by T. L. Haddix
“Daddy? I’m bringing you a cat.”
Archer went back in the closet while she got her shoes on and tugged on a pair of his jeans. He pulled so hard the hanger broke, pieces of plastic flying everywhere.
Emma got the message. “You’ll need clothes. Okay. Stop that and move before you tear something down.” She hastily pulled an outfit together, including shoes when he nudged them, and they were out the door.
“Sydney, we’re going to cover him up so that no one else sees him,” she said as they piled in her SUV. She grabbed a blanket from the back and tossed it over him as he settled in the backseat next to Sydney. “Thank God I parked in the garage yesterday.”
Archer was concerned that she’d wreck, but before she backed out of the garage, she drew in several breaths. He peeked out from under the blanket and was relieved to see that she’d calmed considerably. “Okay, I have this. Let’s go.”
He couldn’t tell how fast she was driving, but she handled the vehicle well enough. That’s my girl, he thought. It seemed to take forever to reach the farm, but they finally did.
As soon as she opened the door and uncovered him, he was out. Owen and Sarah were standing on the porch, their mouths open with shock. A quick glance around showed him he was in the clear. Letting out a loud roar, he ran like hadn’t been able to in years.
Chapter Six
Owen and Sarah hurried down the steps, meeting Sydney and Emma halfway to the car.
“What in the world? When you said you were bringing us a cat, I thought you meant one like Huff or Puff. Was that Logan?” Owen asked.
Emma shook her head, laughing. “It was Archer.” And she promptly burst into tears.
Half an hour later, she was sitting on the porch steps, alternating between laughter and tears. Owen had his arm around her, laughing as much as she was. Sarah’d taken Sydney in for some breakfast.
“I can’t believe it,” she said, her voice hoarse. “I thought he was Logan when I woke up and he was in the bedroom, and that they were playing some kind of trick on me. I was ready to skin them both.”
“I imagine so.”
They watched as Archer trotted around the side of the barn across the meadow, then turned ninety degrees to dash as hard as he could toward the spot the family often set up for picnics at.
“He’s playing.” She sniffed back her tears. “Oh, Daddy. How is it possible for your heart to break from being so happy?”
“It just is. Happened to me every time one of you kids was born. Every time we have a new grandchild to love on,” he said, sending her a sidelong glance.
Emma smiled. “Yeah, about that.”
He kissed her temple. “Congratulations, sweetheart. I couldn’t be happier for you.”
She sighed happily and watched Archer roll down a grassy slope. “I wish I’d brought a camera.”
“Your mom might have one inside somewhere.”
An hour later, Archer was having some bacon and eggs when Logan and Amelia arrived. He’d been running nonstop, and he’d needed to refuel. But when he saw his brother’s truck, he stiffened, every muscle in his body going on alert. Before Logan could even get the driver’s door open, Archer was beside him.
Emma’s tears, which had calmed down, started again. Sarah just patted her shoulder and handed her a box of tissues.
Logan had been devastated when he’d learned about Archer losing the cat. It had taken him a long time to get over that loss. Now, he got out of the truck and sank to his knees, laughing as Archer nudged him and head-butted him.
“How much do you want to bet me they run together?” Owen said as they headed to the truck to help Amelia with the kids.
“Oh, I’d put money on it,” Sarah said.
Logan looked up as they approached, the biggest grin Emma had ever seen on his face, not counting when his and Amelia’s two sons had been born. Tears were coursing down his cheeks. Unashamed, he wiped at them with his hands.
“Can you believe it?”
Archer took advantage of his position to knock him over, then settled across him and licked the top of Logan’s head. He let out a self-satisfied purr as he glanced at Emma and chuffed.
She snickered, wiping away her own tears. “No, I can’t. I thought the two of you were playing some kind of trick on me this morning. Oh, Logan.”
He stood and hugged her, then went to the barn to change clothes and shift so he and Archer could run together. As the rest of the family sat on the porch, Amelia—who was also a shifter—shook her head.
“If he hadn’t gone through what he did a few weeks back, he probably never would have been able to do this. All this time…”
“It’s hard to think about him losing the cat, especially now,” Emma confessed. “He’d accepted it. I never saw real regret in his eyes when you all would shift. But now, I wonder.”
Owen patted her hand. “I think he’d made his peace with it. He’s happy, no doubt in my mind about that, and he has been since you two got married. But sometimes you don’t know how much you miss something until you get it back after you think you’ve lost it and you’ve accepted that loss.”
When they’d finally run enough, the brothers shifted and got dressed, then made their way up to the farmhouse. Logan was still smiling, even though he was rubbing his hip. Archer was as relaxed as Emma had seen him… well, since ever.
“How do you feel?” she asked.
He kissed her hard. “Human again, if that makes sense. And starving to death.”
They all laughed, and Sarah waved a hand toward the door. “Sandwich fixings are laid out in the kitchen, boys. Help yourselves.”
That night when they were home, once again wrapped around each other in bed after making love, Emma propped herself on an elbow and studied him.
“What?”
She shook her head and traced his scar, which had healed quite a bit more since the previous night, one of the benefits of being a shifter. “Just thinking. Feeling beyond grateful for everything we have.”
“It’s a lot,” he said, touching her face. “I was scared to death this morning. I didn’t know what was happening at first. I kept thinking ‘I can’t go out this way. I can’t do this to Emma, to Sydney.’ And then I shifted, and if a cat can cry, I did. Did you see Logan’s face, Em?”
“Oh, yes. Daddy said this morning that you’d made your peace with losing the cat, but I don’t think Logan ever did. You gave him a part of his heart back today.”
He pulled her down and kissed her forehead, then tucked her under his chin. “I love you. Thanks for calling him.”
“You are very welcome. And I love you, too. I’m so glad you fought for us, did I ever tell you that? That you never gave up on Sydney and me? On our family?”
Archer rolled them so that she was on her back, then gently placed his hand over her belly. “You tell me every day.”
The look they shared was more intimate than words, deeper than a touch.
Emma smiled and ran a hand through his hair. “My very own big cat.”
“Forever and ever,” he whispered as he lowered his head. “Amen.”
If you read this before reading Stormking Road, then click here to read it next.
Also by T. L. Haddix
The Firefly Hollow Series:
Firefly Hollow
Butterfly Lane
Dragonfly Creek
Cattail Ridge
Cricket Cove
Stormking Road
The Shadows Collection:
Secrets in the Shadows
Under the Moon’s Shadow
Shadows from the Grave
Hidden in the Shadows
In the Heart’s Shadow
Deception in the Shadows
Seduction in the Shado
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Granny Theft Auto (A Leroy/Shadows short story)
Domestic Disturbance (A Leroy/Shadows flash fiction)
Writing as Mallory Love:
Sunset Motel, Book One
Sunset Motel, Book Two
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