24. Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ryan
S imeon sometimes made very complex things sound very simple. Cutting crown molding was actually a complex process when everything was factored in. Yet as he did it, he made it appear effortless. And although I’d eyed the ceiling fan with trepidation, he explained the electrician had done the tough stuff and his only job was to attach… Yeah, I’d sort of glazed over the details. Because when, for fuck’s sake, was I ever going to install a ceiling fan?
Therefore, Simeon proclaiming I was going home with him shouldn’t have been really complicated. Except not only did we have to travel to his grandparents’ home in a driving snowstorm, but we’d have to eventually come back for my car. Unless I left it until spring. At the moment, that felt entirely possible.
He’s going to come home with me .
Maddox cast his gaze to me. Asking me silently, I believed, if I was okay with this. Otherwise, a space on the floor here was mine. With kids. And a television.
I couldn’t think of anything less appealing.
Maybe not the kids part—although they scared the crap out of me. No, the sleeping on the floor.
Hillary wrapped her arms around her husband. “We’re fine to sleep down here with the kids.”
I shook my head. “Simeon’s grandmother’s lasagna is the best.” I eyed him, hoping he’d read my meaning.
“She’s probably unthawing s-some right now.” Simeon grinned.
I hated asking him to make something up—because I didn’t know if Nanny was unthawing lasagna—but Maddox’s sister seemed like the type of person who would give up comfort for the sake of someone else.
Simeon gestured to the door. “Your feet are going to get wet.”
Maddox tried to grab his coat. “I should shovel—”
“No way.” Steve reached for his. “Stubborn man.”
Ah right. The knee. Maddox had mentioned physiotherapy had done wonders but that he still had bad days. I worried today might be one of them. I hadn’t witnessed anything—but perhaps others, like those who knew him well, had.
“I’m good. My own fault for wearing canvass sneakers.” I gently nudged Simeon with my shoulder. “Let’s go.”
“Yeah.”
We waved, then my savior opened the door.
And it became immediately apparent why we were in such deep shit.
The wind had blown the snow away from the door—so, in those first few steps, the path appeared deceptively clear and simple to maneuver. Soon, though, the snow was nearly to our knees. “What the hell?”
Simeon hustled—as fast as he could go in almost two feet of snow, creating a trail for me to follow. We found tire tracks, which made the trek a touch easier.
A touch.
By the time we were out on the street, he had the passenger door open.
In turn, I hustled to get into the truck. I ignored the pulling in my chest as he boosted me in. I wasn’t short, but his truck felt like the damn thing was twenty feet off the ground. Which was likely a good thing on a night like tonight. As soon as I was inside, I pounded my feet to the floor—trying to dislodge the accumulated snow. Already, the shit was melting.
Simeon opened the back door, grabbed the snow brush, then slammed it shut.
I almost asked him to turn on the heater, but I figured he knew what he was doing. Maybe he wouldn’t take long.
And about four minutes later, he got into the truck, tossed the brush into the foot well of the back seat, and had the truck running in mere moments. He jacked up the heat.
I held my hands before the vents.
He started fidgeting with the controls for the defroster so he could get a clear view from the windshield.
I grimaced—I would’ve been lost. I’d had a fancy car when I lived with my dad. Parked in our massive garage. I’d never ventured out in the snow. Why bother when everything could be delivered by someone crazy enough to go out in that weather? If I didn’t go out, then I didn’t have to deal with snow. Plus, Vancouver and snow didn’t mix—most people didn’t have snow tires and even fewer actually knew how to drive in the white stuff.
People like me.
“O-okay?”
Suddenly, I realized my butt and back were toasty. “Seat warmers?”
“F-for you. I’d be too hot.”
Well, you are hot . Except I’d never say that out loud. “I’m appreciative.” I squinted as I gazed out the windshield. “Can you see?”
“I’ll keep m-my headlights on low instead of using the high-beams. Those r-reflect off the falling snow. We’ll g-go slowly.” As he said the words, he inched onto the road. The road that had so much snow that I could barely believe it.
“What about a plow?”
“They d-do all of downtown Mission City first. They’ll b-be up in the mountains t-tomorrow.”
“And if you needed to go out?”
“M-most of us have four-wheel d-drive.”
“Ah.”
My car had precisely none of those things. As I eyed the high-tech dashboard that ran Simeon’s truck, my mind spun. Instead of focusing on all the tech keeping us safe, I kept my gaze straight ahead.
Simeon turned us onto the main road I recognized. The one that would lead to his house.
