Chapter Seventeen – Haven
Chapter Seventeen
HAVEN
Two weeks had passed since Thanksgiving, and I had slowly started to bring more and more of my things to Nate’s house. Winter had officially set in also with a good snowstorm that had blown in—unfortunately, the day before we were set to break ground on the dog park. All part of living in Montana and building something in winter. Doug was amazing and assured me that all would be fine. He had stopped by my mother’s house last night since I was there having dinner with her to tell me what the plans for today were as far as what would be happening. The excitement of it all had fully hit me this morning when I woke up.
“How did you sleep?” Nate asked, his arms wrapping around me from behind as he kissed my neck.
“Like a baby. How about you?”
“Same. When you’re here, I sleep so good.”
I laughed. “Does all the sex have anything to do with that?”
He grinned at me in the bathroom mirror. “That might have something to do with it.”
Turning in his arms, I reached up and gently kissed him on the mouth. “Today is the day.”
“Today is the day. I was planning on going with you, if you didn’t mind.”
“You don’t have to work today?”
He shook his head. “I took the day off. I wanted to be there with you today. Josh also took the day off to go with Sophia.”
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I smiled up at him. “Thank you. That means a lot to me.”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world. We did get a bit more snow last night, but I don’t think it will impact much today.”
“I hope not.”
Nate pushed a piece of hair behind my ear. “You get ready, and I’ll go make us some breakfast.”
I shook my head. “I honestly don’t think I can eat. My stomach is a mess with nerves.”
He drew back some and looked down at me. “Why are you nervous?”
With a one-shoulder shrug, I replied, “Today makes it all real. I just really hope I’m not biting off more than I can chew.”
“You’re not. The dog park is going to be a huge success, Haven. You and Sophia have everything planned out down to the very last detail. You’re in good hands with Doug, and you have support from all of us.”
“All of us?”
“Yeah,” he said, kissing the tip of my nose. “Your mother, me, and my entire family.”
Smiling, I said, “Your dad asked me when he can buy a membership. I asked him when he got a dog, and he just smiled at me.”
Nate tossed his head back and laughed. “That totally sounds like something my father would do.”
“Stella also asked about one. She said she was thinking of getting a dog.”
His brows rose. “She did? I think that’s great. It would be nice to have something to keep her company.”
“I agree. She asked me about some breeds she should look at. She even asked if she could come on a walk with me so she could be around the dogs. I offered to do a smaller walk around the park, and she said she would like that a lot.”
“I love that. What kind of pup do you think she would like?”
“She said she didn’t want a little dog, so I suggested a golden retriever. They’re loyal and as sweet as can be. I told her she should look into maybe finding oneout of the puppy stage, but she insisted she wants to raise it.”
“A puppy? Grams wants to get a puppy?”
I laughed. “That’s what she said.”
“Wow. Well, when she’s ready, I hope she asks you for your help.”
“I offered it to her, and she told me she would let me know when she was ready.”
Nate stepped back. “Will you at least try to eat some toast?”
I chuckled. “I just need to get dressed. You take a shower and do what you need to do, and I’ll go and make us something. You’re right; something on my stomach would help a lot.”
“You’re sure?” Nate asked.
“Positive. Doug said he will be at the site after nine.”
“Sounds good. Are we meeting Sophia there?”
I nodded. “My mother also wanted to meet us.”
Nate had turned on the shower. Looking back at me, he asked, “Your mom?”
Smiling, I leaned against the counter. “Doug stopped by her house when I was there for dinner. I think my mom has a crush on him. Do you know if he is married or single?”
A huge grin appeared on Nate’s face. “He is single. He got divorced about five years ago.”
“Really?” I replied as I chewed on my lower lip.
“Don’t tell me you’re going to play matchmaker with your mom, Haven.”
“No, not really. But how they kept looking at one another makes me want to play matchmaker.”
Nate had stepped into the shower. “I would stay out of it.”
Chewing on my thumbnail, I replied, “I will.”
