Nick found himself sitting at a round, metal picnic table with a thick, blue, plastic coating to protect the metal beneath. This particular model of picnic table also had a long back attached to the metal bench seats, which he was grateful for as it gave him something to lean back against—which he was doing now as he sat across the table from Judy's sister, Shaylee, and her truly unexpected (and slightly worrisome) visit.
Upon leaving the clothing store, Nick had returned to Gideon's bakery to drop off his purchases. Shaylee had followed him there and waited downstairs as he dropped his clothes off upstairs in his room. After returning downstairs, he gave Travis a wave goodbye, then followed Shaylee down to Vanilla Mousse, the ice cream shop where they were picking up their icy treats. Due to the summer heat, they both bought an ice cream cone to eat on the way to the park, along with a large shake to drink while they talked afterwards. Nick, of course, had a blueberry shake while Shaylee had bought a carrot shake which she was stirring with her straw as she leaned over the table.
Nick held his own shake up and stirred it, then took a sip, but it didn't taste nearly as good as it should. Not that the shake wasn't excellent in and of itself (they did use fresh blueberries and fresh-made ice cream), but he couldn't get rid of the feeling that he was about to get sucker punched. The way Judy's sister was stalling for time as she focused on her sweet, icy treat did nothing to put his mind at ease. Nor could he shake the feeling that the reason for his soon-to-receive sucker punch was the simple fact that he was a predator and a fox. And it wouldn't be the first time. Ever since the muzzling incident when he was nine, he'd met plenty of mammals who thought it was their right to get a fox's hopes up about something, and then sucker punching him as they gleefully destroyed whatever hope the fox had gained.
Tired of waiting, Nick flicked his ear and got right to the point. "Okay, Shaylee, we're here and no one is around to overhear us. So what is it you need to talk to me about?" With a frown as his tail flicked in irritation, he made a guess at what the conversation would revolve around. "You're not going to deliver my message, are you?"
Shaylee looked up from her icy drink with a deer-in-the-headlights look—and yes, Nick knew that particular look a deer gets at night when a headlight hits him in the face while he's out in the yard or walking on the sidewalk. It was an instinctive reaction of theirs that left them looking shocked and frozen on the spot for several moments. It was a response the various deer species had never evolved out of, even in today's modern world.
Nick scoffed and pushed his drink towards the center of the table, then folded his arms and looked off at the rose garden with its brightly colored red, pink, and white flowers with honeybees buzzing about the fragrant blooms. With his ears folded back against his head, he wondered if he would ever see Judy again. If her family was against them even speaking to each other, how in the world was he to even meet her?
Shaylee's ears perked up and her paw shot forward as she shook it out in front of her. "No, it's not like that. I think Judy really needs to know you're here in town and looking for her."
Nick's ears perked forward as he met Shaylee's sincere brown eyes. "Really? You mean it?" Shaylee nodded, but then his ears splayed to the side as he added, "But you're still not going to give her my note."
Shaylee's ears drooped. "Well, you see, it's not that I don't want to give it to her, it's just that I . . . can't."
Nick's ears disappeared again as his tailed swished angrily. "What do you mean, you can't?"
Shaylee slid her paws up and down her plastic cup and ignored her wet fingers as her fur absorbed the water droplets that had condensed on the sides of the cup. "Your note was . . . intercepted."
Nick's jaw dropped, then he snapped it shut with a soft click of his sharp teeth. After running a paw over his face, he then repeated, "Intercepted?"
Shaylee nodded. "My older sister Mandy came by to take her turn at manning the booth and saw me looking at the envelope your note was in." Twisting the cup around in her paws, Shaylee continued, saying, "Mandy was all excited to learn you were in town looking for Judy." Taking a deep breath as one of her ears flicked to catch the sound of a bumblebee buzzing about the flowers, she added, "From what Judy told Mandy, she's been missing you like crazy."
Nick's ears immediately perked up and his tail began wagging slightly with hope and a twinge of happiness. Taking a deep breath, Nick reined in his excitement at learning Judy missed him because something still wasn't right with this picture. Tilting his head slightly while reaching forward to grip his own icy drink, he asked, "So what's the problem?"
Shaylee took a deep breath. "Well, the problem is . . . Mandy was under the impression you were a . . . hare. And when she learned you were a fox, she flipped out."
