Chapter 3 #2
“Most kids are,” he agreed. “Taught my sister that lesson when she ran out in front of a car and I had to yank her back by the hair. Never seen her eyes so wide as I did right then. She looked at me like I’d betrayed her until the truck hauled ass past us.”
“Sounds like she was lucky to have you.” I stood up, wiping my face clean on my t-shirt, which inevitably bared my not-so-flat belly. His eyes dropped to my belly, then flicked back up to my face. “I’m lucky to have you, too.”
He shrugged. “Kept me company these last few months.”
“That makes me feel better that he was well taken care of.” I swallowed hard. “Do you…would…can I buy you dinner as thanks?”
He shook his head, his gaze flicking up to the country club behind me. “Not my favorite place to eat.”
I waved away that horrible idea. “Definitely not here.”
He tilted his head, looked like he was about to agree, but then someone called my name from behind me.
I didn’t have to turn around to know that Birdee was there.
“Oh, look. You found him,” Birdee cooed. “Now you can breed him like you always wanted.”
She had her eyes narrowed, however, making it seem like she definitely wasn’t happy about this.
The asshole.
“I’m sorry to tell you this, again, but I’m not breeding him.”
“But he’s unfixed. Why would you have a dog that’s unfixed if you didn’t plan on breeding him?”
I sighed. “Studies show that it’s healthier for the dog in the long run to wait a few years until you neuter them. The sex hormones in the dog allow proper musculoskeletal and immune system development.”
“The shelter should’ve neutered him before they even gave him to you,” Birdee sneered. “But, just like always, rules don’t matter to you.”
I gritted my teeth, biting back the reply.
And, because I couldn’t fucking stand her, I dismissed her and turned to the man and said, “Hopps?”
His brows rose, as if he never expected me to recommend Hopps.
It was a hole in the wall place on the river that served the day’s catch. They also served a damn fine hamburger and had no issues with pets.
“Sure,” he said, his gaze flicking back behind me where Birdee was still standing. “By ourselves.”
Birdee hissed in a breath.
I snorted out a laugh. “Definitely by ourselves.”
He nodded once and said, “I’ll meet you there.”
“Don’t know what a man like that would see in you,” Birdee said as soon as the man—who hadn’t introduced himself, might I add—was out of earshot. “He could do way better.”
I didn’t acknowledge her or her words, even though we both knew that they were true.
But that wasn’t what this was.
This was one hundred percent a thank you for watching my baby over the last half a year and that was it…
I caught Brawny around the collar and guided him to my truck.
I was happy to see that his walking skills had definitely improved.
He hopped up in the car without too much struggle, either, which was definitely an improvement from having to lift his big butt into the car on my own.
I guess that also came with getting older, though.
Which literally felt like a shot straight to the heart.
I’d missed so much…
The drive to Hopps was filled with lots of kisses and cuddles. By the time I arrived in the parking lot of my favorite restaurant, I was covered in slobber and hair.
I got out and reached for Brawny’s leash, but he beat me to the punch and hopped out before I was ready.
I reached for his leash, but he walked right away from me to the man that seemed to be waiting for him.
“You’re gonna have to bar him next time.” The man bent over and picked up his leash. “I can’t say that I’ve trained him all that well. He gets excited when we get into the truck because he thinks we’re going to the store to get a beef bone.”
“Ahhh,” I said. “He’s gotten way bigger, too. When I last saw him, he was at least fifty pounds lighter.”
Which again, broke my freakin’ heart.
“All those steaks I cooked him.” The man winced.
“You cooked him steak?”
He shrugged. “Got the money.”
I sure didn’t.
“He’s going to hate living with me, because I definitely can’t afford steak dinners for the beast.”
“He eats canned dog food, too.”
Couldn’t afford that, either…
Subject change was necessary, and I didn’t want to have to explain my financial struggles to the man.
That would bring up Birdee, which in turn would make me irrationally pissed.
And when I had to deal with that woman, it gave me heartburn.
I wanted to enjoy my dinner.
“Hmm,” he said as he held out the leash. “He’ll adjust.”
That made me feel good that he didn’t comment.
He also didn’t make me feel like shit about it, either.
That wasn’t something my sister or mother would ever let slide…
“Wow, two of my best customers together,” the old man behind the counter called out when the man caught the door. “Meo, whatcha having today?”
“Meo” looked to me.
I ordered and then waited for him to place his.
We were both getting the same thing: the catch of the day.
