Invisible Strings

Chapter Three

Brantley's POV:

"I know you love them all, Bray, but we can't keep them all." I said, looking my daughter in the eyes. Some days, all I saw was myself in her –the hardheaded, strong-willed soul that wanted what they wanted and no one was going to stop them from getting it. But on days like today, all I saw was her mother, the woman that I'd loved more than just about anything, a woman that had been taken from me because to fucking wannabe thug decided that my car was the one that they were going to shoot at in order to get initiated into their gang.

"But daddy, mama would let me keep them." Whined Braylen.

"I know she would babygirl." A wave of sadness washed over me as I said the words while trying to hold back tears. Anytime I thought about Amber or the kids said something that she would  say, I always had to fight tears. Fuck is this hard doing this shit without her...

"But mama would want us to share with other people too, sissy." Said Barrett as he came into the barn where Braylen and I were tending to the new litter of labrador puppies, reminding me once more how much both of my kids remind me of their mom and not just in the looks department. Amber had a gentle and loving soul. She was an animal lover, one of those that was always encouraging everyone to get a pet, even if it was just a goldfish. She claimed that having a pet made life better, that it made people better.

Before I could respond, the ringing of my phone pulled my attention away from the puppies and the kids. As much as I hated that the device took seconds away from my kids, I needed the distraction to take my thoughts away from Amber and the void I felt since losing her.

A small smirk spread across my face as I saw the name on the screen. Nick Connor lived a couple of miles down the road from me. As the town's resident electrician, he was well known by everyone since he had more than likely been inside their homes for whatever reason or another over the past thirty years.

"Nick, what's up man? How are you doing today?" I said, answering the phone.

"I'm good." He replied. "Look, I'm calling to see if you are still looking for homes for that litter of puppies. I happen to know a little boy and little girl that desperately want a puppy."

"Hell yeah I do." I said with a low chuckle. "I was actually just talking to Barrett and Bray about them, telling them that we needed to find them a home."

"I'm sure that little girl of yours is wanting to keep every last one of them."

"You know it." I laughed. "If it was up to her, I'd have a damn zoo right in the middle of Jefferson."My words made Nick laugh. It was no secret in town that my kids had the same love for animals that their mom had.

"I think the town could benefit from a zoo. Especially if you are linked to it." Said Nick, jokingly. Around here, everyone knew who I was and were proud to say that they lived in the same town as "a country superstar" —their words, not mine— but they treated me as if I was still the same kid that used to run wild around town.

More than once over the years, Amber's dream of opening a zoo had been brought up —as had her dream of opening her own school, one that would cater to our values and the things that we wanted our kids to learn and not all this politically correct bullshit that schools want to force on families nowadays. As of now, the zoo was still on hold but the school, well, that was in the works and almost ready to open. I just needed to fill a few more positions.

"Look, why don't you come on over and take your pick of the puppies?" I said, getting back the conversation at hand.

"I can do that. Hey, do you mind if I bring a couple people with me? I'm sure the grandkids would love to see them."

"Not at all man. Barrett and Bray would love the company."

"Well alrighty then. We'll see you in a few minutes."

"Later, man."

Slipping the phone into my pocket, I looked over at Barrett and Braylen as they sat playing with the puppies. Both were laughing joyfully as the little puppies climbed all over them, licking them in the face and barking their little puppy barks. The sight brought a smile to my face, something that only appeared when I looked at the only thing I had left of my Amber.

Before I could slide back into my dark thoughts, I spoke up, getting. The kids attention. "Mr. Nick is coming over to look at the puppies and he's bringing his grandbabies. I think they are close to y'all's age. How about a play date?"

"Yay!" They both shouted excitedly, glad to have someone to play with.

As much as I tried to make sure that my kids had the most normal upbringing as possible, I was leery about letting too many people get close to my kids. Call it paranoia, but even if I knew that the townspeople wouldn't harm them, there was always that fear that something could happen. And something happening to them would absolutely destroy me.

""I thought y'all would like that." I said, walking over to them. I grabbed each of them by the hand and began making my way back towards the house. "Let's go wash your hands and faces so that Mr. Nick don't think that y'all have been eating mud pies. By the time we're done with that, Mr. Nick and his grandkids should be here."

Tearing their hands from mine, Barrett and Braylen ran towards the house, leaving me straggling behind. Out of nowhere, a photo of Nick's daughter, Delaney, popped into my head —nothing recent since I hadn't seen her in more than fifteen years; she moved away headed for the bright lights of the big city right after graduation, only coming back a handful of times for holidays and such.
As I walked, I thought about the girl I secretly crushed in all those years ago. Since she had been four years behind me in school and hung out with a different crowd than I did —I was more of the bad boy/hooligan type where she was the good girl/preppy type—there wasn't too much that I knew about her. But not knowing anything about her didn't mean that I didn't remember thinking that she was probably the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. Even in her awkward teenage stage, she had been stunning, turning the head of every boy in the school. But because our circles didn't align and because I was a senior and she was a freshman and I had to uphold my bad boy image, I'd never acted on my crush. Plus, I'd been with Amber and as much as I appreciated Delaney's good looks, I would never do anything to hurt Amber, even back then.

Pushing thoughts of Delaney to the back of my mind, I made my way into the house to help the kids get cleaned up. When I walked into the small half bath right off the kitchen, Barrett and Braylen both had their stools in front of the sink and were scrubbing their faces with wet wash clothes.
I loved that they were able to do things for themselves like this since it showed that they were capable of doing things without any help but it also made me sad to think that they were growing up and that Amber wasn't here to see it.

"All clean." Said Bray, giving me the biggest smile, her blonde curls doing their usual unruly thing. Her curls were one of the many things I'd yet to master and to be honest, I didn't know if I ever would.

"Me too!" Said Barrett, climbing down off the stool.

"Does Mr. Nick have a grand-girl?" Asked Braylen, tugging on my shirt as she spoke. "'Cause I want someone to play babies with me.

"I think he does." I said. "And it's granddaughter, Bray. Not grandgirl."

"Ugh, a girl?" Whined Barrett, clearly tired of playing with girls all the time. I couldn't help but smile because right now he might think girls had cooties but there would come a day when girls would be his only focus. Lord help me when he reaches that age if he's anything like me...

"Mr. Nick said he was bringing his grandkids so I'm sure he will have his grandson with him too." I said, fluffing Barrett's hair. I was going off tidbits of conversations that I remember from mama and her talking about the Connor's grandkids being twins, a boy and a girl.

"Well goodie." Said Barrett. "Sissy gets somebody to play babies with her and I get a boy to play tractors with me."

"Sounds like a good day to me."

A lightness settled over me, even if I knew that it would be fleeting. Seeing the kids happy and excited always made the darkest days bright.
Before I could respond with anything else, I heard the buzzer coming from the kitchen telling me that someone was at the gate. "Come on y'all. Mr. Nick is here