Free Love's Embers (Canon City Series) by Lauren Marie Page B

I took him to a vet for shots and to get him neutered, that I found out he’s a gray wolf. We’ve been partners ever since.”
    “He’s beautiful and seems very attached to you.”
    “Yeah, I’ll have to put Mr. Ducky up, so he can’t get it. Breaker would tear the thing to pieces.” He looked at the rubber duck again and squeezed it. He stood up and put it on the mantel next to the stack of letters.
    “I noticed the letters before...” Lark started and he saw her blue eyes look up at him. “I brought your letter over. Maybe we could have a sacrificial burning.”
    He put his hands on them and smiled at her. “I don’t have much and the things I do have are precious to me. There is no way I will ever throw them in the trash or burn them.” He sat down on the end of the hearth and stretched his legs out, again.
    “I saved your letter. It was the only one I ever received. I tried to read between the lines to figure out what I’d done wrong, but I couldn’t ever figure it out.” Lark arched her eyebrow and looked at her cup.
    He sipped his cocoa and smiled. “You know, I searched high and low over the years for a cup of hot chocolate that could match Gran’s. I never found it. I travelled in all parts of the country and never found anything as good as this.” He sipped again. “It’s missing the little marshmallows though.”
    “Gran mixes the powder in her secret kitchen and it’s packaged down at my warehouse. I’ve been selling it online for a couple of years. It’s one of our best sells. Sorry about the marshmallows. I forgot them.”
    “I tasted a really strange mix once down in New Mexico. It had one of those hot peppers mixed into it and was spicy, but just not what I remembered. Do you know what the secret ingredient is?”
    “No. Gran says its love, but since I’m not eight years old anymore, I’m pretty sure it’s one of her favorite spices.”
    They sipped the cocoa and he watched Lark look at the flames jump in the fireplace. “You know, I have some anger demons that I work really hard to keep buttoned up. They rear their ugly faces every now and then, but I learned some techniques to help quash them. They started to surface earlier and I am really sorry if I scared you.”
    “It wasn’t you, Ducky. You have no reason to be sorry. Do you remember the time we built the catapult on the beach and that jerk, Bobbie Reynolds and his pals showed up and mouthed off?” Lark asked. He nodded. “Was that one of the times the anger demons appeared?”
    “Yep, they’ve been with me a long time. My dad really kicked my butt when Bobbie’s dad came over and tried to get my dad to pay for the medical bills.” He grimaced and looked at Lark. “I guess I broke Bobbie’s nose. You know, I hate to admit this, but there are times when the anger is a good thing to have around. Like everywhere else in the world, there are some pretty mean drivers out on the roads and there were times I felt thankful for those demons.”
    “Yeah, well Bobbie deserved worse and I felt proud that you were able to pull away from him without going overboard. He’s still here in Canon City and is a jerk. There’s a rumor about him dealing drugs, but I think he started it to pump up his weird ego. I heard Jamie moved down to Texas and became a cop or something like it. Dexter owns a bar up on I-25.” She gazed back at the flames. “Sorry, I shouldn’t waste time giving you their histories.”
    “Lou, I’m sorry about that letter. Once I got my head straightened out with the therapist, I realized it was one of the dumbest things I’d ever done. I started millions of letters to you the last six months in juvie to try and apologize, but just couldn’t get the right words down.” He looked at her and wanted to touch her face and kiss her lips. “Every now and then over the years, I’d pull your letters out and re-read them. I still kick myself for being such an idiot. It’s my fault we lost all those