“Why do I not believe you?”
I pushed off the counter and said, “Because you know me. I’m off to make us breakfast.”
Once Nate and I finished breakfast, I texted Sophia to let her know we were on our way to the building site. We pulled up in Nate’s truck and parked next to Josh’s truck. Sophia and Josh were already standing with Doug, and I was surprised to see my mother there as well.
“My mother is already here,” I said as Nate opened my door and held out his hand to help me out.
He chuckled. “I can’t help but wonder if she came to watch, or simply to see Doug.”
I smiled. “You know, I wouldn’t mind if she dated him. He is such a nice man, and my mother deserves someone who will cherish her.”
Nate took my hand in his. “So do you, Haven.”
Stopping, I faced him. “I found him in you.”
Leaning down, he gently brushed a kiss across my lips. “I love you.”
I placed my hand on the side of his face. “I love you more.”
Tapping the tip of my nose, he replied, “Impossible.”
Taking my hand once again, we started to make our way toward the small group. Heavy equipment was pulled up and parked, and about twenty guys were marking out things with survey sticks.
“Sorry we’re late,” I stated as I walked up and hugged my mother and then Sophia. “I hope you weren’t waiting for us.”
“We just got here as well,” Sophia said as she rubbed her hands together. “It’s so cold out.”
Doug laughed. “It is, but the sooner we get going, the better. We haven’t gotten much snow, so it’s perfect to get things marked out. The next step will be to use the heavy equipment to prep the area.”
“How exciting!” I said as I looked out. “What are they marking now?”
“That is the building. I met with Rose the other day over Zoom. She has some great ideas, and I really like the idea of doing a small area out here for the fire pit.”
“Yes,” I said as I looked at the plans. “We just need to figure out a way to keep it safe so the dogs don’t get near the fire.”
“That should be easy enough. Also, I want to make sure we are a go for the splash park.”
Turning to look at Nate, I smiled before focusing back on Doug. “Yes, that is a go.”
“Great. I don’t think I have any other questions as of now. Let’s take a walk, and I can show you a rough layout of the park.”
I nearly jumped and clapped my hands. I was so excited. I could not believe my dream of the dog park was finally coming true.
As we walked around the area, I was surprised to see how big the park actually was.
“I had a few people reach out to me about making a donation in the form of memorial benches for people to sit on, as well as some covered areas for the benches. You could even offer something like plaques in memory of a pet that people lost.”
“Really?” Sophia and I said at the same time.
“Yep,” Doug replied as he kept walking ahead of us.
Sophia held me back. “Who do you think donated the benches and covers?”
I shrugged. “I’m not sure. Maybe someone who is excited about the dog park?”
“Let’s ask Doug if he knows who it was.”
We quickly caught up to everyone else.
“This will be the small dog park. Over here will be the covered seating, the poop station, and the dog washing station.”
“How exciting!” my mother said as she did a three-sixty turn. “I can’t wait to see it.”
“Me too,” Josh said with a wide smile.
“Doug, do you know who made the donations?” I asked.
“Yes. They reached out yesterday and wanted to donate in memory of their grandmother,a dog lover.”
Sophia’s hands went to her chest. “That is so sweet. What a wonderful idea.”
My mother turned and looked at Sophia and me. “What if you built a brick entrance into each dog park and gave people the option of buying a brick in a loved one’s name? It could even be in the name of a fur baby if they wanted?”
Looking at Doug, I asked, “Is that possible? The brick sidewalk?”
He nodded. “That’s a great idea. Do you have a website yet for the dog park?”
Josh answered, “We do. It’s live, but there isn’t much on it, just a few drawings of what the dog park will potentially look like.”
“I would make a section on the website for people who would like to buy a brick. While you’re at it, you can never have enough benches, so you could have people make donations for memorial benches as well.”
“You could even name the splash park in someone’s memory if they wanted to make a larger donation,” Mom added.
“That’s a great idea, Grace,” Nate stated. “You don’t have a name for the dog park yet, right?”
