As I get closer, I hear him laugh. A full, happy, deep-in-the-belly kind of laugh.
I stop.
Is he actually having fun with her? Crash, the all-business asshole is having fun talking about books with an eight-year-old girl?
It’s enough to make me stare. And it nearly gives me a headache trying to process the thought.
This gruff, angry, near-constant pain in my ass is actually having fun with Josie. And, even stranger, she’s having fun with him.
It’s mind boggling. It’s maddening. And it is charming beyond belief seeing the two of them chat together like best friends.
How is an icy bastard like him so sweet with her?
“What are you two talking about?” I say as I get close enough for them to hear me.
“Aunt Vi!” Josie exclaims, jumping up from her spot on the grass and running to give me a hug. She throws her skinny arms around me and squeezes me tight. “Do you want to sit down and read Goosebumps with me and Crash?”
“Goosebumps, huh?” I say.
Crash grins. It’s bright and boyish and it makes my own lips turn upwards in response.
“It’s her assigned reading. It’s Night of the Living Dummy, which is one of the better ones. It’s no The Ghost Next Door, though.”
Josie releases me, lets out an exaggerated huff, and rolls her eyes at Crash. “The Ghost Next Door isn’t even scary. I read that one when I was six, and I didn’t even have to turn my night light on once.”
“No, it wasn’t scary, and that was the point. It was a good, sad story and R. L. Stine gave Hannah a great redemption. Plus, it was so good that that Shyamalan totally ripped it off to make The Sixth Sense.”
Josie puts her hand to her chin, thoughtfully. “Maybe. OK. Maybe you’re right. But even so, I want Goosebumps to give me real goosebumps. And the best one is obviously Welcome to Dead House. It’s the first one, and it’s the best. Think about it. All those evil zombies. An entire town of them and they pick one family a year to trap and eat. So scary.”
“You like ’em scary, huh, kid?” Crash says.
“Heck yeah,” Josie says.
“Crash, keep her away from Snake, please,” I say. Josie gives me a funny look, but Crash just nods.
“I was thinking the same thing,” he says and then, grinning, he adds, “Aunty Vi.”
Rolling my eyes, I put my arm around Josie. “Come on, Josie. Your mom sent me to pick you up. She had a bit of an emergency to take care of. So you will be staying with me for a few days and Crash and his friends will keep us company. We’re going to stop by your house to pick up a few of your things, and then you’re going to have a sleepover at my place, OK?”
“Is my mom OK, Aunt Vi?” Josie says, giving me one of those all-too-perceptive looks that kids sometimes get when they sense something is wrong.
I smile at her. It hurts to lie to her, but it would hurt even more seeing the pain on her face if I were to tell her the truth that her mother has been abducted by a knife-wielding maniac. “She is. She just had to go back to Cheyenne for a few days.”
“Cheyenne?” Crash says.
“Our old place,” Josie says, nodding sagely, as if my explanation makes all the sense in the world and now it’s up to her to explain things to someone naïve, like Crash. “Where we lived before we moved here to open the Timberline Tavern with Aunt Vi. I bet it had something to do with whoever bought our old house.”
“Like the Dead House in Goosebumps? Are you and your mom undead, Josie?” Crash says.
“Crash, my mom and I aren’t zombies. And, if I was a zombie, I definitely wouldn’t be in school. I’d be out doing zombie stuff, obviously.”
“Sorry, kid,” Crash says. “Obviously you’re the expert on zombies.”
“Obviously,” she replies.
We get to my truck and I open the door for Josie, who hops inside right away and dives into reading her Goosebumps. Shutting the door, I turn to Crash, who is watching me with a sly smile on his face. The less like an asshole he acts, the more I like him. And I know that’s a dangerous idea and I should keep as far away from him as I can — well, once he’s done rescuing Kendra, that is — but I just don’t know if I can help myself. There’s a side to him, deep beneath the gruff and prickly exterior, that is charming and smart and almost not a dick.
“So, Goosebumps?” I say.
“Just because I’m an outlaw doesn’t mean I can’t have good taste. I cut my teeth on those books when I was young and found out I loved a good scare and an adrenaline rush. And, well, look where I wound up.”
He flashes me another one of his bright, boyish smiles.
When he’s like this, it’s so easy to see myself kissing him, losing myself in his embrace, and spending long days — and nights — in his company.
I’ve been on my own for so long, that idea kind of frightens me. But with him, it feels right, too.
“You know, you’re real sweet with her. Thank you for all your help today. I couldn’t do this without you.”
“Well, the credit all goes to Josie. She’s a smart kid and easier to get along with than some adults I know.”
“I don’t think it’ll be too long before she’s calling you ‘Uncle Crash’,”