"A hare!?" Nick exclaimed in exasperation, even as his jaw went slack. "Why in the world would Mandy think I was a hare!?" With a shake of his head and a flick of his ear, he waved a paw through the air and added, "And why would it matter whether I was a hare or fox?" A frown was now plastered on Nick's handsome face, even as irritation flashed in his deep emerald eyes. He knew the fact he was a fox was going to come back and bite him in the tail when it came to meeting Judy again.
"Well," Shaylee started as she studied the angry glint in Nick's vibrant green eyes. "If Judy only saw you as a friend, then it wouldn't matter and Mandy could care less about what your species was."
Nick's brows furrowed in thought, even as his tail twitched in confusion. "What do you mean if she only saw me as a friend? I'm a fox, she's a rabbit. What else would she see me as?"
Shaylee took a drink of her icy drink while studying Nick's confused face. She could definitely see why Judy might find Nick attractive. As she had noticed this morning, Nick had good breeding, with his looks being lean without being gangly or wimpy, and his stature was well-proportioned. He also carried himself with confidence and his face was so expressive—especially his deep, emerald eyes. She'd never met another mammal before with such expressive eyes. It was truly . . . mesmerizing.
As Nick continued watching her (and waiting for a response), Shaylee sat up a little straighter and said, "Well, when Judy was talking to Mandy. . . about you . . . she might have given Mandy the impression that she was . . ." Shaylee paused in thought as she considered the best way to describe her sister's feelings. With a flick of her gray, cottony tail, she continued by saying, "Well, it was obvious to Mandy that Judy was missing you too much for her to be seeing you as just a friend."
Nick's jaws went slack yet again as he tried to make sense of Shaylee's confusing words. Tilting his head slightly as he squeezed his cup between his paws, he asked, "What has Judy done to give Mandy that impression?" Nick had a sinking feeling he knew where this conversation was going, but it made even less sense to him than Shaylee showing up to talk to him. This whole conversation was crazy, and he wondered if Judy's sister was only bringing it up to mess with him.
Shaylee stirred her straw in her slushy drink for a moment, then looked up and met Nick's cautious gaze. With a deep breath, she said, "Mandy found Judy bawling her eyes out one morning after having a dream about you leaving her." Nick's ears disappeared against his head, but Shaylee continued before he could say anything. "It's wasn't the first or last time she's dreamed about you, either. And she keeps beating herself up over destroying her friendship with you." Stirring her shake again, Shaylee added, "She thinks you hate her, and she can't forgive herself for what she said at the press conference or how she hurt you."
Nick pushed his drink back towards the middle of the table, then dropped his face in his paws and raked his fingers through his head fur. He was feeling crummier by the moment. He really shouldn't have stormed off like he had . . . or at least . . . he should have went back and talked to Judy later. He had tried talking to her once. It was after hearing how she'd been hospitalized during one of the protests she was trying to break up. He had broken out in a cold sweat when he first heard she'd been hospitalized, and then after watching the news feed and seeing that moose punch her in the side of the face while trying to hit the red wolf behind her had his hackles up and Nick just wanted to rip the moose's face off!
Of course, once at the hospital, no one would let him anywhere near Judy's room—Nick was lucky just to get a foot in the door.
And then Nick had seen her parents come in. He had considered having them pass a message on to Judy, but he hadn't gotten very close to them when he'd heard her mom grumbling about the state of the city and how they had to convince Judy to come home before she was eaten by some predator. This felt like another sucker punch to him, especially since it was a moose—a prey specie—who had hospitalized Judy. Her parents wouldn't even acknowledge the bloody part prey played in this whole violent, paranoid mess the city had fallen into!
Nick knew then that talking to them would be a wasted effort and if they cried bloody murder on him (he was fox and approaching paranoid bunnies never ended well), he might even wind up in jail. With parents like that, he knew he didn't stand a chance at getting a hold of Judy. He even expected her to pack up and go home once she got out of the hospital, so it came as a huge surprise to see her trying to break up the Gazelle rally a week later. He thought of meeting with her afterwards to give her a chance to explain her actions from the press conference, but in the end, he never acted on the thought.
Instead, he'd gone back to his 'box' under a bridge. Not that he literally lived in a box under a bridge, but in some ways, you could say that in an emotional sense—he did. And he did have a bridge he liked to sit under (and mope) that was close to his home. But it wasn't a place the average mammal would consider as a 'home' seeing as he was living in an abandoned warehouse his grandfather had once owned and built a thriving amusement park for predators out of. At least, it was thriving until prey got wind of it and after a loud protest that turned a bit violent, along with a bunch of negative media coverage, his grandfather had been forced to close it.
