Chapter 21
TAYA
“Rose! Let him walk! You know he’s not going to do anything to your babies, sweetheart!”
“Rose! Heel!” Chewie ordered.
I winced when I remembered that I was supposed to say that instead of bargaining with the large dog as I tended to do. We had discovered after just a few days with her at my home that Rose was a very well-behaved animal who knew multiple commands.
I worried that there was a family missing her, since she was such a well-trained dog, so I called the vet to see if they had checked for a chip on her previous visit.
She assured me that they had scanned her and hadn’t found one.
When I spoke to Chewie about it, he said that Rose had been roaming in and out of his yard for months, and Samara confirmed that she had first seen her almost a year ago.
When we explained that Rose was trained, Brinn and Samara searched the local lost and found pets page on Facebook and didn’t find any posts of a dog matching Rose’s description.
I wondered if we should do more to find her previous owners, but Chewie and the girls insisted that we’d done our due diligence and Rose should stay with me.
I was relieved that we’d come to that decision, because after just a few weeks, I’d really come to love having Rose around.
She’d blossomed from a nervous dog to a happy family pet - who just happened to come with six puppies.
It was already clear that I was going to have a real problem letting go when the time came for them to go to their forever homes.
Rose obeyed Chewie’s command immediately, and stopped bumping into him and walked sedately at his side.
I could tell that she was still nervous about him carrying the box that held her babies, but she managed to control herself until she jumped into the back of my new SUV and sniffed each one as soon as Chewie set the box down beside her.
“You’re getting that look again,” Chewie chided as he closed the back of the SUV and turned to see me watching Rose with her puppies.
“I’m fine!”
“You’ve already named them in your head, haven’t you?” he asked.
“Maybe.”
“I told you that if you gave them names, you’d start to feel like they belong to you.”
“That’s not true! It just seems wrong to call each of them “puppy” when their personalities are so different.”
“Do you really want seven monster dogs in your house?”
“Maybe not seven, but . . .” I sighed and then shook my head before I asked, “When are your friends coming to interview them?”
Chewie laughed as he pulled me into his arms. “They’re not going in front of the HR director for a management position, Tay.
If Elizabeth thinks that they’d be a good fit for her training program, they’ll go to great homes with people who will love and depend on them.
Instead of driving all of us crazy, they’d have a purpose.
You’ve seen how good Rose is with tasks, and I think her puppies will have that same drive. ”
“I can’t believe you trained her to pick up their toys!” I exclaimed. “I thought Jade was going to kill you when she watched her do it because she’s been trying to teach Ollie to pick up after himself, but he is not nearly as focused as Rose.”
He scratched the back of his head as he asked, “She wasn’t serious when she asked me to train him, was she?
” I gave him a kiss before I pulled away to walk toward the passenger door.
Before I could even lift my arm to grab the handle, Chewie had the door open and was waiting for me to get inside so he could shut it behind me.
Once he was in the driver’s seat, he said, “Well, I hope not because I don’t think it works like that. ”
I snorted with laughter and said, “She wasn’t serious, but I think she was taking notes when you were showing Rose how to ring the bell to let us know she needed to go out.”
A few days ago, while all of us were relaxing after a large Sunday meal, Chewie tied a Christmas ribbon to each of the doors and attached one of the jingle bells that I kept on the coffee table as holiday decor.
Then, every time Rose walked to the door and whined to let us know she needed to go out, he would show her how to pull the ribbon a few inches away from the door and then let it go before he opened it for her.
She caught on within just a few lessons. Jade and I were astonished when we heard the bell clang as it hit the door and looked over to find Rose staring at us expectantly. That was when she asked Chewie to take Ollie for a few days and then bring him back when he was potty trained.
I laughed when I remembered the look on Chewie’s face after she’d said that, and then laughed even harder when Chewie muttered, “It wasn’t that damn funny.”
“It was pretty funny. I’m sure that with the life you’ve led, you’re probably not scared of much, but the thought of potty training a toddler obviously terrified you!”
“You’re right on both counts,” Chewie admitted. He shuddered before he said, “I haven’t spent a lot of time around little ones, but I know without a doubt that I’m not a diaper-changing kind of man.”
“You may have to rethink that, buddy! Jade and Blaine are planning to have another, and someday our other kids will want children of their own, so we’ll have grandchildren who will be spending a lot of time at our house.”
Instead of pulling out onto the road that would take us to town, he braked so hard that the seatbelt locked as I jerked forward. When I looked over at him in question, the look on his face could only be described as amazement.
“You said our kids. Our grandchildren. Our house.” I took a quick breath and then swallowed hard before I nodded, and Chewie’s smile got even bigger. “Are you gonna marry me, Tay?”
I scoffed before I asked, “It’s a little early to consider that, don’t you think?”
“Not if I love you.”
My heart started racing, and I couldn’t quite catch my breath to say anything more than, “Do you?”
“I do.”
“You don’t think we’re . . . There’s still the issue of our age difference and . . . “
“Are you still stuck on that bullshit?” Chewie asked.
He chuckled before he explained, “I just told you that I have no interest in changing diapers, meaning I have no interest in having children of my own other than the one . . . ones we already have. Granted, it’s a little weird to think of Blaine and Brandt as children, and I’m never gonna expect them to call me ‘Dad’ or anything, but you get what I’m saying. ”
I giggled before I said, “That would be kind of funny since you’re not old enough to be their father!”
