18. Chapter 17
Chapter 17
M arlie was chattering nonstop in the way she only did when she was incredibly excited. I loved to hear it. Half of my focus was on the road, and the GPS guiding us to our destination. The other half was listening intently as Marlie rambled quickly, “and then” peppering every other sentence. I couldn’t help the smile that curled my lips. It was fantastic to hear my kid this happy.
She’d been the one I’d worried about the most during the transition.
“And then Brynly said she gets to have the whole day off for her birthday. And that it was just so sad I only got to take a half day. And I was gonna tell her that she was being dumb. But Juni told her to shut her stupid face. And then Mr. Huntley made Juni apologize.”
I had to hold back a laugh, because I was definitely on Juni’s side. “Well, Mr. Huntley was right, huh? Because it’s not nice to tell people to shut up or call them stupid.”
Marlie’s sigh gusted out of her. “Yeah. I guess. Except she did need to shut her stupid face.”
I did laugh at that, though I curbed it quickly. It was more her tone, disgruntled and grumpy, that caused amusement than her words. I knew my children were polite most of the time, and Marlie more than the other two, but I still had to take the opportunity to remind her that it was better to be kind.
“Be that as it may, it’s still better to speak kindly, even if the other person is being rude.”
“Yeah, I know.” The accompanying eye roll was in her tone, but since I hadn’t seen it, I let it slide. “Hey, Dad?”
“Hey what?”
“Where are we going?” It was the fourth time she’d asked.
I gave her the same answer I’d given her the other three times. “It’s a surprise.”
She groaned, but it was followed by a giggle, so I laughed too. Another minute passed, before her next question. “Are we almost there? We’ve been driving forever.”
Glancing at the GPS, I confirmed, “Yep. Almost. About ten more minutes.”
“Okay.” She let out a happy little hum. “Did you know Juni has five brothers and sisters?”
I’d been hearing more about Juni the past few days, and it seemed like the girl was making an effort to befriend my daughter. Given the stories I’d heard, Juni didn’t take shit from anyone and hated bullies. Juni was a winner in my book.
“Nope, you didn’t tell me that.”
“Five! And Juni has to share a room with her little sister and…” Marlie was off, telling me about all the things that she’d learned about Juni’s family, and I was happy to listen to her prattle.
It wasn’t until we pulled into the parking lot of our destination that Marlie stopped. Just mid-sentence, complete silence. I turned off the car and then unbuckled, so I could twist in my seat and look at her. She was staring wide eyed at the building, breathing fast, but completely shocked.
I had to rein in my glee.
“Uh, Dad? That sign says SPCA.”
“Sure does, baby girl.”
Marlie let out a little “eep” like noise. When she spoke, her voice was almost breathless. “They rescue animals and then people can adopt them.”
“Yeah, that’s what they do.” I took a breath and Marlie’s hopeful gaze shot to mine. I smiled. “Want to adopt a dog?”
The squeal my girl let out was loud in the car, and I couldn’t help the wince. She couldn’t care less. She was so excited she got stuck in her seatbelt as she tried to get it off, all the while rambling a mile a minute.
“Yes! Oh my gosh, please! I promise I will walk it and feed it and brush it and play with it and I’ll always do everything I’m supposed to do and I won’t ever ignore it and—”
“Hey.” I had to shout, just a bit, to get her attention. Marlie gulped a breath, her eyes trained on me. “I know you’ll be very responsible. You’ve done a lot of research about dogs and I know you will care for one to the best of your ability. But I want you to know two things first. Are you listening?”
She nodded hard, her pigtails bobbing. “Yes.”
“Good. Thing one is you are nine years old, and that’s a lot of responsibility for one person, but especially a kid. So while you will have to do all those things, I’ll have your back and I’ll help you too. Got it, got it?”
“Got it.” Her smile could not get any bigger. “Tris and Harper will probably want to help, too.”
“Most likely. You listening for the second thing, Marlie? This is the important one I really want you to hear.”
Marlie nodded, but then paused. She took a big breath and let it out slowly. Then she closed her eyes and did it twice more. I liked seeing her work to regulate her own emotions—it was something we tried to teach all three of them—and I waited patiently for her to be ready. It only took her a few more seconds before she opened her eyes and looked at me.
“Ready.”
“Good. We’re going to look today but we might not find the right dog for us.” I’d filled out the application a couple of weeks ago, and we were already approved. I wasn’t worried about that. I even had a dog I was interested in, based on the profile the Elmore SPCA had on their site. “The most important thing is we do what’s best for the dog, and for our family. If we don’t find a dog today, we will come back. And if we do find the right dog, we might not be able to take it home today. I need you to keep all those things in mind.”
