Chapter 22
By the time they pulled up to the house, the trailer was full of goodies for the children and Sky and Beck, plus neat items for Heath’s work.
Parker was ready to be home, though. They’d need to winterize the trailer, unpack it.
Make a fire.
Get Sheila introduced to her new home.
Everything.
Parker blinked as he pulled in. “Where should I park the trailer, love?”
“Oh. Uh… I guess alongside the house where the garage will go?” Heath pointed. “Over there. You need me to back you in?”
He pondered that. He’d done it a thousand times, but he was tired, and it was getting dark. “You mind?”
Plus, the snow might make things tricky.
“Nope. Team, effort.” Heath gave him a tired grin and hopped out of the truck.
That was them—team and effort. Parker sat there for a second, listening to Sheila wag.
“We’re home, baby girl.”
Heath climbed up on a snowbank and waved him back. “Okay, go for it!”
They managed together to get the trailer parked, and then he grabbed Sheila’s leash and handed her out to Heath. “She loves snow.”
“Okay then.” Heath put her down on the path someone had dug to the front door. Not them, but someone. They hadn’t been home. “Let’s get you inside so we can unpack, baby girl.”
“I’ll start unloading. You want me coming straight into
the mudroom?” They were so damn domestic.
“Sure, that sounds good. I’ll clean her up, then kick my shoes off and grab stuff from you.” Heath followed Sheila toward the house. “Just shout if you need a hand.”
“Will do.” He unhooked the truck, then started with the perishables, unloading the food.
“The house is cold. I started a fire and turned up the heat. Sheila is sacked out on the couch under a blanket.” Heath took a tote full of food from him.
“Oh, cool. She isn’t freaking? That’s my girl. God, it’s good to be home.” He headed back out into the snow.
Heath was at the trailer door when he was ready to bring over the next load. “I got this one.”
“Yeah?” He appreciated it, because he was starting to shiver, the cold creeping in on him.
“Sure, my turn.” Heath smiled at him, no mention of the cold. “You should go check on Sheila.”
“I should. I need to start laundry too, I bet.” He grabbed a bunch of bags and hurried to the house.
Sheila was snoring, tail wagging under blanket, not even caring as he threw in a load of laundry before heading back out.
There was a stack of things inside the mudroom, and Heath was trudging toward the house with a suitcase and a backpack. “I think that’s everything? You might want to double-check.”
“I’ll check, but I think anything not in here can wait overnight.” He closed the door behind Heath and locked it.
“Cool. It’s dark and cold. I’d rather be in here with you.” Heath’s cheeks were pink from the chilly air.
“With you are my two favorite words.” He took the food from Heath’s hands and took it to the kitchen.
Heath followed. “It’s warmed up here. Sheila is good?”
“Snoring like a Latvian chainsaw drill team.” Parker winked over, then stole a kiss. “Hey, you. We’re home.”
“We are. That was a long day, but I’m glad we pushed through.”
“Me too. That gives us a chance to relax, chill out.” And get ready for Heath to get back to work, and for him to get to work finding a job.
“Home in time to start the new year here.” Heath smiled and took a kiss too.
“Yes. To start out like we can hold out, right?”
“You know it.” Heath helped him unpack. “We have an invite to Beckett and Skyler’s tomorrow night for the ball drop.”
“Yeah? Do you want to go?” He was easy. They could go and stay, go early and leave early. He just didn’t want to drive after midnight with the amateurs. “We can take the pupper and just spend the night, if we get toasty.”
“I think we should go. I don’t know about spending the night. I kind of want to wake up here, you know?” Heath glanced at him. “Make love in our own bed New Year’s morning.”
“Ooh… I’m in. Then let’s go early, celebrate with the family, and be home before midnight. We can watch the ball together.”
“Yeah. Perfect.” Heath nodded enthusiastically. “We’ll say goodbye to this year and hello to the next one together.”
“Excellent.” He loved this plan. He wanted to ring in the New Year at home.
At their home.
“How does Sheila feel about noisemakers?”
That wasn’t going to be an issue. “She’s a rodeo dog. She’ll be fine as frog hair.”
Heath nodded. “No fireworks out here, but I do like those stupid noisemakers.”
“We’ll stop and grab some. Do we need to bring food or beer?” They had a lot of cheese…
“What a question.” Heath laughed. “Need to, no, but should we?”
“I guess we prob’ly ought.” He wrapped one arm around Heath. “We got plenty.”
“Plenty of laundry.” Heath winked at him.
“Tons. But I’m on it. Soon I will have clean unders for us both.”
“We also have to figure out where to put all of Sheila’s things. Food bowls and her bed and stuff.”
“Yeah. I’m going to build her a wee dog run off the back porch. She’ll like that.”
“That’s a great idea. I like it better than a fence.” Heath caught him around the waist. “I enjoyed the trailer. It was fun.”
“We can go out in it whenever. You saw how easy it was to hookup.”
And leave with.
“We should plan a trip for the spring. Maybe go north to Canada. I could probably work from the road some even.”
“Whatever you want. I’m a go-baby. You know that.” They settled together on the sofa, leaning together.
“You should know that I have enough to cover us. I’m not saying you should sit around here and learn to cook or anything, but…” Heath winked at him. “But you should do something you love and not worry about the dollar signs.”
“I’ve got investments, savings. I’ll be okay. I can work like a dog, for a good reason.” Parker thought Heath was the best reason.
“If you want to, but you don’t have to. You’re not an “I” anymore, you’re a “we.” And we’re fine.”
“We are. We’re better than fine.”
They were home.