32. Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Two
Ryan
T he parade was fun—watching the kids interact with all the people participating.
Loriana, Marnie, Mitch, and Jake represented the library. Well, the men pulled the wagon while the women distributed pencils with fuzzy heads and the library’s name on them. Opal’s reaction upon being gifted hers was priceless and, if only briefly, derailed her from her mission to see Santa Claus. Angus kept her enthusiasm up, even though he’d confided in Simeon and me that he’d never actually believed in Santa. His parents had raised him to be pragmatic—his word, not ours.
Victor and Violet weren’t all that impressed with the goings on. In fact, eventually Violet just decided to take a nap.
Ravi gazed at me ruefully. “She’s going to be up all night and very cranky tomorrow while we’re on our flight. In retrospect, flying to Calgary the day after the parade isn’t such a good idea.” Then he smiled. “You’re sure you don’t mind house-sitting?”
“Are you kidding? Getting out of my studio and into a mansion?”
My new friend guffawed. “I don’t think a cabin with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a recalcitrant dog, and stuffed with baby paraphernalia counts as a mansion.”
He was right, of course. And having grown up in one of the biggest houses in all of Vancouver meant I knew the difference. Still, Ravi and Maddox’s home was the perfect size. Simeon’s home was the perfect size. One didn’t need nearly twenty-five rooms for just two people. I’d always assumed my father would remarry—but he never had.
I checked my phone.
Jake’s people had sent me the rough cut of the interview—to Simeon’s phone. I hadn’t watched it. I couldn’t change anything…but I could be prepared.
Jake had also read his people the riot act and that if he discovered my father had early access that heads would roll.
Given how much money my father had, I wouldn’t be surprised if he managed to buy access between now and Sunday anyhow.
“Santa! Santa, Santa, Santa!” Opal jumped up and down with enthusiasm.
Violet woke up, scrunched her face and started to wail.
Undaunted, Opal tried to get out onto the street.
Justin had a firm grip on her.
Maddox had Violet in his arms by the time Opal had her candy from Santa and he’d moved on.
“Daddy? Papa? Want to say hi .”
Justin winced. “We’ll go to the mall on Sunday, okay sweetheart? Santa will be there.”
“Mall?” She squinted.
Stanley and Justin exchanged looks.
Internally, I smiled. I didn’t do malls. Never had and never would. Apparently these two weren’t big fans either.
“Santa’s hanging out near the ice cream store.” Angus glanced at his fathers.
With evident relief, Justin smiled. “Yes, ice cream.”
“Yay! Go now.” Opal grabbed Stanley’s hand and tried to drag him down the street. Assumedly toward their vehicle.
“Santa’s still busy.” Stanley crouched. “But we can have a scoop of ice cream at home before bedtime. Two more sleeps and then we’ll try to see Santa at the mall.” He glanced over at Justin with a bit of trepidation in his eyes.
Justin leaned toward me. “Last year she had a meltdown and cried before, during, and after the Santa visit. Whoever has that job is a true saint.”
A job I would never, not in a million years, take.
Simeon, who stood quietly beside me, grasped my hand. “G-good luck.”
“Oh, we’re going to need it.” Justin rolled his eyes. Then, as if catching himself, smiled. “I love them.”
Angus snagged his hand. “We love you. Opal wants her ice cream.”
Opal was, in fact, trying to drag Stanley down the street.
Justin wrapped his arm around Angus’s shoulder. “You want some too?”
Angus grinned. “I won’t say no .”
“Yeah, I suspected not.”
The family took off.
I pivoted my attention back to Maddox and his family. “I’ll be there tomorrow morning at ten.”
“Great.” Maddox jiggled Violet. “And Chia’s welcome, okay? As long as she gets along with other dogs. Don’t worry about anything. The house is dog proofed.”
Simeon squeezed my hand.
Chia was home with Nanny and Bops tonight. Getting plenty of love and spoiling. She was, though, in all the ways that mattered, Simeon’s dog.
And since I’d sort of been staying over every night, she was quite accepting of me. We’d collected all her paraphernalia from a grateful Chloe who’d tearfully thanked us about a million times for taking her grandmother’s beloved dog.
A dog who’d certainly wormed her way into my heart.
Sort of like the man who’d taken the mantle as her owner. Although he preferred companion since he didn’t like the concept of ownership.
Standing here with Simeon watching the parade was fun, but in a way, I wasn’t looking forward to the next five days. Simeon needed to stick close to home because of his grandparents, and I’d committed to staying at Ravi and Maddox’s. Oh well, after those five days at Maddox’s, I had plenty of time to focus on my man.
The snow had halted much of the work on the prefab house, as Simeon had mostly finished the interior. Crazy man now thought he could have one of the Dixon sisters’ bathrooms finished before Christmas.
Gio was eager for the work, so they had their marching orders.
I wish I could help. With the bathrooms as small as they were, I would be an impediment, not a help.
Beyond that, I wasn’t really looking forward to all the tech in Maddox and Ravi’s home…but I was finding myself less panicked. Plus, I didn’t have to turn on the television. Thank God, Simeon didn’t mind just sitting around and talking when we were home.
Once most of the parade goers had moved on, we made our way back to his truck.
“D-do you need to pick up anything at your apartment?” He bit his lip. “I mean, you’re c-coming home with me tonight…right?”
I pressed a kiss to his lips. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
His relief—and happiness—were palpable.
We did snag more clothes from my apartment—including a nifty sweater Bops had gifted me. I figured he’d get a kick out of me wearing it. I’d never cared about fashion. In fact, I didn’t even really know if the clothes were in or out of style. Moreover, I didn’t give a fuck.