She chewed her lip and twirled her hair as she processed that. “I might need reminding.”
I chuckled and popped open my door, going around to the back. By the time I opened her door, Marlie had managed to untangle herself from the seatbelt. I held out my hand and she took it, using it as support to hop down. She didn’t let go even after her feet were on the ground.
“I’ll help you remember. Ready, baby girl?”
“Ready!”
As soon as we entered the building, we could hear faint barking. Marlie’s grin was so wide she looked like a cartoon. I didn’t even have a chance to look around before the young man behind the desk greeted us.
“Hello and welcome!” He stood up and had his own wide smile. “I’m Devin. You must be the Caldwells.”
No appointment was needed, but I’d called ahead and let them know when I expected to be in, and that I was interested in seeing Ranger. I wanted to make sure the dog was still available before we got there. Not that I was opposed to looking at other dogs, but he’d caught my eye.
“We are. I’m Law, and this is my daughter Marlie. I called about Ranger?”
Marlie squeezed my hand, and when I glanced down, she had a question in her eyes. I crouched down to her level and she stepped in between my knees.
“Ranger seems like a good dog for us, so I thought we’d meet him first. Unless you want to look around first?”
Twirling her hair around her free hand, she thought about it for a few seconds. I could practically see the gears turning in her head. And I knew her well enough to know what was going through her mind. Part of her really wanted to see all the dogs. But the rest of her trusted my judgment.
“We can see Ranger,” she whispered, shyer now that a stranger was in our midst.
But Devin had walked close enough to hear her, and he didn’t hesitate to answer. “Awesome. Ranger is a great dog. Loves kids and other dogs. Super friendly and really sweet. If you just follow me, I’ll bring him out to you.”
Two minutes later, we were in a visitation room and though I sat, Marlie remained standing, pressed up against my side. She was nervous now, and I wasn’t sure if it was because we were in an unfamiliar environment and a stranger was around—she often got anxious in that situation—or because she wanted to make her own decisions. Before I got the chance to ask, though, Devin returned with the dog.
Marlie’s entire demeanor changed when faced with the light brown dog. According to the site, he was a lab mixed with pit bull terrier. He had black markings around his eyes and snout, and a white patch on his chest. He strained a little at the leash, and his tail was wagging hard and fast. He was a cute thing, a little bigger than medium size but definitely not what I’d call a large breed.
With her hand outstretched, Marlie approached cautiously. Ranger sniffed and sniffed, and then gave a lick. Marlie let out a giggle. And I knew my girl. It was love at first sight. Devin handed her the leash, and told us to take as much time as we needed. Five seconds later, Marlie was on the floor, Ranger half in her lap, and getting all the pets he could possibly want.
I pulled out my phone and snapped several pictures of the happy duo. In one, Marlie’s eyes were closed because she was laughing so hard. But my favorite came a few minutes later, when Ranger laid down, and Marlie draped herself over his back. The dog peered up at me like, “yeah, whatever, this is fine” and Marlie was smiling sweetly. We’d have a talk about appropriate behavior around dogs, but for the moment, it was okay.
That was the one I sent to Oak.
His response came a few seconds later.
Looks like a match made in heaven.
It took me a few minutes to realize that Oak was the only one I’d sent the picture to. Because he’d been the one I thought of. The one I wanted to share this with. He was the one who’d jumped at the chance to entertain Harper and Tristan while I took Marlie on this secret mission. And he was the one I’d rambled to about my big plan. I shouldn’t have been surprised, really. Oak had taken up a lot of my thoughts lately.
I still didn’t know exactly where things were going. But he’d said he didn’t want strings, and I was going with it for now. Because he was adorable and sexy, sweet, and needy. And I enjoyed every second we spent together. I was just going to take it one day at a time until he was ready to move on to someone else.
“I love him already, Daddy.”
The daddy was nice. I didn’t hear it often enough anymore from my girls, and I missed it. Even Tris was starting to use Dad more than Daddy these days. But it was part of growing up, I supposed.
I smiled at my daughter. “Yeah? You want to look at anybody else?”
The gasp I got sounded like she thought I said something scandalous. Ranger pushed himself to a sit and leaned against Marlie’s side, letting out a big doggy sigh.
“No. You were right. He’s perfect for us.”
I thought so too. I took another picture and that was the one I sent to everyone else.
