Chapter 5
DARCY
“That’s the guy who took me home that night!” I whispered as I passed my sister on the way to hand Athena off to her owner. I didn’t have time to gauge her reaction since we had a client, and by the time I was finished, there was another waiting for my attention.
“Jewel!” I heard Griffin squeal a second after the door opened again.
I said goodbye to another owner as I handed off the leash of one of the daycare dogs before I looked over and found Ursula’s owner talking to Griffin a few feet away.
I went to the back and gathered up the cranky chihuahua and her blankie and then rushed out front to deliver her before she could go on the attack.
I walked over just in time to hear Dr. Parker, or Jewel as she’d asked us to call her, say, “Tell me, mini-Forrester. How’s world domination going? Is it all you dreamed it would be?”
“I’m not quite there yet.” Griffin sighed before he said, “I would be if Brighten would let me create my own website so I could announce my plans to the world.”
“The internet is a dangerous and terrifying place, kiddo. I don’t blame your mom for keeping you as far away from it as long as she can.”
“Access to knowledge shouldn’t be stifled, Aunt Jewel.”
“But since you’re still a child, it should be monitored,” she argued. When Griffin rolled his eyes, she growled, “Don’t roll your eyes at me, boy.”
“Sorry,” Griffin muttered.
I handed Ursula over to Jewel, and just like always, I was amazed at the change in the little dog’s demeanor. Instead of growling and snapping, she was instantly docile in Jewel’s arms as the woman praised her and held her tight.
“Did she kill anyone today?”
“No, but she tried.”
“That’s my girl,” Jewel muttered before she kissed the dog’s head. “Are you in charge of the mini-Forrester, or did he escape the asylum and take refuge here?”
I glanced at the little boy and saw him frowning before I answered, “I’m not sure anyone is really in charge of that guy. I have a feeling he runs things, whether he realizes it or not.”
“He tries,” Jewel said as she grinned at him. “You’re such a cute guy, Griff. You know you’re not my least favorite nephew, right?”
It was an odd form of praise, but Griffin didn’t seem to notice before he nodded and asked, “Has my ranking gone up or down?”
“Look! There’s one of the top three!” Jewel exclaimed as the gate behind me opened and the man who had come to deliver a T-shirt to Crow walked out.
“Hi, Auntie Jewel! You’re looking fantastic today. That last round of Botox is really giving you your money’s worth, isn’t it?”
My mouth dropped open in shock, but Jewel wasn’t fazed when she replied, “Nix, if you were any better looking, you’d be as plastic as the women you call your girlfriends.”
“At least they don’t talk all the time like you,” the man retorted.
As if they hadn’t just insulted each other horribly, he kissed Jewel on the cheek and then growled at Ursula, who was showing him her teeth.
“I’m not sure how you found a dog who is almost as unfriendly as you are, but she suits you. ”
“Would you like to hold her?”
“No one likes to hold her. She’s too much like you. That’s probably why you’re still single,” he replied as he looked down at Griffin. “Let’s go, Griffmeister. We need to pick up Lyric before she burns down the daycare.”
“She’s a little young for arson, but the people who have to deal with her all day might take up the hobby just to make sure she doesn’t ever come back.”
I heard an odd sound come out of my mouth and realized that it was wide open as I looked from one person to the other, shocked at the blatant disrespect they were throwing at each other - even children weren’t immune!
“It’s okay,” Griffin assured me as he smiled and explained, “Insults are my family’s love language. It makes parties really fun.”
“I bet,” I whispered before I looked at the gorgeous man and asked, “Your child is named Lyric? That’s beautiful.”
“Thanks, Sleeping Beauty,” he said before he ruffled Griffin’s hair. I didn’t have time to ask why he’d called me that before he said, “We’re out. Jewel, can I walk you to your car?”
“Of course. What a gentleman you are.”
“I’m doing it for the good of humanity. If I rush you out and then lock you in, that means innocent bystanders on the street won’t have to be exposed to your attitude and smart mouth.”
“Holy shit!” I said without thinking. Since they were both looking at me now, I asked, “Do you guys hate each other?”
“I told you, Darcy. That’s their love language!”
“Are you available for hire? If I ever have to go back to Denver to visit my father, I’d like to take you with me just to see you rip up his country club friends when they say shitty things with a smile on their face.”
“That sounds like fun!” Jewel exclaimed. “I’d love to!”
