Chapter 27
GINA
He exhales a laugh, nodding. “You know.”
Then he presses his lips to the back of my fingers again in a way that floods my entire body with heat.
I have no idea how I’m managing to be so strong right now.
Everything inside of me wants to give in and say it’s okay, it was just a spat, forget about it…
He filled my entire freakin room with flowers.
And not just any flowers, I’m sorry flowers.
Who knew I’m sorry flowers were the best flowers? White tulips, roses, and hyacinths?
Lifting my hand, I thread my fingers in the sides of his hair again.
I nearly lost it just now cutting his silky hair.
His warm breath was on my chest as I leaned forward to lift and snip.
His warm cheeks were at my wrists when I pulled it out to trim.
I wanted to crawl into his lap and cover his mouth with mine.
It was the sexiest haircut of my life.
Of course, I’m usually grooming dogs, and there’s nothing sexy about that.
Cutting Owen’s hair was fire. My chest burned, my knees trembled, and it took all my strength not to fall into his arms.
But he hurt me. He walked away without letting me explain. He ignored all my calls and didn’t reply to a single one of my texts for three days… While he went to talk to his dad.
About me.
I watch him walk away with his Armani coat over his arm and that duffel bag in his hand. He pauses at the gate, giving me one last smile before stepping through it and heading down the sidewalk to his home, and I melt against the door jamb.
Maddie needs to see her daddy tonight. Heather misses him, I’m sure.
I’ll let him think about what he did for a full eight hours, then I’ll forgive him first thing in the morning.
I huff a bittersweet laugh, resting my head on the wooden frame, then I close the door and walk slowly to the kitchen.
It’s empty, and I return to the living room, wondering what happened to Maverick. Clearly he and Haddy were in on this whole thing. There was no way those flowers got into my bedroom without their help.
“I’ll take Spanky out,” I call in the direction of Mav’s downstairs suite.
He doesn’t answer, but I’m not concerned. I walk over to my dog’s crate, then I stop when I see it’s empty. My brow furrows, and I look in the direction of Mav’s bedroom.
“Mav?” I call louder, walking to his door. I knock a few times, growing louder when he doesn’t answer. “Maverick?”
He walks out of the bedroom, doing a little dance with his eyes closed while he rubs a towel in his wet hair, and I realize he’s wearing earbuds.
“Maverick!” I wave my hands.
“Shit!” he shouts, throwing the towel across the room. Then his brow lowers, and he looks behind me. “Didn’t you and Owen make up? I thought you’d be going at it by now.”
“He has a daughter, Mav. He went home to see Maddie and Heather.”
“So y’all are good?” He walks over, putting an arm around my shoulders.
“We will be.”
“I gotta say, that boy did some serious work today to make it up to you.”
“He needed to.” My lips press into a smile, and I think about my bedroom-flower garden.
Then I remember. “Hey, where’s Spanky? I was going to take him for a walk, but he’s not in his cage.”
“What?” Mav walks from his bedroom into the living room. His voice grows louder, and he looks up, calling, “Spanky?”
Confusion tightens my chest, and I look from him to the empty cage up to my room. “You don’t know where he is?”
I run to the stairs, jogging up and running to my bedroom. It’s still filled with the gorgeous, fragrant flowers, but there’s no sign of my dog.
“Spanky?” I call, ripping the sheets on my bed up and looking under it.
I dash out into the hall again, running into Haddy’s old room, which was recently Heather and Maddie’s room. It’s completely empty.
I run down the hall to the guest room that was also Gavin’s, then Owen’s bedroom. Empty.
My stomach drops like a rock to my feet. I give the bathroom a quick check before running down the stairs again. “Did you find him?”
Mav shakes his head, blue eyes wide. “He’s not up there?”
Panic floods my veins, and my hands start to shake. “No… Where is he, Mav?”
My cousin dashes through the door to the kitchen. “Did he follow you outside?”
“I didn’t notice…” I was too busy blinking heart-eyes at Owen.
We run into the yard yelling his name. I run along the entire perimeter of the fence surrounding our backyard, calling his name. It’s only silence.
“Maverick!” I shriek, and I’m about to collapse when he catches me.
“Hang on… hang on. Let’s call Haddy.” He takes out his phone, dialing her number.
I only hear his side of the conversation, urgently asking if she remembers seeing Spanky this afternoon.
“You did?” His voice rises, and my heart leaps. “When you were helping bring the flowers in from the truck…”
My eyes widen, and I whisper, “The gate was open…”
“Yeah, we can’t find him. Okay.” Mav disconnects. “She’s coming right over.”
“He’s chipped…” I try to think as I walk around the room.
“So that’s like GPS? Is there an app on your phone? Like Life 360?”