Dinner service was in full swing, so Dana was in the kitchen working. But the rest of us had commandeered the back corner of the dining room, pushing two tables together. Felix had been unable to make it, but Loreena was there. Sean, Mary, and Regan had arrived not ten minutes ago. Charlie and Teague had been waiting for us when we got home. And even though Caitlyn had been unable to make it in person, she was there in the iPad, the Facetime call live, so that she could be part of the festivities.
“Ranger has to have one last check up tomorrow, and Aunt Nic is gonna bring Cricket and Steve on Saturday when we go to pick him up. As long as the dogs all get along, we can bring Ranger home!” Marlie was telling her mom, but everyone else was listening in.
“That’s so exciting,” Caitlyn dutifully responded. I leaned a little closer to the screen, and I saw her micro expression. Cait and I had talked for a long time about my plan to get Marlie a dog. Cait wasn’t so excited about the dog himself; she wasn’t much of an animal person, but she was thrilled for our daughter.
And, if I wasn’t mistaken, a little sad about missing Marlie’s birthday. But at the same time, she couldn’t have made the trip. She’d had surgeries scheduled all day and had pulled rank to push one back an hour, just so she could call in and be part of this. I knew Caitlyn was happy and fulfilled with her new role, but that didn’t mean it was always easy.
Oak stole my attention when he collapsed into the seat next to me. Cora was serving the meal alone tonight, which wasn’t that big of a deal, but it had been the two of them most nights since he’d come to work at Black Dog Inn, and he was helping where he could. Mostly getting up every now and then to bus tables.
“You okay?” I asked softly and nudged him with a knee. He looked exhausted.
“Yes.” He slid his hand onto my thigh and squeezed, before trailing his fingers up my inseam toward my zipper. I sucked in a breath, and though he was purposefully not looking at me, there was no denying the smirk that crossed his lips. “Just tired.”
“Oh. Too bad.” I adjusted my seat, turning slightly. I dipped my head toward his ear. “Because I was going to sneak you into my house after I put the kids to bed tonight.”
Oak sucked in a breath so fast he started choking. He yanked his hand off my lap and covered his mouth while he coughed. I chuckled, glad to have turned the tables a little.
“Dad, are you telling secrets?” Tristan shouted, his tone a little accusatory. It drew the attention of several nearby patrons. An older couple laughed, but a man in a business suit looked perturbed. Too bad for him. Kids were kids.
“Inside voice, Tris,” I reminded him, because it was the right thing to do.
“I wanna know the secret.” At least he spoke at a regular volume this time.
“But then it wouldn’t be a secret,” I volleyed back.
His little face screwed up, mutinous expression morphing his happy smile. But Mary interceded, snagging his attention. “Come here and tell me what you want for your birthday, Tristan. You’re next. Only two more months.”
“I want a drone, Grams. And a skateboard. And a bike with only two wheels!”
I tuned him out because I already had a long list, most of which he wouldn’t be getting. Instead, I gave my attention back to Oak, who had thankfully recovered from his coughing fit. He wouldn’t look at me directly, but he kept glancing my way. There was no mistaking the heat in his eyes.
“Maybe I could be persuaded to stop by. For a few hours anyway.”
I grinned, happy to hear it. But there was a part of me that didn’t only want it to be for a few hours. A part of me wanted him in my bed all night long. There was something about cuddling the crap out of my partner while we slept that made me really happy. I didn’t even know if Oak was a sleep snuggler or if he preferred to have space. There was so much I didn’t know. So much I wasn’t sure I had the right to know.
That thought made my chest hurt.
“Hey.”
Oak’s voice was soft, questioning, and I turned to him instinctually. His worry was evident in those startling eyes.
“I’m fine,” I assured him, though I was anything but. I’d been the one putting the brakes on between us, the one who had all the reasons why we shouldn’t get together. He was the one that only wanted fun. My brain was on board with all of that. My heart, on the other hand, was trying to catch feelings. And I couldn’t have that.
“You sure?” He asked out of the corner of his mouth. When I nodded, he gave me a salacious little grin, there and gone again. “Then I’ll be waiting for your text.”
With that he hopped up, and I watched him go. Damn, that ass. No, I couldn’t think about that. Not now.
There was just something about him that had me in a chokehold though. And even though my brain tried to remind me of all the reasons this couldn’t go anywhere, I knew I’d look back on this and realize that this was the moment I decided that whatever Oak wanted, for however long he wanted it, he would get.
“Dad! Mom’s gotta go cut people up now.” Tristan’s voice rang across the space, drawing chuckles from everyone except the prim and proper businessman. Putting everything else out of my head, at least for now, I focused on my girl, her birthday, and the people who had gathered to celebrate her.