Chapter Twenty
Three months later…late July …
“Y ou sure I should be here today?” Sawyer tugged Anna to a standstill on the sidewalk outside Cam and Harper’s Craftsman-style home. “I mean, this is strictly a family thing. I’m still not even sure who goes with who yet. I don’t want to intrude.”
The sound of music and laughter wafted from the backyard as Anna shook her head. “Don’t be silly. They already love you, Doc. And who goes with who is easier when we’re all together anyway. Trix, heel.” She reined in Trixie who was learning to stick close as she walked on the leash, but was currently dancing around, clearly anticipating the fun ahead.
The family picnic was a farewell party for Anna’s parents, Lionel and Bertie, who were heading for a month-long Mediterranean cruise the next day. Cam and Harper had insisted the whole family gather for lunch in their roomy backyard, the one Anna, Cam, and Joe had grown up in. There was something very special about coming back to her childhood home with Sawyer and Trixie…a completion of a circle she hadn’t even realized was still open. Besides, she had a secret plan she hoped she could pull off while all the Walkers were together in one place—something that was pretty rare these days despite the fact that nearly all of them worked for Walker Construction.
Life had been crazy busy as summer came into full swing. Anna and Sawyer spent as much time together as they could manage between their jobs and schedules. She and Trixie went through six weeks of obedience school and the little Pap had passed with flying colors. She still had lots of very puppy moments, but she was maturing into a good little dog who wanted to please. She clearly adored Anna and Sawyer, which was grand because they both loved her right back.
Although dogs needed to be fully grown before they could do agility, Anna had started Trixie on some simple tricks after she’d learned from YouTube videos and lots of online reading that Papillons excelled in agility because of how active and energetic they were. They could move pretty fast for their size and were intelligent enough to learn tricks quickly. Trixie was certainly proof of that.
The puppy had already mastered a couple of simple obstacles like stepping over a hoop and scurrying through an open box that served as a tunnel. Anna never realized how much fun it was to have a warm furry creature who loved you unconditionally. And even more important, she’d never known such pleasure and peace as she experienced with Sawyer Braxton. The very rightness of it filled her days with warmth and her nights with heat.
“Come on.” She squeezed Sawyer’s hand. “It’s gonna be fun. We can show everyone how well Trixie’s doing. I think she’s finally gotten a handle on shake .”
“Show me.” Sawyer was killing time, but Anna complied, stooping down beside Trixie and giving her the Sit command.
Trixie sat, quivering in anticipation.
“Trixie, shake.” Anna extended her hand, and Trixie lifted her right front paw. “Good girl!”
Sawyer chuckled. “Impressive. Can I try it?”
“Sure.” Anna handed him the leash.
Sawyer and Trixie went through the ritual with the puppy doing everything exactly right, even preening a little under Sawyer’s head pat and good girl .
Anna took the leash. “Let’s get in there, you two.” She dropped a quick kiss on Sawyer’s cheek.
He turned his head and took her lips in a lingering kiss that left her breathless. “We could go back to your place,” he murmured, his breath stirring the hair over her ear. “It’s just right over there. Nobody’d miss us. Besides, you’re taking Lionel and Bertie to the airport tomorrow, so you’ll get your chance to say good-bye then.”
Anna dropped her head back. “Tempting.” She leaned away from his seeking touch. “But I’ve got stuff planned for today, so suck it up. We’re going in.”
She pushed him in front of her toward the breezeway between the house and the garage, the delicious scent of burgers and hot dogs cooking on the grill drawing her to the yard and her family. She glanced at her watch and then back over her shoulder at the street. She needed to get him into the yard before her surprise arrived. The rest of the family was unaware, but Cam and Harper had helped her plan something very special for the picnic. A farewell gift that would send her mom and dad over the moon before their trip to Greece.
The backyard was humming with activity and music—oh, the music. Someone had queued up an oldies station on Spotify and the Eagles provided background to the myriad conversations happening around the patio seating and several picnic tables that Harper and Cam had set up with checked tablecloths and vases of summer flowers. It was a summer celebration in full swing.
Jack and Lionel manned the grill while Maddie, Jazz, and Kara trooped in and out of the back door with dishes of potato salad, slaw, a veggie tray, chips, and buns. Anna’s brownies were already on the table—she’d brought them over earlier when she made final plans for her surprise with Cam and Harper. Mom’s lemon-iced angel food cake and Aunt Sarajane’s oatmeal cookies rounded out the desserts. At the end of the table, a huge metal washtub filled with ice held every imaginable beverage from beers, water, and soft drinks to Dykeman’s cider as well as a couple of bottles of Four Irish Brothers sparkling Traminette that Anna had brought over with her brownies. That was for later.
Bertie met them with open arms. “Where’s my sweet girlie?”
Anna knew her mom was talking about Trixie before Bertie even stooped down to pick up the dog.
With her arms full of squirming puppy, Bertie pressed a kiss to Anna’s cheek. “Hi, honey. You’re my sweet girlie, too.”
Anna laughed. “It’s okay, Mom, I knew she’d steal your heart.”
Bertie and Lionel had been puppy-sitting now and again while Anna was on the jobsite up on Orchard Hill, and the two of them were almost as dopey over the puppy as Cornell and Sarajane were over Jazz and Eli’s baby Leo. Maybe the whole grandparenting urge was endemic to the human species. Anna didn’t know for sure, but she was certain of one thing. Today, she’d at least begin the trek that might eventually lead them there. She smiled affectionately as her mom took Trixie over to where Sarajane and Cornell sat on a cushioned settee with baby Leo, who cooed and giggled when he touched the puppy’s soft fur.
