Chapter 40
CHAPTER 40
C HARLIE
Excited yapping fills the air as Emily and I stand at the edge of the pen watching ten chunky puppies playing, tails wagging.
“That one there. With the purple ribbon on her collar. She’s our Molly,” Emily says.
I smile as the black lab pup runs around with another puppy, a chocolate lab who seems larger than all the other dogs in the enclosure. The two chase each other around the pen, occasionally tumbling over each other when their clumsy bodies cause them to trip on their oversized paws.
When the breeder finishes sending another one of the pups home with their new family, she strolls over to us.
“Are you ready for your little girl?”
“Yes, oh my gosh, this is so exciting!” Emily is practically bouncing with joy. The lady enters the pen and picks up Molly, then brings her over and hands her to Emily. Emily’s face lights up the minute the puppy is in her arms, and she draws Molly close to her chest, then leans down and kisses her on the nose.
“She’s perfect.”
A soft whining distracts me, and I glance down to see the puppy Molly was playing with at the edge of the pen. His soft whimpers are heart breaking as he looks up at Emily holding his buddy.
“May I pick up this one for a second?” I ask the lady.
“Sure. He’s gonna miss her. They’re two peas in a pod.”
I reach down into the pen and pick up the little fellow. He nuzzles up to my neck and plants a puppy kiss on my jaw as if to say, ‘ Thanks for picking me up, Mister.’
“When’s this little guy going to his new home?’
The corners of the breeder’s mouth turn downward. “He’s got a while yet. He’s the last from a different litter, a month older than your Molly. The couple that was supposed to adopt him just emailed this morning to cancel. He’ll be back up on the website for adoption as soon as possible. You don’t want another, do you?” she jokes.
“Aw, Charlie”—Emily looks at me with pleading eyes and pushes out her bottom lip—“they’re best friends. Maybe we should get him, too.”
I hesitate.
She looks damn beautiful, and it’s hard for me to say no to her. Even so, two dogs? Molly is looking at me with literal puppy dog eyes as well.
I lift the other pup off my chest and hold him in front of my face to get a good look at him. His floppy ears and giant paws are adorable. When he lurches forward and plants a slobbery kiss on my cheek, I’m done for.
“Okay,” I whisper.
“Seriously?” Emily sounds utterly shocked and her jaw drops.
“Yeah, I mean we can’t separate them if he’s up for adoption as well. We’ll call him Max. Max and Molly.”
I’m pretty sure I couldn’t have made Emily any happier in that moment. The sheer elation on her face—eyes twinkling and a smile so wide I swear it must hurt—makes me think I’d get her all ten puppies if she wanted them.
We take care of our business with the owner and then head home.
Emily is so in love with the puppies, holding both on her lap for the hour and a half drive back to Elladine from the Columbus area.
When we’re close to the house, we stop at the pet store and carry Max and Molly in, then spend forty-five minutes buying collars and leashes, tennis balls, stuffed toys, food bowls, and some dog food.
When we’re finally home, we park and climb out of the car, setting the pups on the ground to explore. Emily encourages them to follow her to the area where she wants to train them to do their business, and when they pee in the spot she leads them to, she praises them like they’ve accomplished a heroic feat.
I watch her from about twenty feet away, and though it’s only been three weeks since she told me she would stay with me, it’s like she’s been here forever. And hell, am I grateful for that. I smile as I watch her, the woman who made my house a home.
* * *
EMILY
I chuckle under my breath as I stand at the stove searing chicken for dinner and listen to Charlie baby talk to Max and Molly when they do something he wants them to do. He’s been working with them for five minutes, doing some training just a few feet away from where I’m cooking. Who would have thought that all it would take to reduce my ruggedly handsome, muscular, lumberjack firefighter of a man into a pile of mush would be two adorable lab puppies?
As I turn my attention back to the sizzling pan over the range top burner, I’m overcome with emotion. My heart is immensely full. With Charlie, I’ve found the most soul-stirring love. That’s the kind of love he’s shown me in this last year. I had a broken heart, and he showed up for me as I walked through a place of deep pain and intense darkness on my way to healing.
It will never cease to amaze me how a man like Charlie could ever have thought he didn’t deserve me. How he could think he’d ever turn out like his father when Charlie has always seen me, always built me up.
While it took Charlie and me a while to find our way to each other, the way this man has loved me through the years—even when I couldn’t see it—will stay with me for the rest of our lives.