Chapter 32 #2
I let out a quiet breath, afraid to ruin the moment, and dropped into a squat, one hand coming up to rub at his head as he pushed his body into mine, tucking himself against my chest like that had been the plan all along.
Just like that, he stayed. His eyes slid shut, the pandemonium gone as quickly as it had come, and two stolen scarves draped around his neck like trophies.
I ran a hand down his back and looked down at my goat.
My goat leaned into me.
As much as I wasn’t looking to become a goat owner, Chaos had chosen me.
I slowly became aware of people watching us, phones raised, every movement being documented, and I didn’t care.
I put my hand on Chaos’s back and scratched his favorite spot.
“Are you done now?” I asked.
He didn’t move except to look up at me with a disbelieving stare.
We stayed like that for a few moments, and I thought about Chaos and how different today was than the first day we’d met. How my relationship, just like the one with Delaney, had changed so drastically.
Chaos, I was beginning to realize—now that he’d chosen me and Delaney—always came back. He caused mayhem, and then he pulled sweet little moments like this with his head against my chest.
I scratched behind his ears.
And then, because we were in Ruby River, people started clapping. I stood in the middle of the Commons, mortified that I’d become the center of attention when I least needed or wanted it.
Delaney appeared by my side. She looked at Chaos, then at me, and pressed her lips together.
“Don’t,” I warned. She lasted maybe four seconds. Then she laughed—full, deep, uncontained, and a smile quirked at the corner of my lips.
Chaos shifted out of my embrace to go to Delaney. He gave three insistent bleats, as though saying, I was looking for you, Mom.
I stood and hugged her. “How’s your day going?”
The biggest smile crossed her face. “It’s the best in all the ways possible. I talked to Cheryl, and she’s willing to meet with the lawyer so we can sign the contract that will transfer half the business over to her after her internship.”
My lips found hers. “That’s amazing!”
She grinned and pressed closer to me. Our tongues slid together, and our teeth clicked for a second. We both laughed. Then I went back to nipping her bottom lip, soothing it with my tongue, and loving the feel of her mouth against mine.
Cheers erupted all around us. The Commons was filled with more people than I ever could have expected. A local group with a sound that made people stop and listen started at noon, and I made a mental note to download their music.
Grace moved through the crowd with her phone, capturing everything, and the shelter’s social media numbers were climbing in real time.
Delaney went to do a walk-through of the event to see if anyone needed help as Theo found me. I’d been heading toward the donation center to see how we were doing.
“Eleven adoption applications,” he said.
“Today?”
He nodded. “Since nine this morning. Three are for Hulk, Tank, and Butch. There’s a family that wants to take all of them.”
“That’s incredible.”
Theo looked at the pen that held Noble. “And Mr. Popular has another two applications. It’s going to be hard to decide who his lucky new family is.”
Noble barked, lapping up all the attention.
“Theo,” I said.
“I know.” He swallowed, completely overcome with emotion.
“I know. I just—” He stopped. “Fuck. This. All of this. Thank you. Thank you for saying yes when I came to you about the grant, for donating your time every week, for not giving up when it got hard, and for this—” He made a gesture that encompassed the Commons, the crowd, the band, the animals’ pens, and the donation table.
The handmade posterboard cataloging our numbers as it grew steadily.
I didn’t have words that were adequate to respond to what he said, so instead I pulled him in for a hug. “You’re welcome, man.”
Delaney was everywhere.
That’s what I kept noticing—not just that she was busy.
I knew she’d be busy. We all were, but it was her presence throughout the event that I noticed most. She wasn’t managing it from a distance.
She was in it. Crouched down next to a child who was nervous about the animal pen, talking to the local band between sets about something that made the guitarist laugh, helping a vendor whose table leg had given out, and then going back to help with each yoga demonstration.
She’d chosen this. She was here to stay.
Delaney had come to Ruby River carrying a suitcase and grief so thick she didn’t know what to do with it. She’d unpacked it. She’d done the insurmountable task of hanging her clothes in her aunt’s closet. She’d built a community yoga class that supported the shelter, and we’d found each other.
I watched her cross the Commons toward the donation table and thought about the inscription in Jem’s book.
Sometimes it shows up messy and chaotic, in ways you don’t recognize until you’re already in the middle of it.
And I was ready to see this all through.
An hour later, Glamma found us together—me and Delaney, standing near the edge of the Commons in a quiet pocket between band sets, and watching the day move around us.
She crossed the grass in one of her bejeweled tracksuits. In minutes, she had stopped in front of us with that knowing little smile. A smile that said, “See, I know best. I’ve been watching and waiting for the right time for you both to get it.”
She took one of Delaney’s hands and one of mine.
“You two did this,” she said. “In eight days. With a handful of phone calls and so many people who have your backs.” She looked directly at Delaney.
“Jem would’ve been so proud of you. She was always proud of you, but this … this she would have loved to see.”
Delaney’s throat moved.
I placed my hand on her lower back.
“She knew,” Glamma continued. “Before any of us did. She always knew things ahead of their time.” She paused. “I think she knew about you two as well.”
Then she turned to me. “You have fought for the right thing all your life,” she said.
“The shelter, this town. The people in it. You always questioned whether it was enough. And it is, my sweet boy. It is enough. You are enough.” She glanced back at Delaney.
“Make sure you remember that. He deserves the world because I know he’ll give the world to you. ”
“Glamma,” I said.
“I’m old,” she said serenely. “I’ve earned the right to say what I want.”
Delaney squeezed my grandmother’s hand. “I will. And you’re right. He’s worth fighting for. And giving everything to.”
