Page 14 of Hard Rain Coming
Lily raised her head, her ears forward and alert.
“I thought it matched her spirit more.”
“Oh.” A small frown marred Nora’s forehead. “She has a ghost?”
“What?” Vivian smiled and laughed. “No. By spirit, I mean how she is as a dog. How she acts. What her personality is.”
“Oh,” the little girl repeated, toying with the ends of her hair. It was obvious she had no clue what the hell Vivian was getting at. “Can I pet her?”
“If she lets you.”
“Daddy tolded me to always let animals sniff your hands because then they know that you’re a good person.” She glanced up at Vivian. “Is that what my spirit is?”
Vivian nodded. “Yes. That’s it.” She moved a bit. “Here, try.”
Nora took one more step and held out her hand. Vivian wasn’t sure if Lily was going to give her a sniff, let alone a chance to touch her, but the dog surprised her when she leaned forward and allowed her niece to stroke her head.
“Her hair feels like little wires.” She giggled. “It tickles.”
“She’s got some terrier in her.”
Nora bent closer. “Her eyes look like Bruin’s.”
“Who’s Bruin?”
“My papa’s cat.”
Papa. Father. Vivian’s father.
“Papa B says it’s because Bruin is old and has already seen so much of the world.” Nora smiled, though she never took her eyes off Lily. “Do you know my papa?”
Hands fisted. Loud belligerent voice. Slurred words. Anguish. Anxiety. Disappointment. Fear.
“Yes,” she answered softly.
“He’s my favorite papa.”
Vivian kept quiet, and when Benton appeared, she let out a slow breath.
“Hey, squirt, I’m going to the barn to saddle up. Are you still coming along?”
“Yes!” Nora jumped and clapped her hands, which in turn made Lily growl low and burrow into Vivian’s lap. The little girl didn’t notice as she ran to her father and yanked on his arm. “Come on. Let’s go.” She looked over her shoulder. “Do you want to come with us? I get to ride my pony. Her name is Ken.”
Surprised, and more than a little curious, Vivian got to her feet. She and Benton hadn’t spoken much at all the past week. He’d been busy doing ranch things while most of the ranch hands, and Dallas, had been gone for over a week moving the cattle down to their winter pastures.
“Let me get this straight. You have a pony who is a girl?”
Nora nodded. “She’s pretty. Her color is buckskin. Do you know what that is?”
“I do.” She tried to hold in a laugh. “But her name is Ken?”
“Yep. My friends Cameron and Ryan have a snake named Eddie.”
Vivian had no idea where this was going, but she was invested.
“And Cameron and Ryan are girls, and Bethany from Bible school says they have boy names. She teases them sometimes, but they don’t care because their daddy tolded them that anyone can have any name they want. That even Eddie the snake is a girl, and she has a boy name. I wanted to name my pony Ken because I think it’s a pretty name, and well…” She shrugged. “Barbie thinks Ken is pretty.”
Benton tousled the top of Nora’s head, an amused look on his face. “I didn’t name the pony. I’m not that progressive.”