Keep

Her mom seemed sweet, quiet but sweet. She was wearing an apron with a bear on it and had flour all over her face.

“Mom!” Fallon hissed. “Save him!”

“Oh, honey.” Her mom’s voice floated toward me. “He’ll either scare away or endure.”

What a promising future I had!

“Now, this one was a little son of a gun, hid right underneath the bush until I could finally scare him out into the open.” A stuffed raccoon stared back at me. I could only imagine the poor animal was shot in duress if his expression was any hint.

He gave new meaning to deer in headlights, more like coon in corner.

“Wow.” I nodded encouragingly and held out my hands. “He’s big.”

“Biggest coon I’ve ever trapped!” Another numbing back pat.

“You must love hunting.” It was all I had, not that I didn’t appreciate the sport, you know, as long as people ate the meat and were humane, but he took his hobby to an entirely different level. Shelves were filled with pictures of hunting right along with at least ten stuffed animal heads that faced the wall right when you walked in to the expansive living room.

“Yeah.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets and whispered out of the corner of his mouth. “The women get fussy over it.”

“I bet. What, with you being in danger all the time.” Laying it on a bit thick there, Zane.

His eyes widened. “Exactly!” He slapped me on the back again, hard enough this time that I felt the need to run my tongue over my teeth to make sure none had been accidently knocked out. He barked out a laugh. “Well that, and one time I made the mistake of shooting a deer after Fallon saw Bambi for the first time.”

I burst out laughing.

He joined in just as the girls walked in.

“Something funny?” Fallon asked, nervously tucking her hair behind her ear.

“Your dad shot Bambi,” I pointed out, then turned to her dad. “How long did she cry?”

“Days,” her mom interrupted and took a step toward us. “Sorry for not shaking your hand, but I was trying to cook.”

I shook her hand. “And were you successful?”

“No.” She rolled her eyes. “I burned the chicken. Again.”

“She burns things if I’m not home.” Fallon shared a smile with her mom before I narrowed my eyes in on her. Home? Didn’t she have a date?

“Too bad about your date tonight then, huh Fallon?”

Her jaw clenched. “Er, yes.”

“Date!” Her mom screamed while her dad ran out of the room and returned with a shotgun. I held up my hands, unsure of how to proceed.

“Where is that son of a bitch!” I’d never actually seen anyone load a shotgun, let alone, pull back the hammer like we were in the Wild West and in need of a buffalo to shoot.

I kept my hands mid-air.

“He’s uh…” Fallon’s eyes widened in my direction, and a plea of silent desperation filled the space between us. “He’s uh.”

I finally lowered my hands and crossed my arms. “Right here.”

Her dad pointed the gun while her mom let out a little gasp and shouted. “Bill!”

“What?” Her dad waved the gun near my face. If it misfired, I was going to have a lot of explaining to do to the studio execs who wanted a new album by the end of the month. “I ain’t gonna injure him!”

“Dad…” Fallon’s smile looked pained. “It’s not really a date, I mean he’s famous, it’s more of one of those things you do for—”

“—Charity.” I cut her off. “We’re raising money.”

“For?” Her dad’s eyes narrowed.

“Seals.” I nodded emphatically. “One of them has a hurt fin and only swims in circles.” I demonstrated with my hand. “At any rate, we’re helping Seaside raise funds to bring in more experienced vets from Sea World.”

Bill looked extremely convinced as he lowered the gun and shrugged. “From Sea World you say?”

“Didn’t a whale recently kill a trainer there?” Fallon’s mom whispered then covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh, those poor trainers, to live in such conditions.”

“Palm trees and hot weather are definite hardships,” Fallon muttered.

“So it’s not a real date.” Her dad looked between the two of us, I was tempted to raise my hands again and offer to let him pat me down. As it was, I itched to do a little circle so he could inspect me.

“No,” Fallon said.

“Yes,” I mumbled at the same time.

He frowned. “Which is it? No romance, right? Because Fallon isn’t allowed to date until she’s finished college.”

I laughed, assuming he was joking.

He didn’t.

Her mom even scrunched up her nose and looked away.

“Okay.” I exhaled. “I won’t touch her. I swear. Besides, it wouldn’t just look bad for the charity but the seals, if I tainted her with my—”

“—Parts.” Fallon shouted while her mom covered her face with her hands and then bumped into the chair.

“I think…” Her mom’s face grew redder by the second. “I’ll just order pizza.”

“Good idea.” Fallon tried to escape, but I grabbed her by the shirt and kept her in place while her dad continued to question us like we’d just committed murder.