“Did you get a chance to look at my rings yet?” she asked.
My nerves were still shot from that mess last week. Sensing my hesitation, Delaney jumped in, “We did. They were all lovely, Glamma.”
I blinked, not sure if Delaney realized what she’d done. I knew my grandmother had by the sheen in her eyes that Delaney hadn’t called her by her first name.
She blinked away her tears and grinned. “Any one in particular catch your fancy?”
Delaney paused.
“Ah, so there was.” A mischievous sparkle lit up her eyes as she looked between us. “I hope you took notes, grandson.”
“Notetaking is a favorite pastime of mine,” I answered with a grin.
Seemingly satisfied with us, she gave my cheek a kiss and then did the same with Delaney.
I wrapped my arms around Delaney, loving how we fit together and ready to take in the good we’d done today.
The band was playing its last set. The crowd had thinned—families with children asleep in strollers, couples sharing food, the shelter volunteers doing the rounds with the animals.
The donation numbers had stopped updating in real time, and when Grace told me the total, I had her repeat it because the first time I thought I’d misheard.
I hadn’t.
A half-hour later, I was standing near the donation table, running the numbers through my head for the fourth time when my phone rang. For a second, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.
I stepped away from the table.
Mr. Geraldi.
My hand was steady when I answered. I noted this with some surprise. He was calling on a Saturday. This was either really good or really bad.
“Dr. Kingsley,” Mr Geraldi said. His voice was the normal professional tone it always had been, but beneath it was something else. “I hope we’re not interrupting your event.”
“Not at all,” I said.
“We’ve been watching,” he said. “The committee has been particularly invested in seeing how your community would show up. Not everyone values local shelters. You know, part of our core beliefs is community engagement and involvement, and even more importantly, the safety of the animals.”
“I respect that, sir.”
“Thank you. There were concerning mishaps during the yoga class we attended. Ms. Kline and I needed the time to discuss that with the rest of the team before we made a decision.”
“Of course.” My first instinct was to defend ourselves. And then I realized we’d done everything right. The safety of each animal that entered the room had been prioritized just as the participants of the yoga class had been.
“We are quite blown away by the community response, and after careful consideration,” he gave a dramatic pause, “ the committee has voted to approve the Ruby River Animal Shelter’s grant application in full.”
I swayed.
“In full,” I repeated.
“In full, Dr. Kingsley.”
The band played.
A child’s laugh filled the air, joyous and pure.
“We’ll send the formal documentation on Monday. Congratulations, and please let Mr. Patterson know that what he’s built is truly remarkable. As well as the classes you and Ms. Hart have run.”
“Thank you, sir. I will.”
The call ended. I stood in the middle of the Commons with my phone in my hand and a smile on my face.
I found Theo first. He was near one of the animals’ pens talking to the family who was interested in Rutherford. He saw my face and excused himself.
“Marc—”
“We did it!” I said. “Full approval. We’ll have the paperwork Monday.”
Theo stood silently. Then he made a noise I’d never heard him make before—not quite a laugh, not quite a cry, but a mix of the two.
I caught him as he reached for me. We stood there in the middle of the fundraiser hugging each other.
He believed in the shelter and what it could become before anyone else had, and I saw his vision.
On the day he’d come to me with the first grant application, he told me he had a dream to train shelter animals as therapy dogs, to have the money to hire permanent staff, to make more space for more animals, and to create an end-of-life care center for the animals that might never find a forever home.
And I’d said yes because Theo had never asked for something that wasn’t worth fighting for.
“We did it,” he said, his voice muffled against my shoulder.
“You did it,” I said. “I just helped.”
He pulled back. His eyes were wet, and he didn’t care. Neither did I.
Before he turned back to the family he’d been speaking to, he gave me a loud thunk on my back. “You should go tell Delaney.”
I nodded.
Not surprisingly, I found her by the yoga demonstration area with Cheryl, cleaning up.
She looked at me as I came close and must have read my face because a huge smile lit up hers. She screamed as she ran at me. “Marc!”
I grabbed her by the waist and yanked her tight to me. “Full approval.” I grinned. “They’ve been watching the livestream all day.”
She slid her arms up and around my neck. “You did it.”
“We did it,” I said. “I love you so damn much.”
She pulled back. Her eyes were bright. Her hair was coming loose from the messy bun she’d pulled it up into this morning … and once again I was hit with a deep-rooted certainty that all of her was everything I didn’t know I needed and now couldn’t live without.
“I love you, too.”
I cupped her cheek. My thumb brushed over her lips. “I love who you were, who you are now, and who you’ll become. I love every piece of what makes you, you.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “Marc Kingsley, stop making me cry.”
“I’ve loved you for longer than I was ready to admit. And I will love you for the rest of eternity if you’ll let me,” I promised her.
She sniffed. “I love you so much. The man you are now and that little boy that I didn’t completely understand.
And as much as I wish things had been different so we could’ve started this journey earlier, I know what advice my aunt would give.
She’d say that everything happens in its own time.
That if things didn’t go exactly as they were meant to go, you might lose out on something extraordinary. And you and me … we’re extraordinary.”
I pressed my lips to hers, ready to figure out what our forever was going to be.
We turned at the sound of Chaos bleating, conveying his anger that he wasn’t part of the lovefest, and I swear, as the sun dipped down over the horizon, the river turned crimson.
For the barest of seconds. And according to the Ruby River legend, when a ruby hue touched the water, a couple fell into that forever kind of love.
And in our case, the legend was right. Because Delaney and I had found the love that our hearts had been waiting for. Even though it took us a while to get there.