“I’m down,” the man said with a big grin. “They’d get all worked up at the sight of me, and then I could unleash all this pent-up rage my pretty face helps disguise.”
“Your face looks like the south end of a northbound skunk.”
“You smell like it.”
I laughed, more to myself than anyone else, before I announced, “I could sit here and listen to this all day!”
Griffin was completely unbothered as he offered, “I’ll invite you over during the holidays. It’s a lot of fun.”
“I bet it is!”
“I’ll see you in the morning,” Jewel said with a bright smile as she turned to leave the shop. I was surprised when the man rushed ahead of her to hold the door open and watched Griffin open her door to the SUV.
I’d always read about chivalry and men doing things like that, but sadly, I hadn’t ever experienced it. I wasn’t sure I’d know what to do anyway, but it might be fun to witness.
Since we were finally alone, at least in the front of the store, Tansy asked, “That guy is the one that brought you home?”
“No! The shirtless one! His name is Crow, and that’s his brother. Jewel is his aunt.”
“Oh.” Tansy frowned before she said, “How many people are in their family? Brighten mentioned that she’s engaged to a man with that last name.”
I shook my head and interrupted, “There’s another brother besides the one that left with Griffin. Apparently, Brighten was married to the one in the back room, but now she’s with the other one, and they all live together.”
“That’s very progressive, isn’t it?” Tansy asked with wide eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always liked that trope in romance, but not so much when the men are related.”
“I get ya,” I said as I walked toward the gate. “Even if he does have a wife slash girlfriend, at least I know who he is so I can thank him.”
“Yes! I think that could help give you closure on that chapter of your life. Isn’t that something that Emerald suggested could help?”
“She did, and I’m going to thank him right now!”
I walked into the room to find that the gorgeous skin I’d been trying so hard not to touch had been covered, and that made me sad.
I didn’t feel bad about ogling the man because he was obviously comfortable walking around shirtless, which he was welcome to do in my presence any time he got the urge.
Even more shocking than the lack of skin was the song he was singing at barely more than a whisper as he slowly rocked back and forth with a puppy held in his arms.
Prince Charming was a man with a gorgeous chest, but he was obviously very caring and nurturing too. If his brother was anything like him, then no wonder it was too hard for Brighten to choose.
He must have realized he wasn’t alone, because he stopped singing and swaying.
Not knowing what else to say, I asked, “Have you already fed the others?”
“One of them,” he said as I stood beside him and looked down at the warming box. “The one on the left hasn’t been fed yet.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“I’m sure you’ve got work to do, so I’ll take care of it.”
“The store closes in just a few minutes, so other than helping my sister with the regular cleanup, I’ve got plenty of time.”
“Thanks for letting us barge in. I assumed Nichole would send us to the shelter or even another vet, but she said that you could handle this.”
“For a time, I thought I might like to be a vet, so I took as many classes as I could sneak in, but I’ve been volunteering in animal shelters since I was fifteen too.
” Crow seemed curious, so I said, “I’m not a vet by any means, though.
As a matter of fact, the degree I did get is so far from veterinary medicine that it’s almost laughable, but it does help with our business here. ”
“Nichole said you had the supplies to treat them, so I assumed you were a veterinarian.”
“The supplies are kind of the same across the board when it comes to tiny animals like these. We keep a small supply of electrolytes and powdered colostrum for customers to buy when their children do things like rescue baby squirrels or stray kittens.”
“Or three dogs from the side of a country road.”
“Exactly.”
We watched the puppies eat in silence for a minute or two before I said, “I’ve spent the last month wondering who you were and thought I’d never figure it out because I couldn’t remember your face. I just knew how safe I felt with you, but the second I saw you up front, I knew.”
“I’m not trying to sound judgmental or anything, but you should take a few things away from that.”
“You’d be preaching to the choir. It was a wake-up call I didn’t know I needed, but I’m glad I got it in a way that won’t fuck me up forever.”
“Obviously, I’m not a teetotaler or anything, but people, especially women, really need to be careful when they’ve had too much to drink. I’m not just talking about driving either.”
“Why would it be obvious?”
“I run the bar where you were, sweetheart.”
I laughed, but there was no humor in it. “I don’t even know which bar I was in.”
“The Glass Slipper. My family owns it, and I’m the manager there.”
“The server was naked!”
“Not completely, but close enough.”
“I thought for sure that it was just my imagination.”