Guilt swamped me. His grandparents didn’t need a house guest. Especially so close to Christmas.
I spotted something on the road. “Stop! Oh God, stop!”
We weren’t traveling fast, so Simeon braked. He didn’t slam on them, which wasn’t a bad thing.
But I feared he wouldn’t stop in time.
As soon as we were stopped, I shoved open the door and, through the knee-deep snow, made my way around to the front of the truck. The headlights illuminated a black thing right in the middle of our lane.
“Don’t!” Simeon’s voice carried. “You d-don’t know what—”
“It’s a dog.”
“It c-could be a bear cub.”
I’d done some reading. Bear cubs were a thing in spring. No way one could be this small in late November. “It’s a dog.” I knelt and held out my hand. The snow stung as it hit the exposed skin, but I didn’t care.
Slowly, the dog sniffed.
“We need to get him help. I don’t know if he’s just cold or injured or both.”
Simeon stood beside me. “We h-have to get off the road. S-someone might hit us from b-behind.” Slowly he palpated the dog.
“Do you know what you’re doing?”
“N-nope.”
“Oh…okay.” I wouldn’t have been any better. At least he’d been around Tiffany and Rex. That was much more than me.
“I think she’s j-just cold. At least she hasn’t b-bitten me.”
God, I hadn’t even thought of that.
Simeon unzipped his coat.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I was freezing with my peacoat and a scarf.
“C-can you get in the truck? I c-could put her on your lap. Not the s-safest, but that might work.”
Getting into the truck wouldn’t be easy—but I could do it. For this poor animal, I’d do anything.
I managed to secure myself before Simeon placed the creature on my lap. As he slammed the door, she gazed up at me with the most beautiful brown eyes. I expected wariness, but when I held out my hand, she licked it. The scratchy tongue against my cold-reddened skin was almost painful, but I didn’t care. “How did you get out, little one?” I tried to find a collar, but couldn’t.
Simeon hopped into the truck, secured his seatbelt, and we were off again. “I c-can’t believe no one came behind us.”
“Maybe because no one’s crazy enough to drive tonight?”
He chuckled. “Maybe.”
Within about ten minutes, he maneuvered us into the left turn and then onto his street. We didn’t have other tracks to follow, and that made for slow going. “What are we going to do about the dog? Can we call animal control?”
“They w-won’t come. Would be d-dangerous anyway. We’ll have to k-keep her safe until the plows come.” He leaned forward. “I hope you d-didn’t have plans.”
I chuckled. “Physiotherapy on Monday. Marcus will understand if I can’t make it. Or he’ll just bill for a canceled appointment. That’s fine as well.”
“That’s m-money.” Still, Simeon kept us moving forward.
“Daddy’s money.” I hesitated. “He’s paying all the medical stuff.” An inward wince, thinking of all the things I’d put on my credit card.
“You okay?” He glanced over at me for a fraction of a second before returning his attention to the road.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Just thinking I need to get a job and acknowledging there probably isn’t a job out there that doesn’t require some tech.”
“S-security guard.”
I scoffed. “Okay, I couldn’t run ten feet, but I suppose…”
“H-hang on.”
I gripped the dog tighter.
Instead of whimpering, she licked my face.
I giggled.
“What h-happened?”
Simeon turned us into what I assumed was his driveway. I’d spotted the mailbox—same as most people had on the street—but I’d only have been able to navigate by aiming at the space between the line of trees and praying I had it right. “I can g-get us into the garage.”
As he said the words, the garage door opened.
“She licked me.”
Simeon smiled. For the first time since we’d heard about the snow.
He struck me as stoic. He hadn’t panicked. He’d remained calm. His calm had kept me calm. I appreciated that.
He inched us forward and once we were inside, he cut the engine and let out a long sigh.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
He glanced over at me. “F-for what?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m Canadian. We apologize when someone just had to do something difficult, and we were partly the cause.”
He cocked his head. “Y-you had nothing to do with the storm. It’s not like I d-drove you home.”
“Yes, but I could’ve stayed at Ravi and Maddox’s.”
A laugh burst forth from him. “Oliver would have m-monopolized your time and k-kept you up all night. The t-twins might’ve slept…” He sobered. “I d-didn’t see the dog. I would’ve hit her.”
I couldn’t argue. “You must be cold.”
He shook his head. “S-sweating.”
“Ah. Well, she’s cold and so am I. Do we take her into the house?”
“Have to. The g-garage isn’t heated.”
“Okay then.”
“I’ll c-come around and get her. Hang on.” He exited the vehicle and came around to my side. He opened the door and gingerly took the bundle from my lap.