After sharing a quick chat with Nanny and Bops, Simeon ran Chia out and then we headed downstairs while his grandparents headed to bed. They’d clearly accepted I was going to be hanging around, and they appeared happy about this change in circumstance.
After a seriously amazing hand job—Simeon’s hand was big enough to encircle both our dicks, and he jerked us to climax—we snuggled under the blankets. When we awoke in the morning, Chia demonstrated her new trick.
She could jump on the bed.
I frowned. “How can something so small jump so high?”
Simeon rubbed his face. “D-don’t know. But Nanny’s making pancakes as a sendoff for you.”
“Uh, she realizes I’ll literally be one street over?”
“Yep.”
“Okay.”
“S-she’s going to miss you.” He nuzzled my neck. “I’m going to m-miss you.”
I tipped his chin up so our gazes met. “Not as much as I’m going to miss you.”
To my delight, he rolled his eyes.
I pressed my lips to his.
We were late for pancakes, but Nanny gave us that look and Bops commented on the warming weather and how we might give Chia more freedom since she clearly knew who her fathers were.
I nearly choked.
Simeon just grinned.
Two hours later, after possibly the most chaotic handoff ever, Ravi, Maddox, and the kids were on their way.
Chia and Princess Sofia were curled up in front of the fireplace—even though it wasn’t on.
I’d have sworn they were even more exhausted than I felt.
Simeon pulled me under a blanket on the couch, and we spent the next few hours reading. I’d convinced him to try the series about the female police detective set in the future and he was loving it. He swore he’d thank Marnie the next time he saw her.
Lunch was simple soup and sandwiches and then we walked the dogs all the way to the end of the street and the cul-de-sac where Adam and Dean lived.
Who just happened to be heading out for a walk with Chip, their retriever.
Sofia pulled on the leash as hard as a ten-pound dog could, to see her friend. Chia was guarded at first, since she was smaller than Chip’s head, but when he played gently with Sofia, she allowed herself a careful nose-sniff.
Dean waved enthusiastically. “Great. You’re saving us a stamp or two.”
Simeon and I exchanged glances.
Adam smiled. “What he’s trying to say is, we’re inviting you to our wedding at Healing Horses on Christmas Eve.”
I blinked. “You want us?” I didn’t question their sanity—but it was a near thing.
Dean grinned. “You thought you’d get out of it? We’re basically having everyone who was at the cocktail party last weekend. Maybe without the snowstorm, but we’ll see.”
“You w-want a snowstorm?” Simeon gawked.
“Well, I’d like a Canadian wedding.” Dean snagged Adam’s hand. “What’s more Canadian than snow? I asked my friend Sam, but he can’t make it from Australia. Too busy with his tourist business. But he’s coming in the winter. Their winter.” His quick clarification had me remembering the seasons were reversed down under. “Or we’ll go there.”
Adam blinked. “We will?”
Dean glanced at him. “We talked about this?”
His fiancé scowled.
“When I was, uh…” Dean glanced over at us, his cheeks turning a nice pink that had nothing to do with the still-chilly temperatures.
“Blowing me.” Adam apparently didn’t have a problem filling in the blank. He glared. “We’ll talk.”
Dean pressed a kiss to his lips. “And I’ll convince you.”
“Yeah, I probably will allow myself to be convinced.”
Adam’s rueful smile made my heart sing. I barely knew the guy, but Simeon had filled in some blanks. Terrible car crash. Twin brother killed. Burn scars. Guilt. In some ways, he felt like a kindred spirit. Someone I wanted to get to know better. Even if we didn’t exchange our trauma stories, I hoped he might be someone who would see me clearly. See my pain and how I worked to get past it.
Dean turned his attention back to us. “Two in the afternoon. Dress warmly. Well, the actual ceremony is inside, but we’re planning winter fun.”
“If there’s snow and not rain.” Adam rolled his eyes. “This wasn’t my idea.”
“We’d talked about a long engagement, but…” Dean gazed at his fiancé. “We decided we didn’t want to wait.”
I nearly asked if that had something to do with Dean not being a citizen, but I remembered something about permanent residence status and a secure job and…did it really matter? I was under the distinct impression that if Dean had to return to Australia for some reason, Adam would simply follow.
“We’ll be there.” I glanced at Simeon. “Sorry, I shouldn’t speak for you. You might—”
He pressed a chilled finger to my lips. Then he turned to the happy couple. “We’ll b-be there.”
“Great.” Dean appeared to be nearly vibrating with excitement. Or wanting to jump up and down.
As if tired of just standing around, Chip bopped Sofia on the head.
Sofia lowered on her front paws and then lunged.
The big mutt lunged in return. Clearly not in an aggressive way. In a let’s have fun way.
Chia slowly backed away.
“Okay, on that note.” Adam tugged Chip’s leash.
The beautiful dog immediately came to his side.
Sofia yipped.
I gently guided her to my side.
“Oh, no gifts.” Adam met both our gazes. “If you’re in a position to make a donation to the ranch, that’s great, but totally voluntary. We just want you to come, okay?”
“Perfect.” I smiled at the men. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you.” Adam held my gaze. He seemed to be saying I get it. I really do .
I appreciated that.
Simeon and I headed off to finish our walk while Adam and Dean turned along the road in the opposite direction.
“M-maybe one day you’ll see their home.” He grinned. “They l-live in a castle.”
I halted. “A castle?”
He grinned. “Y-yep. It’s up the hill and behind the trees. You come out from the forest, and it’s truly awesome to see.”
Okay, didn’t see that coming . I should’ve known better—Mission City was this magical place where people smiled, problems didn’t feel as brutal, and where cute dogs showed up at unexpected times.
I couldn’t have been happier.