I shook my head. “Not yet.”
“What if you do a community event where they get to submit their name ideas, and you can pick a winner?” Nate said.
“That is a great idea!” I said as I felt another wave of excitement building. “We could do it at the community center and make it a family fun event where people can bring their pets.”
Doug pointed to me. “That’s a great idea. By getting the community involved, you’re giving yourself free marketing. Plus, if they feel like they were a part of the process, they will most likely be more connected to it, which means they’ll buy a membership.”
“Aunt Kaylee can help plan it. She used to do party planning,” Josh said as he and Nate exchanged looks. “And I bet Grams would love to be a part of it.”
“It would help her stay busy, which would be good,” Nate added.
Sophia took out her phone and started to type. “Okay, I’m thinking we do this sooner rather than later. The faster we have a name for the dog park, the faster we can get marketing done.”
“I agree, we should plan it soon. How long do you think it will take to plan something?”
Nate cleared his throat. “I can talk to Uncle Brock and see when the community center is available.”
I chewed on my lower lip as I thought about what we could do. “If we could get it before Christmas, maybe we can do a holiday-themed party. People can bring their dogs dressed up in holiday clothes.”
“That would be so fun!” Mom said as Sophia nodded.
“I’ll call him as soon as we’re done,” Nate said.
Doug cleared his throat. “I think all of this sounds great. Keep me updated on the plans. I can also get the word out. Let’s finish up with the short tour; then, we need to get started while we have the weather on our side.”
The last week had been a whirlwind. Chad had covered a few walks for me since I was busy helping Sophia and Kaylee with plans for the holiday party we were planning for the community to help name the dog park.
“I can’t believe Christmas is next week!” Sophia said as she set a box of decorations down in the middle of the large gym where we were holding the party.
“Have you and Josh put up a tree yet?” I asked as I worked on decorating the large tree we had bought for the party.
“We’re going tomorrow to pick one out. What about you and Nate?”
“I have a small artificial tree for my apartment, but I’m hardly there anymore, so I haven’t even decorated. We’ve put up some of Nate’s decorations, but haven’t gotten a tree yet.”
“You should come with me and Josh tomorrow,” Sophia said as she turned and looked at me with a wide smile. “We could make it a tradition of getting our trees at the same time!”
I let out a soft laugh. “That would be fun. I don’t think Nate has anything going on, so I’ll ask him. What time are you going to be heading out?”
She shrugged. “No real set time. Probably later in the morning, I would think.”
“I’ll ask Nate, but I think it would be fun to do that together.”
“How is everything going?” Kaylee asked as she walked up to us with another box of decorations.
“Good,” I replied. “I’m almost finished with the tree and was going to work on the table decorations next.”
Kaylee nodded. “It looks like we’ve had nearly a hundred-and-fifty people RSVP.”
Sophia gasped and I was pretty sure my mouth fell open. “Are you serious?”
She smiled. “Yes! I’m so glad I told the caterer to plan for one seventy-five. We should have plenty of food.”
I slowly shook my head. “I never dreamed we would have that many people say they would come.”
Sophia clapped and did a little jump. “This is amazing!”
I hung the last ornament on the tree. The only thing left was the tree topper, which we would need one of the guys to putup.
“You know, we should make this an annual thing,” I suggested as I glanced around the large room. Round tables were set up with chairs. “If this one is successful. Maybe we can even pick a charity to support each year and donate the proceeds from the dinner.”
Kaylee looked up from a box she was looking through. “Haven, that is a wonderful idea! There are so many businesses here in Hamilton willing to donate their time and goods that I think we couldmake that happen.”
I smiled. For throwing this party together so quickly, we had lucked out with the caterer who had donated her time and the food. The decorations were from the city of Hamilton that they had donated to the community center a few years ago. The tables and chairs were owned by the community center, and since Brock Shaw owned the community center, we got to use it for free.
“Did Jo get back with you about the menu she was doing?” I asked Kaylee.