Chewie laughed at the emphasis I put on the words and then said, “I’m old enough to be their stepfather, though.”
“I think we’re gonna be late for our appointment,” I said primly.
“Is that a no, Taya?”
“It was an observation.”
Chewie leaned over the console and smiled at me before he said, “Give me a kiss, future-maybe someday-wife.”
“You’re incorrigible.”
I gave him a kiss and then pushed him away when he lifted his head and said, “I know you’re flustered when you start using the big words.”
“Incorrigible is not a big word, you fornicator!”
Chewie was still laughing as he pulled out onto the road, and by the time we got to the vet’s office, my pulse had slowed to a normal rhythm, even though my mind was racing.
He loved me! He was too stubborn to listen to my completely rational arguments about why this relationship might be a bad idea, and I was too selfish to let him go just in case he was right. And yes, I loved the man right back.
“I love you too!”
Chewie stopped in the open door and smiled at me before he crowded in and wrapped his arms around me.
He tried to pull me out and into his arms but the seatbelt was still latched.
We ended up laughing together for a second before he said, “I love you more, Bookstore Beauty, and I plan on spending the rest of my life showing you just how much.”
◆◆◆
CHEWIE
“What does Mom think you’re doing out here?” Blaine asked as he helped me carry the table saw out into the center aisle separating the rows of stalls in the barn.
“She asked if I’d like to move my studio out here and even suggested that I use one of the stalls for my bike.”
Blaine’s eyebrows shot up before he asked, “You’re moving in?”
“Well, we didn’t discuss that. She just asked if I’d like to relocate my studio.”
“But if you’re . . . Brinn’s moving in with Samara and .
. .” Brandt, who was leaning against one of the pillars a few feet away, stammered out before he sighed and asked, “Isn’t it a little early in the .
. .” He swallowed hard and then cleared his throat before he finished, “The relationship to take such a big step?”
Blaine frowned at his brother as he asked, “When was the last time Mom looked this happy? She’s been glowing ever since she brought this hairy fucker home.”
Brandt opened his mouth and then closed it again. He rolled his eyes and sighed before he said, “I’ve never seen her this happy.”
“Exactly, which means we’re gonna get on board with this shit. Am I right?”
“Fuck. I guess so,” Brandt agreed reluctantly.
Blaine stared at Brandt for a few tense seconds before he turned back to me and said, “I want to say that if you break her heart, I’ll beat your ass, but you’re a big fucker that’s obviously been through some shit, so we both know that would be a stretch.”
“But we can hire somebody if necessary,” Brandt hurried to add.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
I picked up a piece of the wood I’d brought out earlier and waited for one of the guys to throw out another threat, which I completely understood.
The thought of anyone hurting Taya, whether it was just her feelings or God forbid, physically, was enough to send me into a rage, so I completely understood where they were coming from.
And I had to admit, I respected them for it.
After that day in the yard when I delivered the chicken coop, I wondered if we’d ever be able to become friends, but I thought we’d made some great progress since then.
We didn’t have a lot in common, but our love for Taya would be enough, at least for now.
Hopefully, we’d find more things to talk about in time, but even if that never happened, I was glad that they’d accepted our relationship.
Even if Brandt couldn’t call it that without getting nauseated.
“I’m not moving my studio. At least, not yet,” I admitted.
“You’re not? Then what are you doing?”
“I was wondering why you were working on the pens instead of where the apartment is on the other side,” Blaine mused.
“I plan on putting my studio there soon, but I’ve got plans for this side of the barn first.”
“Do you think you should run them by Mom first?” Blaine asked, glancing in the direction of the house.
“I asked her to stay out of the barn for a while to help my creative process, but that was bullshit. This is part of her Christmas gift.”
“A barn remodel?” Brandt asked.
When I glanced over at him, he looked offended on Taya’s behalf, and I burst out laughing before I said, “No, the gift is what’s going to be living in the barn.”
“You didn’t!”
“They’ll be here on Friday. It was either have them delivered early or after Christmas, so I chose Friday.”
“She’s gonna shit!” Blaine announced cheerfully.
“She knows she has a surprise coming this week, but she thinks it’s just that the chickens are on their way. She has no idea what else I have planned. We’re set to pick the chickens up tomorrow, but the big surprise will be here Thursday afternoon. ”
“Okay, nevermind everything I said earlier. Anyone that pays attention to their significant other’s dreams and works so hard to make them happy obviously deserves to have them there,” Brandt said as he walked over and stuck his hand out. “Welcome to the family, Chewie.”
“Thanks,” I said as I shook his hand. Blaine stepped up and stuck his hand out next. I shook it before I tried to lighten the mood by asking, “Shouldn’t we hug or something? When do you start calling me ‘Daddy?’”
Both men started laughing, and Blaine choked out, “I’m sure you’ll buy her a damn pig at some point in your Farmer Chewbacca adventures. The day it sprouts wings and starts to fly is the day I’ll call you ‘Daddy.’”
“Don’t challenge the man, Blaine,” Brandt ordered. “He’s gonna fill this fucking land with animals that we’re gonna have to take care of when they go out of town!”
“I wasn’t planning on getting her pigs, but that doesn’t seem like such a bad idea after all.”