“I wish.” Pain pierces the side of my temple. “It just means if he’s taken to a shelter, they’ll scan it and identify him.”
“That’s something at least.” Maverick puts both hands on the back of his head. “What the hell? Spanky never runs away.”
“Oh, Maverick!” The panic wins, and I sit on the floor right in the middle of the living room crying. “If something happens to him…”
“Nothing’s going to happen to him.” Mav rushes over to sit on the floor beside me, and his voice is fierce as he pulls me into a hug. “What was the name of that punk with the plastic nut?”
“The guy from the dog show?” I jerk back, eyes wide. “You think he had something to do with this?”
“Gina? Are you okay?” The front door flies open, and Haddy rushes in with Gavin holding baby Lucy right behind her. “Did you find him? What can we do?”
“No… I don’t know…” My throat aches, and I can’t stop the tears flooding my cheeks.
“We’ll span out over the neighborhood,” Gavin says. “Did you call Owen and Heather? They can help us.”
“Good idea!” Mav whips out his phone, tapping fast.
“This was not the call I expected to get.” Haddy holds my arm as I slowly get up off the floor. “I thought you’d call about the flowers.”
Nodding, I sniff, wiping my cheeks. “They’re really beautiful… Thank you…” But I can’t be happy right now. “We’ve got to find Spanky.”
Her lips press together, and she takes my hand. “Come on. Let’s go.”
We run out into the yard, and immediately start jogging our usual dog-walking route around the neighborhood. Adrenaline drives me, and I strain my eyes, looking up and down the sidewalks, looking into backyards as I call his name.
Haddy does the same on the opposite side of the street.
It’s all wrong. Spanky doesn’t run away. He’s playful and impish, but he likes being with us. He doesn’t want to leave home.
We’ve circled all our routes, and when we meet up again at the house, Owen is there with Heather and Maddie.
He walks straight to me, pulling me into his arms. “We’re going to find him.”
“Daddy, can’t Ladybird help us?” Maddie tugs on her dad’s arm. “You told me she can find anything. She’s a bloodhound!”
My eyes widen, and I step back, meeting Owen’s equally wide eyes. “Of course!” We practically shout.
If anyone can find Spanky, it’s his best girl. Holding hands, Owen and I jog the short distance to his house.
“I haven’t even checked on Ladybird since I got back,” he says. “Heather had dinner ready, and I was catching up with Maddie…”
“It’s okay!” I don’t know why he’s apologizing to me.
I follow him through the house, out to the back patio where I notice Ladybird’s cage is set up with her big cedar-filled cushion and a few chew toys.
Owen stops so fast, I literally run into him with a soft oof!
“Sorry,” he whispers, turning around to catch me, then he nods his head towards the pen. “Look.”
My brow furrows, and I look around his arm to see…
“Spanky!” I cry, rushing to the cage, where Ladybird is lying on her pillow with my rascally dog perched right beside her as if he’s on guard.
“What are you doing here?” Dropping to my knees, I reach inside to pet his head. “Don’t you know we’ve been looking everywhere for you?”
He licks the tears off my cheeks, and I laugh, leaning forward to hug him. Still, he shows no signs of leaving his lady-friend’s side.
“I can’t say I blame him.” Owen’s voice is low, and I look over my shoulder to see him watching me, a possessive light in his eyes.
It tightens my core, and I pet my dog once more before standing. “Do you think he followed you home?”
“I didn’t notice if he did, but I was thinking about you the whole way.” He reaches out to slide a finger along the side of my face, moving my hair behind my ear.
My eyes flutter closed, and I almost lean into his touch. I want to reach up and kiss him, but it hasn’t been eight hours yet. I have to be strong. He has to learn he can’t treat me that way and get off so easily… even if my silly dog is weakening my resolve.
Blinking down, I shake my head. “I guess I’d better go and get some dinner myself. It’s late.”
The side of his mouth lifts with the hint of a smile, and I’m pretty sure he’s onto me. “It’s not so late.”
“Still, I’m sure you’d like to visit with Maddie.”
“We had a pretty good visit over dinner. It’s her bedtime now.”
I start to go, but I hesitate. “Is it okay if Spanky spends the night?”
“I’ll bring him home when I walk over in the morning.”
“Well… goodnight, then.”
“Goodnight, Gina.” His voice is low, and when I blink up at him, a sly grin is on his lips.
I swallow the desire in my throat before walking back inside the house where Haddy and the rest of our search party are gathered.
“Don’t tell me,” my cousin says, grabbing my hands.
“Yep, he’s in there with Ladybird.”
“Spanky, you stinker!” she calls over my shoulder, and I laugh, looping my arm in hers.
“At least we know where he is. I’ve never been so scared in my life.”