She stood and wiped her hands on her jeans. “She did! She is going to do antipasto skewers, savory s’mores, cranberry and feta pinwheels, andpear and pomegranate salad. Each table will also have a hummus wreath, baked brie puffs, seven layer-dip cups, and last but not least, roasted butternut squash french bread bites.”
My stomach growled and Sophia and Kaylee both laughed.
“She is doing all of that and doing it for free?” I asked, still surprised that she had offered to do it all on her dime.
Kaylee winked but didn’t answer me.
“Kaylee, is she doing this all for free?”
She looked everywhere but at me.
“I’m going to take that as a no.”
Finally looking at me, she sighed. “Okay, she is being paid, but the person paying her is doing it as their part of helping out.”
“Who is it?” Sophia asked.
Kaylee chewed on her thumbnail. “I promised I wouldn’t say.”
“Josh?”
“Nate?”
Sophia and I had asked at the same time.
Kaylee laughed. “No, but you’re not far off.”
“Is it a member of the Shaw family?”
“Oh, yes. A founding member.”
I laughed. “Stella?”
Kaylee reached for my hand. “Please don’t tell her I told you. When she heard we were going to keep the food simple, she insisted we had to do something more. She has worked with Jo numerous times, and they came up with the menu together, and Stella is covering the costs.”
“I’ve never met a family who does so much for their community like the Shaws,” I said as I sat down in one of the chairs.
Kaylee smiled. “They are an amazing group of people, and I’m so proud to be a part of it.”
“I can’t wait to be a part of it,” Sophia stated as she sat down in another chair.
Taking Sophia’s hand in mine, Kaylee took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “I can’t wait either.”
I felt tears prick at the back of my eyes. What would it be like to be a part of such a loving family? My mother, of course, loved me and did her best to make my life as good as possible, but I knew she still struggled with what had happened with my father. She blamed herself, while I blamed myself for not having the courage to tell her what was happening.
“Haven? Sweetheart, what is wrong?” Kaylee asked, reaching up and wiping a tear from my face. I hadn’t even realized I had been crying.
Reaching up, I felt the wetness on my face and buried my face in my hands.
“Haven,” Sophia whispered as I felt her kneel before me. “What in the world is wrong?”
I dropped my hands and tried to speak, but nothing but a sob came out. Kaylee sat in the seat next to me and took my hand. “What is it, dear?”
With a deep breath, I slowly exhaled and attempted to get myself under control. What in the world had just happened to me?
“Haven?”
The sound of Nate’s voice caused me to look to my right and see him. He wore a pained expression on his face.
“What’s wrong?” he asked as he quickly made his way over to me.
I stood and was about to tell him everything was fine, but a sob slipped free. Nate quickly wrapped me in his arms and held me as I cried into his chest. I wasn’t sure what had happened and why the dam had decided to break at that moment, but being in his arms instantly made me feel better.
“What happened?” Nate asked.
“I’m…I’m not sure. She just got upset,” Sophia stated.
“Most likely the stress of everything got to her,” Kaylee softly said as she rubbed my back.
Once I got my crying under control, I stepped back. Nate cupped my face in his hands and looked into my eyes.
“Are you okay, princess?”
Oh…my heart tumbled in my chest as I stared back at the man I had been in love with for as long as I could remember. With a nod, I whispered, “I’m fine. I’m okay.”
Turning to Kaylee, I tried to smile. “I’m so sorry for breaking down like that.”
“Oh, you don’t have to apologize at all, sweetheart. We all have moments like that, which is nothing to be ashamed of.”
Nate pulled me back into his arms. “Do you want to go home?”
“No, honestly, I’m okay. I just had a moment.”
When I stepped back, Nate searched my face once again. “I’m here nowandcan help with whatever you need.”
I smiled as I drew in a breath. “I could use help doing the table decorations.”
Nate stood up straight and clapped. “My specialty.”
I laughed along with Kaylee and Sophia.
Taking my hand in his, Nate gave it a slight squeeze. “Tell me what you need me to do.”