But his family's past had nothing to do with the here and now. The problem now was how he had been treating Judy these past 4 months and how she was suffering due to his actions. Now he felt even worse about scaring her and walking out of her life. He really was just a dumb fox. An untrustworthy, dumb fox who didn't deserve her friendship.
From the other side of the table, Shaylee watched the guilt roll off Nick like a tidal wave. Judy blamed herself for their little breakup, but it was obvious Nick also had a part to play in it (there were always two sides to every story). And the fact that Nick was feeling guilty for his part in their breakup gave Shaylee hope that Judy's feelings might be reciprocated—given enough time, anyways.
Stirring her shake with her straw, Shaylee then took another sip before leaning back against the bench and asked, "So what is Judy to you?"
Nick lifted his head enough to meet Shaylee's steady gaze over his clawed fingers. With a flick of his ear, he asked, "What is Judy to me? She's a very good friend. One I wish I had treated better."
Shaylee nodded, then said, "Is that all she is to you?"
Nick's ears flicked back as he wasn't sure how to answer. When he first arrived in Bunnyburrow yesterday afternoon, he didn't know what she was to him. But now, he just knew that he screwed up bigtime with her. There were so many different ways he could have handled the situation—so many better ways of handling it.
Perking her ears forward and giving Nick her undivided attention, Shaylee said, "Let me explain something to you about us does, Nick." With a twitch of her nose, she explained, "A doe doesn't dream about a guy she's not interested in. Nor does she cry over him or think about him non-stop. This only happens if she has feelings for the male."
Nick's ears disappeared against his head and his jaw went slack while his brain went numb.
Ignoring Nick's incredulous look, Shaylee repeated, "So, I ask again: What is Judy to you?"
It took another moment for Nick's brain to reboot, but when it did, he sat up and shook his head while waving his paws out in front him. "No, no, no! This is impossible!" Leaning over the table, he hissed under his breath, "There is no way that Judy has feelings for me!"
Shaylee merely sat back and sipped on her shake, then asked with smug grin, "Why not?"
Nick's jaw went slack yet again, then he exclaimed while pressing his fingers into his chest, "Because I'm a fox and she is a rabbit. There's no way she'd have feelings for a fox!" Shaylee raised an eyebrow at his outburst, but Nick continued without giving her a chance to speak. "Furthermore, Gideon clawed her in the face when she was nine and the whole time I was with her, she always carried a can of Fox-Away spray with her. She never once—not once—took it off when she was with me."
Shaylee's eyes widened in surprise. She was a little surprised that Gideon had told Nick that he'd clawed Judy when they were kits, but that wasn't what grabbed her attention. She had watched Judy grab the can of Fox-Away to shut their dad up at the train station, but she didn't think Judy would actually carry it with her. And to be carrying it around after becoming friends with Nick surprised her even more. What was Judy thinking!? No wonder Nick left her after her awful speech at the press conference!
Pointing a clawed finger at the gray doe across from him, Nick continued with a low growl in his voice, "So don't go telling me Judy has special feelings for me or is attracted to me, or whatever other nonsense you're trying to feed me. If the only way she can feel safe around me is to carry Mace around with her then there's no way she would trust me enough to fall for me in a romantic sense."
Shaylee didn't have anything to say for several moments as she was trying to figure out why Judy would be carrying any Fox-Away product around with her. It didn't make any sense to her. With a slight shake of her head, Shaylee said, "I don't know what was going through my sister's head to make her carry that vile product around with her because that's not her style."
"Oh, really?" Nick asked as he sat back against the bench and folded his arms across his chest. With his expression showing very clearly how much he didn't believe her, he perked his ears forward and said, "Enlighten me." For Shaylee to say Judy had any kind of romantic feelings for him felt like she was setting him up to pull the rug out from under his feet and then laugh as the breath was knocked out of him went he hit the floor.
"Well," Shaylee said, "For starters, whenever my parents brought up the incident with Gideon as a reason to not trust foxes, Judy always brushed it off, saying, 'Gideon was a jerk who happened to be a fox. I know a lot of rabbits who are jerks.'" With a shrug, Shaylee added, "She never seemed to hold it against foxes that Gideon clawed her so it really doesn't make sense that she would carry Fox Mace around with her."