Before I could pull out my wallet, though, the man waved me off. “On the house. Glad to see that you two are together. Couldn’t think of a better couple.”
I opened my mouth to correct him, but “Meo” jerked his chin and said, “What are you drinking?”
I took the Styrofoam cup he handed me and walked to the drink machine.
I studied it for a long moment before going with Fanta.
He waited for me to finish and then said, “Sure wish y’all had some good sweet tea down here.”
I looked over at him. “Sweet tea?”
“Yeah,” he grumbled as he got a Coke. “Or some Dr Pepper. Y’all always go with Coke or Pepsi products. Both of those options suck.”
I grinned as I said, “They have Dr Pepper in the cans.”
“Yeah, but I can go through like four of them in a sitting.”
“Geez,” I said. “You can make your own sweet tea by adding sugar to it.”
He snorted. “That’s not how you make sweet tea. You have to add the sugar when it’s hot so it dissolves.”
I blinked. “What? Why? Doesn’t the sugar dissolve?”
He took a seat near the window that overlooked the river and shook his head. “The shitty stuff, Sweet’N Low, does. That’s not real sugar, though. The white packets are the real sugar, and they don’t dissolve unless you have hot tea. And they’re completely different tastes.”
“Interesting, I never really gave it much thought,” I admitted.
I placed my cup down just in time for Brawny to make himself at home under the table, bumping the surface as he did and causing my drink to tilt.
Meo, likely aware of Brawny’s move, picked both drinks up and sat down.
“Down, boy,” Meo ordered.
Brawny dropped down to his belly and propped his head on my feet.
My heart panged.
“I missed him growing up,” I complained.
Meo snorted. “He’s not done. Good luck with that.”
“I know.” I looked down at the young boy.
“My dad and I have had mastiffs for as long as I can remember. We’ve shown them.
Bred them. I don’t necessarily like that we’re breeding them, but my dad loves it.
He loves mastiffs. Has since he was a kid himself.
But this one was a rescue. That’s where my passion lies. ”
“Found a good one,” Meo mused. “Not big on dogs in general, to be honest. We were more of a cat household growing up. But he had really great manners, and I didn’t have to teach him much. Seemed like a win-win for me.”
I smiled and looked up at the man, studying him.
He was just as perfect looking as he’d been the other day.
Though, his beard was a little thicker.
His butterscotch eyes caught and held mine for a long moment before he said, “You a dog trainer or something?”
I was already shaking my head as I brought my straw to my lips and took a long pull. “Nope. I’m a heavy equipment operator.”
I fully expected him not to believe me or give me shit, but he did the exact opposite.
“Not a job many women do. I’ll bet you’re way better at it than any man.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because most women are.” He shrugged. “Patience, maybe. I don’t know. Men are good, but women have always been just a hair above for some reason.”
“Wow, that’s the first compliment I’ve ever gotten about my job in correlation to me. I think my dad hates it, and asks weekly when I’m going to find a real job.”
“Then he’s not a good dad.” He shrugged again.
I hated that I couldn’t disagree with him.
My dad wasn’t all that great.
At least not anymore.
He’d married my stepmother, and our entire lives had changed.
And he hadn’t changed for the better.
“That’s not good.”
Understatement of the century.
The manager, Phil, called our names, and Meo got up to grab our food.
I started to as well, and he waved me off. “Someone stays here, and your dog won’t be knocking our drinks over while we’re gone.”
The fact that he knew my dog so well sent another pang through my heart at having missed the last six months.
I fucking hated Birdee.
Meo grabbed our food, coming back within seconds as he placed it on the table between the two of us.
I reached for my plate of food while he reached to pull his off the tray and then return the tray to the worker at the counter.
When he came back, he took a seat and looked at me.
“What?”
He shook his head. “Just curious if you are going to be able to eat that entire plate of food or not.”
I snorted. “Watch me make some magic.”
We were otherwise quiet during the meal.
It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, either.
Brawny stayed lying down, his big head still on my feet, the entire time.
“You got him not to beg,” I said after I’d shoved another fry into my face.
He snorted. “I got him to have some manners because he once stole my sixteen-ounce ribeye steak right off the table. From that point, we worked really hard at making sure he knew right from wrong when it came to table manners. If I give him food, that’s fine.
But if I don’t, then he knows not to beg. ”
My hand covered my mouth. “He did not!”
“He sure did,” he confirmed. “It was one of the good steaks from Brussel’s, too.”
That made me feel even worse. “Oh, man.”
Those steaks cost a fortune.