“Spanky’s in the cage with Ladybird!” Maddie skips up and takes my free hand, her voice raised. “We were running all over the place looking for him, and he was here the whole time!”
“Can you believe him?” I bend down to give her a hug. “He’s such a stinker.”
Her nose wrinkles. “It’s like he doesn’t want her to be here without him.”
“It is like that.” And I think of someone else who feels the same way. Someone six-foot-two with ridiculously sexy blue eyes. “We’re going to let them have a sleepover, since they’re missing each other so much.”
Maddie’s eyes widen. “Can dogs get married, Miss Gina?”
“I don’t see why not.” I take a knee, tilting my head to the side. “By the way, I’ve been wondering… why do you call Haddy Aunt Haddy and me Miss Gina?”
She puts her hand on my shoulder. “Uncle Gavin plays on the team with Daddy, so she’s like my aunt, but if you were with my Daddy, you wouldn’t be my aunt. You’d be like…”
Her voice trails off, getting quieter, and I bite my bottom lip, glancing up at the adults, who are suddenly acting very distracted by their phones, the piece of paper on the counter, baby Lucy, who is starting to fuss.
“I understand.” Our eyes meet, and I give her a warm smile before pulling her into a hug, whispering in her ear, “I understand completely.”
“Well, we’d better get our little nugget home,” Haddy says brightly. “Glad that mystery had a happy ending!”
Gavin only chuckles, giving me a wink as he follows his wife, carrying his little girl.
“Here’s to many more happy endings,” Heather adds.
“Yeah, I’d better get back and make some dinner.” Mav steps in the direction Haddy and her little family just went, doing finger guns. “See you bright and early, Sly.”
My eyes return to Maddie’s, and I give her one more squeeze. “We’ll practice walking Peepee again tomorrow after school. You’re going to walk her in the Pucks and Pups show, okay?”
She nods rapidly, whispering excitedly, “Okay!”
Our eyes meet, and we share a moment before I rise to follow my cousins.
“I’m coming with you.” I do a little wave to the room. “Thank you all for helping me find my dog.”
“Next time, we’ll check Ladybird’s cage first!” Maddie skips along beside me, holding my hand.
“Night, Heather,” I call over my shoulder.
Maddie stops to hold the door, and I look back once more to see Owen standing with his hand on his daughter’s shoulder, his eyes on me.
Maverick whipped up a batch of “kitchen sink” quesadillas when we got home, and as we munched, we chatted about Spanky and LB. He agreed that Snooperdoodle was far superior to Bloodhoodle, or the much, much worse Bloodpoo, which he said made him barf in his mouth.
I told him with a smile, Haddy did the same thing!
He assiduously avoided any questions about what happened with Owen, which I appreciated, but he also retired quickly to his suite letting me know he’d be sleeping with his AirPods in all night.
I shook my head, but I didn’t reply. Instead, I quickly cleaned up our plates, washed up the one dirty pan, and slowly climbed the stairs to my bedroom.
Now, the fresh scent of roses mixed with the earthy scent of hyacinths greets me from the hall, and my room is like a magical garden when I enter it.
I sit on my bed, looking around at all the gorgeous blooms highlighted by the soft yellow light of my cube lamp. I pick up my phone and take a quick photo, texting it to my cousin.
Gina
You really outdid yourself here.
Haddy
All I did was put them on the shelves. Owen did all the work.
Inhaling softly, I close my eyes, letting his grand gesture soothe the anger in my chest. I think about everything he said… I love you, Gina Grace. I can’t live without you. I’m a jealous motherfucker when it comes to you…
I’m lost in the memory of his sapphire blue eyes, full lips, dark hair, when my phone buzzes in my hand.
Haddy
Did you forgive him?
My thumbs twitch. I’m about to reply to her when another text lights up my phone.
Owen
Just catching up on my messages… Sorry for the delay—I was in a bad place and needed to get my head straight.
My heart beats faster, and I press my lips together. Lying back on my bed, I tap a quick reply.
Gina
I think you’ve apologized enough for one weekend.
Owen
But you never said if you accepted.
Holding my phone, I look at the clock. It’s after eleven, and the red roses he gave me are opening in the crystal vase where I put them. These say I love you…
My phone buzzes again.
Owen
John received Kendall’s message. He’d like to see her now if she’s still waiting for him.
Energy squeezes my chest, and I roll onto my stomach tapping out a quick reply.
Gina
She’s still waiting.
Gray dots float and disappear. Then they reappear… then they’re gone.
I set my phone aside, resting my cheek on my hand as I wait for his answer. My eyes close, and I imagine him going home to Eureka, talking to his dad about me. I wonder what they said.
I don’t realize I’ve fallen asleep until a warm hand touches my arm, and I open my eyes.