Nick flicked his ear, saying, "Well, she did." Staring off down the path they walked to get to the picnic table, he added, "Furthermore, she threatened to use it on me after I questioned her about the damaging little spiel she spoke at the conference."
"She what!?" Shaylee exclaimed as she sat up straighter. Judy never cared about Fox-Away products and would periodically throw out their dad's stash of it whenever she found it—or when dad was being paranoid and flashing them around town. Luckily, he had mellowed quite a bit in the last few years and it hadn't been an issue for a while now. She hoped it was a thing of the past considering he was actually partnered with Gideon now—a day Shaylee never expected to see. And it was all thanks to Judy. So why was she packing Fox Mace around Nick when he was helping her!?
Nick shook his head, then amended his statement while motioning with his paws, "Sorry, when I first confronted her, she immediately separated prey and predators into a 'us' and 'them' category." Showing her his claws, he added, "It wasn't till I bared my teeth and claws at her," he met Shaylee's brown eyes, "to prove how little she really trusted me for being a predator, that she made a grab at her Mace."
Shaking his head as Shaylee sat stunned, he mumbled, "Of course, if I'd known a red fox had mauled her as a kit, I never would have tried scaring her that way." With a heavy sigh, Nick ran a paw down his face, then shook his head again while thinking again how dumb he'd been. Glancing back at the gray rabbit across from him, he added, "But it did prove my point. My predatory weapons," he raised his paws and wriggled his fingers to show off his claws, "scare her, so there's no way Judy would see me in a romantic light." With a shake of his head, his gaze dropped to the ground as he muttered, "I'm surprised she even saw me as a friend."
Shaylee sat back in her seat and sipped her shake before stirring it again while trying to figure out what was going through her sister's head. She never showed fear for a predator's teeth or claws before. With all the felines she hung out with, how could she? But then to show fear towards Nick after all the help he gave her in finding all those missing mammals! How dumb can her sister be!? Nick was literally the best thing to happen to her (Shaylee didn't know of any other male who would travel such a distance just to track a doe down—especially after their fight!).
As Shaylee sat stewing over her sister's bizarre behavior, Nick watched a line of black ants scurrying across the path and under the picnic table. Besides Gideon, he hadn't had anyone to talk to about what was bothering him. Although Finnick was usually there when he needed him, he wasn't one for emotional talks. But Shaylee actually listened to him and she looked so much like Judy (minus Judy's white markings and amethyst eyes) that it almost felt like he was talking to Judy herself. And as the painful memories washed over him, he finally opened up about how it felt when she turned on him (at least, at the time it felt like she had turned on him).
With a deep breath, and while still watching the ants marching along on their path to wherever, Nick whispered in a soft, pained voice, "I could have handled anyone else being afraid of me, but not her, not Judy. She had even asked me to be her partner on the police force." Watching several larger, single ants scurry across the ground, he added, "Why would she ask that of me if she didn't trust me?" With his tail hanging limply off the seat beside him, Nick mumbled, "For the first time in a very, very long time, it felt like someone finally believed in me and that I was trusted." With flick of his ear, he added, "Judy made me believe in myself again."
Remembering her reaction to his little scare tactic, Nick's ears splayed to the side of his head as he looked up to meet Shaylee's stunned and curious gaze. "Seeing the fear in her eyes was bad enough, but then smelling it roll off her in waves—it felt like she carved my heart out with a spoon!" Nick's paws curled into fists as he remembered how afraid she'd been of him, how his reflection looked in her terrified pools of amethyst. Even now, four months later, it hurt. Oh, how it hurt!
Shaylee's eyes widened and her ears drooped at hearing Nick's confession. At the same time, she came to a stunning revelation. Her and Mandy thought Nick broke Judy's heart when he left her, but come to find out—Judy broke Nick's heart first.
With a slump of her shoulders, Shaylee whispered, "I'm sorry, Nick."
"Yeah, me too," Nick replied back. Looking up at the sky and watching the wispy clouds drift by, he repeated, "Yeah, me too." Closing his eyes, he let the breeze ruffle his fur as his paws slowly relaxed and released his tightly clenched fists. Taking a deep breath, he crossed his arms over his chest and opened his eyes again, though they remained riveted on the passing clouds above him.
Shaylee sat quietly for a long time as Nick watched the clouds go by. Finally, she sat up a little straighter and said, "I don't know why Judy acted the way she did around you, Nick, because I know for a fact that Judy isn't scared of predators, nor is she scared of their sharp teeth and claws. All her closest friends are predators, most of them much larger felines. But whatever happened in Zootopia to make her fear you, I know Judy regrets it."
