Page 14 of Rootbound
Grady: Mom wants you both to come up for dinner tonight. I didn’t get Tait’s number before she zoomed out of here like a bat outta hell, so will you go knock on her door, be the neighborly boy next door I know you are, and pass along the invite?
It’s then that I hear the telltale crunch of gravel and look up to see a Logan Range fleet truck fly past my window. The brat is blowing up enough dust to suffocate anything nearby.
“Shit!”
Belle.
I jog out just in time to see her fly out of the meadow and after the cloud of dust. She’s bred to herd and gets even more ornery about folks that drive too fast. She’s also a mean bitch to anyone but the immediate family. I sprint a few steps before reason sets in, and turn around to quickly grab my keys and go after them in the truck. The last thing this woman needs is a dog bite to start off her trip here—also the last thing I want to be responsible for.
Sure enough, I hear Belle barking from a distance when I get in the truck. I jam over as quickly as I can, but can’t see what’s going on through the billowing dirt in the air. The barking stops, my dread rising. I bolt out of the truck and send up a silent prayer that she doesn’t already have her by the ankle.
The dust puffs up around me and I squint and flap at it stupidly with my arms, frantically searching until it settles and reveals—
Belle sprawled out on her back, getting her belly rubbed.
Tait’s smiling, too—the first smile I think I’ve actually seen from her. She’s got perfectly straight, bright white teeth. The smile completely transforms her face, somehow.
It immediately makes me think of the time that LeighAnn prepared a five-course, gourmet meal to celebrate Grace’s fiftieth birthday. LeighAnn claimed she “wanted to bring some culture” to our “hick asses.” Instead of a traditional cake, we were each served a personal crème brûlée—something I’d never tried before then. Grace commented on how they were so pretty, she didn’t want to break them, to which LeighAnn exclaimed that cracking it with the back of our spoon was the most satisfying part…
Tait’s smile reminds me of that.
It’s a bit like cracking the top of a crème brûlée—the top is great, but that’s good shit underneath. Cracking it really was strangely satisfying, too.
Almost more stunning than that is my typically badass dog—the one I’ve seen go toe to toe with a wolf before—upside down with her tongue lolling happily out of her mouth.
“Is she yours?” Tait asks, smile clinging.
“I’m honestly not sure anymore,” I mumble suspiciously. “She doesn’t normally take to strangers.”
“Oh, well. I love dogs. Maybe she knew how sad I’d be ifshe didn’t take to me. What’s her name?” She makes a silly face and puts it up to Belle’s snout and I flinch, about to call out, but Belle gives her a happy lick.
I make a noncommittal noise and call her to me before she can cause more chaos. She sprints over and sits by my feet, staring up at me with her happy-dog grin.
“Belle.”
Tait pouts a little, and I’m disturbed at how that disappoints me.
“Wait. Belle?Ha—Beauty”—she points to Belle, then points up at me—“Beast.”
I ignore it.
“Grady sent me a message to ask if I’d invite you to dinner at their place tonight. I guess you took off before they had a chance to get your number,” I say.
“Oh—uhhh. Okay. I really just want to get settled tonight, I think. Pass along my thanks, though?”
“Or, why don’t I just give you their numbers so that you can?”
She sighs, but pulls her phone out of her back pocket and looks at me expectantly. I give her the details and tell Belle to load up, when Grady’s comment about being neighborly comes to mind.
“Listen, Tait. I don’t know your history. I do know the—well,theseLogans, though. I know if you give them a chance, they’ll be more than accommodating with your work. And it’s probably not my place to say, but they’re not normally this welcoming to outsiders, aside from the obvious people who come for filming or to stay as guests, of course,” I clarify, oddly defensive. “But for them to immediately invite you to dinner…” I don’t need to explain that they could’ve set her up in one of the guest cabins or even the bunkhouse, as well. “They’ve gotten much more protectiveof their privacy in recent years. I’m just saying you might consider it.”
“I’m sure they’re just suspicious and want to vet me before I wander around the place. But you’re right, I need to make it clear to them what I’m here for, and that’s my work… Which, I will do, but tonight I just want to get settled,” she replies firmly.
I nod and turn to leave, when another thought occurs to me.
“Oh, uhh, I may as well get your number, too, and you mine. We’ve had a few security issues here since the show began and if you see anything suspicious, or need any help, I’m nearby. Out of all five thousand acres, there’s surprisingly only a few pockets that don’t get some kind of cell service.”
We exchange details, and I head back to my side of the pond.