Chapter 39
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Aaron
“How’s it feel to finally be back to work one hundred percent?” Brantley asks when he steps up to my side.
“Real good,” I tell him. “I’ve been climbing the fucking walls. Don’t get me wrong, Kendall’s been keeping me busy.” I smirk and he chuckles. “But I think she’s happy I’m back to work too.”
He nods.
“How’s fatherhood?”
“Better than I imagined, and Sutton, she’s incredible.
I swear she was born to be a mother. Ethan is up at random hours of the night, needing this and wanting that, and it’s like she just knows.
She knows the boy’s cries, knows his grunts, it amazes me.
Seeing her in this role, hell it made me just fall in love with her all over again. ”
“You got it all, man,” I tell him loving this for him.
He spent too many years traveling the world, fighting for our freedom.
What Brantley doesn’t know is that I have always admired him.
His strength and dedication, his love for his family.
Seeing him get everything he could ever dream of, it’s exactly what he deserves.
“What about you?” he asks, regaining my attention. “How are things with you and Kendall?”
“Good.” I nod and he holds my stare.
“No really, how are things?”
“Asked her to move in,” I confess, “she told me no.”
He nods as if he isn’t surprised.
“I still have hope she’ll come around.”
“She will,” he assures me. “I’ve been around these ladies long enough to get some insight. Kendall and Adley are the difficult ones with parents that were shit. They took all that anger and frustration and used it as an excuse to push everyone away.”
“Jillian and Sophie are sweet, a little shy until you get to know them. Jillian though she still somehow blames herself for her brother running off with Marshall’s ex-wife.”
“As if that could be her fault, she didn’t lead them to one another.”
“No, but she does have to see that man all the time around town, then his ex at all her family functions. It is a little odd, I got to give her that. It’s why she avoids him at most of our get-togethers. Pay attention next time, if he moves in one direction, she shifts in the opposite.”
“I guess I can see how it can be a little uncomfortable.”
He nods. “Then we have Lexi and Sutton, those two love deep. They want everyone around them to be happy and that sometimes leads to them sacrificing their own happiness to make things work for those they love.”
“Yet know they both have the happy home life, with kids.”
“Don’t count Kendall out, just give her time to warm up to the idea that her life can be different than she imagined. She’s got to be comfortable with that, and more than anything it has to appear as her choice and not a forced move.”
“You are the second person that has told me this,” I tell him.
“Yeah, who was the first?”
“My mom.” Brantley grins.
“Well then it’s gotta be true,” he says, slapping me on the shoulder.
“By the way.” He points toward the piles of bricks. “Those are the wrong shade, they don’t match the rest of the already laid foundation.”
“What the fuck,” I grumble and Brantley laughs.
“Welcome back, boss.” He walks away chuckling probably loving the idea that he can now stop being the problem solver.
“I’m taking the rest of the day off,” I holler after him and he lifts his hand in the air flipping me off.
“Not a chance pal, this shit show is all yours now!”
Laying on the couch half asleep from my day of doing everyone else’s job for them I can barely keep my eyes open.
Rolling over I pull the blanket off the back and cover my body with it.
A soft knock on the door has me growling in irritation.
I’m half tempted to ignore whoever it is on the opposite side but then I hear a bark and freeze.
The sound of someone attempting to hush the dog only makes it bark more.
I don’t know anyone that has a dog. At least not anyone that would show up at my door after nine o’clock at night anyway.
Another bark, followed by more correction. Only this time I recognize the voice.
I hurry to stand and toss the blanket off of me before making my way across the living room to the door. Yanking it open I stare at Kendall and the furball she is currently holding.
“What’s this?”
“Well, it’s a dog,” she says, followed by a duh and an eye roll.
“I know it’s a dog, Kendall.” I place my hands on my hips filling the doorway. “But whose dog is it?”
“Ours.” She shrugs and all I can do is stare at her like she has lost her damn mind.
“I was driving back from a service call and I saw this dog adoption sign. It was right there on the supermarket lawn. Big ole’ thing out front and it read come meet and play with our puppies. So I went and I played.”
“And then you stole one?”
“No, I did not steal one, I adopted one,” she corrects me with another eye roll. “His name is Oscar, and he’s five months old. They found him abandoned on the doorstep of the dog shelter. He’s a Saint Bernard.”
“I know what he is Kendall, he’s gonna get fucking huge.”
“And?”
“And, he’s gonna get fucking huge. There is no more than that.”
“You’re gonna hurt his feelings.” She literally covers the dog’s eyes with her hands. “You need to learn to be nicer.”
“Kendall,” I attempt to get her mind back on track.
Instead of looking at me she continues to look down at the dog and I feel like she knocks me on my ass with her next sentence.