Chapter 16
chapter
sixteen
Mitchell
It’s been a little over two months since we got married. After we left Vegas, we went back to Valor Springs, where I resigned from Lone Star Security and packed up my one-bedroom apartment.
We found a cute three-bedroom home not too far from downtown Saddle Creek. My brother actually hired me to do online security for his myriad of companies. And well, his marriage to the other Evelyn, well, that’s a story for another time.
Today, it’s time to mark another thing off my wife’s bucket list.
Great Dane’s Dog Sanctuary is a sensory explosion when I get out of the truck. A sprawling fenced-in area filled with dogs spreads before us. I help Evie down from the truck, and she just freezes.
“There are so many dogs,” she says, her voice full of wonder.
Big ones. Small ones. Old ones lazing in the shade. Puppies tumbling over each other in a chaotic blur of paws and tails. A chorus of barks rises up the second we close the doors.
“Oh,” she breathes. “Oh. Mitchell.”
I smile because I knew this would happen. I’ve seen a lot of firsts in her life, but this one might be my favorite.
“You ready?” I ask. I thread our fingers together and walk us over to the gate.
She nods furiously. “I’ve never been more ready for anything.”
Dane Whitmore is there waiting. He tips his hat to Evie, then gives me a one-armed hug. “Welcome home, Mitchell. It’s been a while.”
“It has. And Saddle Creek has changed in a lot of ways, but it’s the same in the best ways.”
Dane chuckles. “Ain’t that the damn truth?”
I make quick introductions, and then we’re inside the fenced-in area. Evie barely makes it three steps before a clumsy golden mutt barrels toward her, tail wagging so hard his whole body wobbles.
She drops to her knees without hesitation.
Laughing. Really laughing.
“Oh, hello,” she says, wrapping her arms around his neck. “You’re very friendly, aren’t you?”
The dog licks her cheek like he’s known her forever.
Her laugh turns into something breathless and bright, and I swear the whole place seems to soften around her.
I crouch beside her.
“Careful. That one’s a serial cuddler,” Dane says.
“I don’t mind,” she says, hugging him tighter. “I think I’ve been waiting my entire life for this.”
Another dog noses in. Then another. Soon she’s surrounded, hands buried in fur, face flushed with joy.
She looks up at me, eyes shining. “Why didn’t anyone tell me dogs were like this?”
I chuckle. “Not so much a secret over here. I think Saldanians are too busy with their peacocks and geese.”
“Swans,” she corrects me. She stands eventually, brushing fur off her jeans, still grinning like she’s just discovered a secret. “This place is incredible,” she says. “You do this every day?”
“Yeah,” Dane says. “Best job I’ve ever had.”
She watches a brindle pup gnawing enthusiastically on a rope toy, then glances back at me. “Mitchell?”
“Yeah, Evie?”
“You said I can make all the choices now that I want,” she says carefully. “That I get to decide things for myself.”
I nod. “I did.”
She bites her lip, then gestures to the dogs. “Is that still true?”
I follow her gaze. There’s a little black-and-white dog sitting just off to the side. Not loud. Not demanding. Just watching her with quiet interest.
I smile.
“It is,” I say. “Which is why you get to pick the one coming home with us.”
Her hand flies to her mouth. “You’re serious?”
“Dead serious.”
Her eyes fill instantly. “You mean… mine?”
“Ours,” I correct gently.
She crosses the yard in three quick steps and kneels in front of the dog. “Hi,” she whispers. “Do you want to come home with me?”
The dog’s tail thumps once. Then again. She turns back to me, joy and disbelief all tangled together.
“I think,” she says, voice wobbling, “this might be the happiest day of my life.” She looks at me. “Besides our wedding day, obviously.”
I walk over and pull her into my chest, kissing the top of her head.
“Get used to it,” I murmur. “We’re just getting started.”
And for the first time, watching her there—kneeling in the grass, boots on her feet and a dog at her side with no crown in sight—I know with absolute certainty that this is where she belongs.