Our gazes met.
“You d-did good.” He offered a shy smile and then stepped back.
I unbuckled my seatbelt and slipped out of the truck. I thought we might try the staircase on the outside, but was relieved when we headed into the house.
We entered a small room with a stacked washer/dryer, a sink, as well as some pegs against one of the walls.
“H-hang up your coat and scarf.”
“Sure. Thanks.” I draped the scarf over one peg and the soaked coat over another. I toed out of my freezing-wet sneakers. At least the color hadn’t run. My pristine white socks were still clean—but waterlogged.
“T-take off those as well. How b-bad are your jeans?”
“Uh…”
Simeon laid the dog, still wrapped in his coat, on the little table.
She woofed.
He cringed.
I giggled. “They’re wet.”
“O-okay. You watch the d-dog and I’ll get something for you to p-put on.”
“Uh, Simeon…?”
Our gazes met.
“I’m much smaller than you.”
“Yeah, b-but you’re Bops's size. I’ll figure s-something out.”
I took care of the dog while he bent to untie his laces.
He struggled, and I winced. His fingers were red. Somehow neither of us had gotten frostbite. When he was out of his boots, jacket, and socks, he headed into the house.
I gazed down at the dog.
She looked up at me. Shivering.
“I know, sweetheart. We’ll get this sorted.”
“Did I hear a bark?” Nanny appeared at the door.
Am I supposed to hide her? Pretend I don’t know what’s going on?
The dog barked again.
Well, okay then.
Nanny stepped forward to inspect the little one. “Oh, how cute. She must be frozen. I have heated towels.” She started to leave.
“I’m sure those are your good towels.” Because one usually didn’t heat crap towels…right?
She waved me off. “Nothing’s too good for a little pooch. We haven’t had one since…” She tapped her lips. “I want to say fifty-eight. Simeon’s mother—my daughter—was allergic. To just about every breed. So she never could be around them, and although I told Simeon we could get a dog when he came here, he said he didn’t want one.”
Well, that wasn’t right. He’d told me how much he’d always wanted a dog. More likely, as a scared nineteen-year-old orphan, he hadn’t wanted to make waves. Hadn’t wanted to disrupt the household he was moving into.
“Simeon!”
My ears rang. For a ninety-something woman, she had pipes I’d never have predicted.
Within moments, Simeon appeared. “I’m s-sorry. We’ll t-take her d-downstairs.” He appeared on the verge of panic.
“Nanny was just going to suggest getting the heated towels.” I normally wouldn’t have spoken for the woman, but I recognized panic when I saw it.
“Oh.” He let out a breath. “They’re your g-good ones.”
His grandmother put her hands on her hips. “I have at least ten sets of good towels. Everybody keeps giving me more. The puppy needs warmth.”
“Y-yes.” He stepped into the room and handed me a pair of track pants with a sheepish look.
“Thank you.” I didn’t care if they were his grandfather’s. I needed to get out of my wet jeans.
“B-be right back.” He took off in a hurry.
“Dear boy.” Nanny advanced toward me. “Is he hurt? He? She?”
“Simeon says she’s a girl. He checked her over, and she seems fine. Cold and wet…but okay.”
“Well, we’ll get her warmed up. Do you think she’s thirsty? Hungry? I could fry up some ground beef. I wish we had dog food.”
“She doesn’t feel emaciated. In fact, I suspect someone’s worried about her. No collar, though. And we can’t check for a microchip.” I surveyed the dog’s inner ear and didn’t see a tattoo. How I knew to do that, I wasn’t even certain.
Simeon returned a moment later with a pile of towels. He frowned. “You h-haven’t changed.”
“That would be my cue to leave.” Nanny eyed me. “Glad you’re here, young man. Have you had dinner?”
“Plenty of hors d’oeuvres and treats.”
“Ah, but nothing of substance and not for a while. I made my baked rosemary chicken, garlic bread, and broccoli. You interested? There’s cheese sauce…”
Like I need cheese sauce as an incentive. “That sounds delicious—but only if it’s no trouble.”
“None.” She waved as she took off.
Simeon held the towels to his chest. “I’ll take her while you get changed. Then I’ll run d-downstairs and change.”
Only then did I notice how soaked he was. “Yeah, okay.”
He advanced into the room
Together, we got the pooch out of his coat and under a pile of warm towels.
She licked our faces.
I felt gratitude like I couldn’t remember. Tonight could’ve been a disaster. Instead, I was safe. The dog was safe.
Simeon would take care of us.