The thought had barely passed through her head when Harper crept up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. “They’re here,” she whispered.
Cam greeted Sawyer with a handshake and led him over to the drinks asking, “Do you play Cornhole or are you more a croquet man?”
Anna threw Cam a grateful glance for the warm welcome and the distraction and headed back through the house with Harper while Cam led Sawyer back to the games. Suddenly nervous, she felt in her pocket for the small box she’d picked from Tierney earlier in the week. When they got to the front door, she saw seven people, including a boy about ten, piling out of shiny silver BMW X7.
“Nice ride,” Harper said, side-eyeing Anna. “This must be them.”
Anna quirked one brow, took a deep breath, and opened the door. “Hello!”
*
Sawyer had never played Cornhole, but he had been star pitcher on the slow-pitch softball team for the vet school at Purdue. How hard could it be to pitch a bag of dried corn into a hole in a board from twenty-five-odd feet? He was glad for the opportunity to meet Anna’s brothers and cousins in a game situation since this was the first time he’d been with everyone as a group. Her family was big and loud and boisterous, but they welcomed him like he was already one of their own, laughing and teasing him about his apparent inability to get the damn bag into the hole.
When he finally managed to hit the hole at the other end of the court —the term the Walker guys used to refer to the strip of grass at the back of the yard where the two boards were set up and pitcher boxes were outlined in hot pink paint at each end—he was high-fived and cheered by his teammate, Eli, and the onlookers. He looked around to see if Anna had caught his score, but she was nowhere to be seen. He shrugged as Eli stepped up to take his turn. She was probably in the house. Maybe next round, er inning , she’d want to be his partner.
All of a sudden, Harper was clapping her hands and shouting for everyone to gather around the slate patio. The bags were abandoned on the boards and the whole family grouped for what Sawyer assumed would be a moment of greeting and grace.
Anna must have been serving as host because she stepped out of the French door onto the wide top step by herself. But then she called, “Hey, Doc, can you come up here for a sec?”
Confused, he looked around at the rest of the Walkers, who appeared as befuddled as he was, although Cam and Harper had mysterious smiles on their faces. He threaded his way to the front of the group and when he got there, he was floored to see his entire family, right down to his ten-year-old nephew Dylan, troop out of the house and down the steps to the patio where they stood in a half circle. “What… H-how…” He was speechless. His whole family was here?
Anna took his hand. “I asked your family to join mine today because I’ve got something I want to say to you, and I want them to witness it.” She smiled down at his mom and dad, Huck, Shelby, Dylan, Phoebe, and her wife Kate, all of whom had big smiles on their faces. “When I met you, I thought I had all my ducks in a row. I was good all by myself. But then”—she swallowed hard—“then you kissed me and turned my world upside down. You showed me in so many ways what it means to truly love—from forcing a sweet little puppy into my life…” She quirked one blonde brow and the people he’d almost forgotten were there laughed as she continued, “To always being there for me, and making me want to be there for you in return. We’re right…you and me… and Trixie. We belong together.”
Sawyer’s heart nearly overflowed with joy, and his throat ached with emotion as he gazed into her eyes. “Anna, I—”
She hushed him with one finger against his lips and then, if he’d been wearing socks, she would’ve shocked them right off his feet when she took a knee. “Sawyer Braxton, I love you with all my heart and I always will. Would you do me the honor of becoming my husband?”
Time stood still, people disappeared, and the space around them narrowed to just him and Anna when she held up a box containing a wide gold ring with three small stones embedded in a diagonal row across the top—an emerald in the center and a diamond set on either side. He caught his breath. She’s proposing to me. All the things he’d imagined, wished for since the first day he saw Annabelle Walker in that field worrying over an abandoned puppy were coming true.
His knees went weak and rubbery, so he knelt to avoid falling down and cupped her cheek. Tears welled up in his eyes and he shook his head in disbelief. His Annabelle…always the unexpected. How he loved her for it.
A feeling of overwhelming tenderness poured through him. “Yes,” he said, but it came out in a croak, so he repeated it strong and sure. “Yes. I will.”
She blinked back the tears in her own eyes and placed the ring on his finger amid the shouts and hoorays and applause of all the family gathered around them. Without even standing up, he took her face in his palms and kissed her, slow and sweet, to show her how very much he cherished her.
When they finally stood up, everyone surrounded them with congratulations, pats on the back and hugs.
His mom pulled him close and whispered, “Oh, I like her, Sawyer, I like her a lot. She’s got panache.”
Jack opened the sparkling wine and poured glasses for a toast while Cam made introductions all around between the Walkers and the Braxtons. Sawyer and Anna were so taken with each other, they could barely focus on anyone else. As the furor calmed down, Bertie brought Trixie over. “We need a family picture.”
Sawyer glanced around at the family gathered there. “Will we all fit into one picture?”
Bertie shook her head. “No, son, your family.” And she placed the puppy in his arms, arranged only him and Anna on the steps and took the shot. When she showed him the picture, there they were—the three of them. Trixie, her perky wing ears pointed up, was nestled between them, and Anna gazed up at him with so much love in her eyes, his heart nearly burst.
He took Bertie’s phone and turned the screen so Anna could see the photo. “We are exactly right,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her temple. “The three of us together.”
Trixie barked a quick sharp sound, licked his chin, and then licked Anna’s.
Anna laughed that glorious full-hearted laugh. “Even Trixie agrees.”
The End