
“Mornin’, Hal,” I say, closing the distance and holding my hand out for him to shake.
“Beautiful day indeed, son.”
“You, uh, need a ride?” I ask because even though I will, I’ll still bitch about having to put the damn goat in the back.
“Ellison’s comin’ to get me.” His eyes twinkle as his gaze meets mine. “Pretty sure she said somethin’ likeI swear on all that’s holy if you move from that spot I’ll let Celeste make you tofu casserole for a month.” He shrugs a shoulder and lets it drop. “Might be paraphrasing though.”
“You’re supposed to tell somebody when you take the, er, goat for a walk.” Montana’s grandfather had suffered a heart attack not long after Ellison had come back to town. He was doin’ great, but we were all still a little worried about him getting into trouble.
He harrumphs. “You’d think with the way those two carry on that at least one of them would be relaxed.”
My mouth drops open and Hal snorts like he didn’t just blatantly make a comment about his grandson’s sex life.
“I’m not even gonna respond to that.”
“When you get to be old like me, you don’t have to worry so much about offending people.”
“How about scarring them? You worried about that?”
“Nah, it’s more fun this way. Besides, I get to see you young kids tryin’ to figure out how to be polite like I wasn’t your age one time running around with my girl.”
“I love you, Hal, but good Lord Almighty.” I laugh and shake my head. “You wanna tell me why you’re really out here besides trying to make me go prematurely gray?”
Patting his shirt pocket, he pulls out an envelope with my name on it and hands it to me. The script is Nan’s, and my heart squeezes unexpectedly in my chest.
“We set aside a little for each of you kids over the years. Wanted y’all to have a little something when you started families of your own.” He sighs. “Just wish she could’ve been here with me to do it. She would have loved seein’ you be a dad.”
“I…” The wordsI can’t accept thisdie on my tongue because I know how proud he is to give this to me. How proud he and Nan would have been setting aside a dollar here and there for neighborhood kids they considered their own. And now that she’s gone, there’s no way I can refuse it.
“I’m still waitin’ for a chance to come meet my first great-grandbaby,” he says a little gruffly, emotion thick in his tone, and I have to swallow hard before I’m even able to respond.
“I’m sorry about that.” My breath whooshes out of me, my thumb still tracing over the looped script of my name. “It’s been an adjustment.”
“You have family to help you, Jensen. No sense bein’ stubborn trying to change the past, overthinking like you do.”
It’s my turn to snort because he’s not wrong.
“Have I always been so predictable?”
Hal feigns rolling his eyes so hard he falls over, and I chuckle as he crosses his arms over his barrel chest.
“I know y’all love hearin’ it, but I held you when you were still in diapers, long before you and the rest of these hellions were tearin’ through town. You were a good boy, grew into a good man, but you’ve always been one to try and shoulder the world’s problems.”
“This isn’t the world, Grandad,” I say, slipping easily into being a kid in his presence. “I didn’t even know her name,” I admit without looking at him. “Remi’s mama—not until Nessa brought her here.”
