Chapter 27

The morning was so blissful, he cringed at the thought of fighting Wal-Mart holiday traffic. But they needed something more than eggs and coffee to live on the next two weeks, and one roll of toilet paper wasn’t going to last long between the three of them.

Braden took the roll and, very fastidiously, hung it in its proper place. As he did so, he noticed the bathtub for the first time and laughed. “That tub has feet!”

“Aren’t they cool?” Remy asked. The tub was cast-iron, painted white inside and out, except for the clawed feet. The dark feet almost looked like socks.

Now Braden squatted by the closest leg of the tub and ran his fingers over the claws. “Yeah,” he admitted, almost grudgingly.

Finally, something about this trip he liked. Trying to hold his son’s interest, Remy asked, “What do you think they are? They look like lion’s feet to me.”

“They’re griffins, Dad.” Braden gave him a look over one shoulder as if he should’ve known better. “Like from Harry Potter.”