Nick dropped his gaze from the sky to meet Shaylee's light brown eyes. Tilting his head, he flicked his ear in acknowledgment, but remained silent.
Shaylee took a deep breath and said, "Look, Nick, Judy really needs to meet you and when you do, please keep an open mind. I'm serious when I say Judy wouldn't be daydreaming about you all the time if she didn't like you as a male."
Nick stared at Judy's sister for several heartbeats, then gave a heavy sigh. Looking up at the Honeylocust tree they were sitting next to and watching as the light breeze ruffled the small, yellowish-green leaves, he finally spoke. In a soft voice, he said, "I honestly don't know how I feel about Judy. When I arrived here yesterday afternoon, I wasn't even sure I wanted to mend our broken friendship. I just needed closure after what happened." With a snort, he glanced back at Judy's sister and admitted, "Judy wasn't the only who couldn't get someone off her mind. I couldn't stop thinking of Judy, either."
With a slight grin that showed a glimpse of his canines, Nick turned his attention back to the small, swaying leaves of the Honeylocust tree. "As much as her words and actions hurt after the press conference, and as angry as I was—both at her and myself for giving her the power to hurt me—I still couldn't forget the way she smiled at me, how her eyes lit up when she spoke to me, the way her paw felt on my arm." Nick shook his head while remembering what happened just before their little moment on the gondola which led to him finally open up to Judy.
And although he wasn't about to admit it to Judy's sister, he couldn't forget how good it felt to hold the energetic ball of fluff in his arms. After their little dunk in the pool at the bottom of Cliffside Asylum, they sat huddled together trying to keep warm while waiting for the ZPD to arrive after Judy called in for backup.
Glancing back at Shaylee, who was listening with rapt attention, her ears perked forward to catch his every word, Nick brought his thoughts back to what happened before their moment on the gondola and said, "We had just faced a savage jaguar who tried to eat us, and her boss, with his posse of very large officers, just brushed it off like Judy was making everything up. Bogo said that because she was a 'timid little rabbit' she must see every large predator as a savage."
Nick scoffed as he glanced back at the ground to see a new batch of ants scurrying around, this time with a few red and black army ants mixed in with the plain black ones. "It was the first time I felt a real connection to her." With a warm smile, he explained, "Judy had just saved me—twice—from the savage jaguar, and I saw how little she was respected and cared about by those who should have had her back . . ." With a shake of his head, he continued, "In that moment I knew exactly how she felt." Glancing back at Shaylee, Nick said, "And when chief Buffalo-butt wanted to take her badge for failing to find her missing otter in 2 days, I told him to shove it. Judy still had 10 hours to solve her case, and that's what we were going to do. And we did."
Shaylee's jaw dropped. "Wait! You stood up to Bogo—Chief Bogo, giant water buffalo with massive muscles and this angry glint in his eyes—that Bogo!?" At Nick's nod, Shaylee exclaimed, "You did that just so Judy could keep her badge!?"
Nick nodded again as he flicked his ear, even as his chocolate-colored tail-tip swayed gently as it hung over the edge of the bench. "That's right. When the savage jaguar disappeared, Bogo wanted to take Judy's badge. That was the deal she made with him. She had 48 hours to track down Emmet Otterton, and if she couldn't find him in the allotted time, then she had to resign." With a flick of his ear, he added, "I got Judy her last 10 hours and we found her missing otter, along with all the other missing mammals—including our savage jaguar."
Shaylee took a deep breath and gripped the edge of the table with one paw and fanned herself with the other (which made Nick look at her funny). "Okay, well, that would do it."
With his head cocked and his tail-tip flicking with curiosity, Nick asked, "Do what?"
Taking another deep breath and meeting Nick's deep, emerald gaze, Shaylee explained, "That's when you stole Judy's heart."
"Huh?" Nick was baffled as he couldn't see how standing up to her boss could equate to him stealing Judy's heart.
Leaning across the table, Shaylee pointed to the fox across from her and said, "Nick, you didn't just save Judy's job, you saved her dream. You fought for her dream. No one, and I mean no one, has ever done that for her. Most mammals openly mocked her for wanting to be a bunny cop in the big city. Others smiled to her face, but then whispered behind her back. And even those of us who truly hoped she would succeed, didn't really believe it was possible. So you are a first for Judy. The first person to truly believe in her and her dream."
