Free Ever the Same by BA Tortuga Page B

dance.
    “Yay.” He found a grin and then focused on locking the front door. What freaked him out more than anything about tonight was how alone he would be once Audie dropped him off.
    He hadn’t spent a night without someone home in more than a decade. Never since the accident, for sure. What if he lost the dogs, or fell or broke something?
    “Stop it,” he told himself. He could do this.
    “What?”
    “Nothing, Bumblebee.” He ruffled her hair, happy when he managed it.
    “Hey, man, Randi. Y’all ready?”
    “I am!” Randi bounced against him. “I’m so excited.”
    “Good deal. Hey, Dixon.”
    He wished he could see Audie’s face. He could hear the smile.
    “Hey, man.”
    “Happy birthday.”
    “Thanks.”
    “You, uh, want me to help with the steps?” Audie was hesitating, shifting from foot to foot.
    He checked the front door, then came to the steps, finding the edge with his cane. “Please.”
    “I didn’t want to mess you up if you were gonna come down with Randi.” Audi murmured it while Randi chattered at Grainger.
    “I appreciate it, man. For real.”
    “No worries. Here we go.” Audie took him down the stairs to the truck.
    Randi was talking a million miles a minute, so excited and nervous she couldn’t slow down. Thankfully, Grainger took after his cowboy daddy, and didn’t seem to need to push into the conversation much.
    “She’s revved up,” he whispered.
    “Nervous, huh? Sara is on a sugar-like high. Grace is gonna kill her.”
    “Aww. Hopefully together they’ll, uh….” He trailed off. In no universe ever had two little hyped-up girls interacted in a way where they got calmer.
    “They’re still pretty young. They’ll crash eventually.” He could hear Audie shrug.
    “That’s the hope, huh?”
    “No kidding. I hear Barbie movies are on the horizon.” Audie’s stage whisper cracked him up. “Don’t tell Grainger.”
    “Poor kid. We owe him one.” Hell, they were leaving him with two little girls. Dixon thought he might owe Grainger three or four.
    “We do. You’ll be amazed at how many shrimp he can eat.”
    By now he knew the sound Audie’s truck made right before they turned into the lane at the ranch, the click of the turn signal, the downshift.
    Then they stopped at the gate, and Audie hopped out. “Be right back.”
    “Did he say Barbie movies?” Grainger asked.
    “Maybe. Although I think y’all should watch Frozen .”
    “That would be okay. I like Planes. ”
    “Yeah? Have you ever been on an airplane, Grainger?”
    “No, Mr. Dixon, sir. I want to go to Cheyenne someday, for the rodeo.”
    “I’ve been on a plane.” Randi pushed right in. “I flied to Houston and to Disneyland and to go skiing.”
    “You flew,” Dixon corrected Randi.
    “Right. I flied.”
    “Flew.”
    “That’s what I said, Daddy.”
    Dixon rolled his eyes. Some days she could only process so much. He let it go, then felt the truck dip as Audie hopped back in.
    “Daddy, did you know Randi went to Disneyland?”
    “No kidding? That’s pretty cool.” Audie pulled through the gate and went to close it before taking up where he left off, the truck bouncing down along the gravel road to the house. “We should go to Six Flags, huh?”
    “Oh yeah. Yeah. I’m old enough now, for lots of it.”
    “You totally are.” Audie chuckled, the sound warm and low, sliding down Dixon’s spine.
    He tried not to worry about that sort of thing—about not being able to go and take Randi places, ever again.
    “You okay?” Audie asked while the kids squealed about rides and all.
    “Great. Thanks.” He found a smile that didn’t feel totally out of control.
    “Cool. We drop them off and run.” They pulled up by the house, the sound of Duke’s bark happy, almost frantic.
    Dixon slid out of the truck, Duke coming right up for a scritch. The dog seemed to know that Dixon couldn’t see him, pushing against his hand but never getting underfoot.
    “Sara! Sara, I’m here!”