We both laughed.
Stella let out a sigh and then said with a straight face. “Well, good luck telling him.”
“Wait, what?”
She looked back over at me. “I’m not going to be the one to tell Blayze. And I’m pretty sure it won’t be Tanner. So, that leaves you.”
“Oh no. There is no way I am breaking that little boy’s heart. Stella! You’re his grandmother, isn’t this like your area of specialty?”
She laughed. Hard. “My area of specialty is spoiling my grandkids. Butting into my kids’ business, keeping up with the gossip in town, not letting anyone know I’m keeping up with the gossip in town, and being able to mend any piece of clothing in any sort of emergency. Oh, and I can gut a deer faster than any of the Shaw men.”
The last one made me curl my lip. “Eeeww!”
She shrugged.
“But I don’t see why…”
Stella held up her hand, and I instantly stopped talking. “It’s your heart he wants, so it’s got to be you who breaks it into a million little pieces.” And with that she walked away.
“Okay, what just happened?” I asked as I looked around the empty room.
Before I had a chance to walk out of the room, Blayze walked in.
Oh. No.
“Hey, Miss Timberlynn! Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas, Blayze. So how did Santa treat you?”
Blayze looked around and then motioned for me to come closer so he could whisper. “Can you keep a secret?”
Good Lord, what was this little boy going to tell me? Would it be something I’d need to tell his parents and then he’d never trust me again? What if it was something bad? Oh my gosh, what if he didn’t believe in Santa anymore and didn’t have the heart to tell anyone else?!
“What kind of secret?” I asked wearily.
He giggled. “The only kind there is, silly!”
I laughed and hit my forehead with my hand. Okay, this would be easy to handle, no problem. “Of course, silly me! Okay, I promise I can keep a secret. Hit me with it.”
Blayze frowned. “I can’t hit you with it. It might hurt it.”
It was my turn to be confused, but then I realized it was my choice of words. “No, I mean go ahead and tell me the secret.”
Then what Blayze said finally registered.
“Wait, what do you mean it might hurt it?”
“The baby rabbit I snuck into the barn yesterday.”
My eyes widened in shock, and I nearly fell back on my ass. “The baby rabbit?”
He nodded. “She’s really pretty. And Renee, my friend from Sunday school, told me I could have the puppy too.”
This time I let myself sit. “The…the puppy?”
“Yeah, they were moving and stopped by so that Daddy could give Renee’s daddy a name of some guy he knows in Colorado where Renee is moving. She showed me the bunny and puppy that were in the backseat of her daddy’s truck. She said they were giving them away. So, I took them.” He said it with a little shrug, so matter of fact that I almost laughed.
“What did you do with them?” I asked.
“I put them in the barn, back in a stall that Daddy or Mommy aren’t using.”
“You’re hiding a puppy and bunny in your folks’ barn?” I asked, making sure I got the secret right.
“Yep! I’ll take you to see them later.”
Oh, heck no. I would definitely be spilling this secret, but to whom? Lincoln or Brock? I figured Brock was the safer pick.
I forced a smile. “Blayze, I think this is really big news. Such big news that you really should tell your daddy about it.”
“But Renee said I had to keep it a secret, or she’d get in trouble.”
I rubbed my temples. This was not territory I was used to dealing with. “Um, well, I think if you keep this a secret much longer, you’re going to be the one getting in trouble, Blayze. You need to come clean and tell your folks about the rabbit and puppy.”
His face went white as a sheet.
Tanner and Brock walked into the dining room and saw me on the floor. They both frowned.
“Why are you sitting on the floor?” Tanner asked.
I jumped up and went to make an excuse, when Blayze suddenly decided that coming clean in that moment was the right thing to do. “So, Daddy, I have a rabbit and a puppy, and Miss Timberlynn said I needed to…what was it? Come clean?”
Brock drew his brows in tight and then looked at me. I held up my hands. “Nothing to do with this at all. Nothing. At. All.” With my hands in the air, Tanner came to my side.
Brock looked back down at Blayze. “What do you mean, you have a rabbit and puppy?”
“Renee…she gave me her rabbit and puppy.”
Brock closed his eyes. “Lincoln is going to…I don’t even want to think about it, to be honest with you.”
Tanner tugged me closer to him, clearly trying not to smile.
Brock’s phone rang, and he pulled it out. “It’s Paul,” he said with a confused expression. “Hey, Paul, what’s going on?”
Brock kept his face neutral, but at one point I swear the corner of his mouth twitched with a hidden smile. “No problem, Paul, the gate’s open. Completely understand.”
He hung up and looked down at Blayze. “Your life has been spared, son. Renee confessed to giving you the rabbit and puppy. Paul had already promised them to another family in town.”
I was positive we all let out a collective sigh of relief. Blayze took it a step further. “Good thing Renee came clean too, huh, Dad?”
Brock laughed. “Yeah, buddy. It’s always best not to keep secrets.”
Blayze nodded. “Hear that, Miss Timberlynn? You shouldn’t keep secrets.”
And with that, he turned and headed out of the room as Brock and Tanner both looked at me.
“I only promised to keep the secret when I thought it was going to be something cute!”
Brock nodded. “Best you learn this now, Timberlynn. If that boy asks you to keep