Nick sat back in shock and quiet contemplation as he considered Shaylee's words. It looked like he and Judy really did have a lot more in common than he originally thought. How many mammals openly mocked him, snickered behind his back, or was just waiting for him to fail? Whether it be on a project he was working on or just life in general? And Judy was the first mammal since he was a kit to truly believe in him and give him a chance—a chance to turn his life around and make something of himself. And how did he thank her for it? He scared her, then gave her an emotional slap in the face before walking off without a single look back.
With a heavy sigh, Nick rubbed his face between his eyes. He really messed up bad with Judy. The world had always been beating him down, and after finally finding someone who cared about him, he beat her down at the first mistake she made.
With her nose twitching, Shaylee watched Nick's expression go from shock, to understanding, empathy, and finally guilt. It was obvious that Nick had strong feelings for Judy, even if he didn't realize it yet. Taking a large drink of her shake, Shaylee gave Nick another moment of thought as she studied the fox Judy had fallen for. Seeing as Nick was taking responsibility for his part in their breakup meant he and Judy could work through this and their relationship will be stronger for it. With a smile, she broke through his thoughts by saying, "You said you helped Judy find all those missing mammals."
Lifting his gaze from the blue tabletop, Nick nodded. "Yeah, I helped her find the place they were keeping them and then we snuck in together."
With a nod, Shaylee said, "Not only did you fight for Judy's dream, you joined her in her dream—even if it was just for that one case. That's not something anyone else would be willing to do. No one else would have even thought of joining her on one of her cases. And for someone like Judy, who had to fight for her dream—alone—every step of the way, this was huge. If we were living in a fairy tale, then you would have been the knight in shining armor who arrived to save the day and rescue her. How could she not fall in love with you?"
Nick didn't reply. Shaylee had just dumped a lot of information on him—a lot of information that painted a very bizarre picture. This was the first time Shaylee used the 'L' word in relation to Judy's feelings and it just baffled him. He was a predator, a predator whom Judy had already shown fear towards once, and whose 'DNA' said he could go 'savage' at any moment. How could she like him as more than a friend? And could he see her as more than a friend?
Nick didn't know. He couldn't deny how much he missed her, and he definitely felt a connection to her—but was that enough to say he loved her? That he wanted more from her than just her company and someone to talk to? He had only known her 4 days, and that wasn't nearly long enough to know—especially with all the negative feelings their relationship had ended on.
Looking up from watching a small, black jumping spider pouncing on one of the ants as it scurried by, Nick met Shaylee's hopeful brown eyes and said, "Look, Shaylee, I care a lot about Judy. I won't lie and say I don't, but beyond that—I don't know. I need to see her. I need to talk to her. To spend time with her."
Shaylee's eyes brightened as a wide smile spread across her face. "I can agree to that. Just know it's an option."
Nick nodded and just then remembered his own drink. Pulling it towards him again, he swirled the shake around with his straw a moment, then took a large gulp of it. He had been talking a lot and the icy drink felt good sliding down his dry throat. Looking Shaylee over as she drank her own drink, Nick then said, "All this means nothing, though, seeing as somebunny let my note be intercepted and doesn't seem to have any intention of telling Judy about me herself. It's kind of hard to spend time with someone who doesn't even know I'm here."
It was Shaylee's turn to look guilty and her eyes widened as Nick reminded her of the other reason she had sought Nick out. Setting her drink back on the table, she clasped her paws together and took a deep breath. With her nose twitching and her ears drooping, she said, "Yes, right. Hmm, now that we've discussed Judy and her probable feelings for you, we now need to discuss my other sister and her stupid ideas."
Nick's ears disappeared against his head. "You're talking about Mandy, right?"
Shaylee nodded, saying, "Yes." With her light-gray nose twitching, she added, "And her stupid ideas."
Nick felt like someone just pulled the rug out from under him as the red flags that were going off in his head earlier now had warning sirens blaring alongside them.
WingedKatt here. So how did you like the conversation Nick and Shaylee were having? Although Judy wasn't physically here in the chapter, she was definitely here in spirit. Next chapter, we'll see how Mandy is taking the news of her sister's love interest and then Judy and Patty-Mae are going to have an interesting conversation while on their way to check out Patty-Mae's emus.
Ch. 10: Of Course Not! will post in 2 weeks. I hope you all have a safe weekend. If you have any thoughts or questions, I'd love to here them.