Chapter Four
Owen
“Just gonna stop here for fifteen minutes, bud,” I told the Golden Retriever lounging in my passenger seat, still smelling strongly of the coconut/pineapple finishing cologne from the groomer.
He looked beat.
Probably from all the tail-wagging and tongue kisses he’d given everyone he’d come in contact with since I dropped him off and picked him up again.
If you were looking for a lovable oaf with hardly two brain cells to rub together, Tuna was the dog for the job.
“I just gotta check on the bathroom,” I told him as I parked in Willa’s driveway.
I didn’t need to check on the bathroom.
It had only been two days.
There was almost no way the space was dried out enough to do more work.
But, yeah, there I was.
“Don’t honk the horn, okay?” I asked, making sure the heat was on and the window cracked. “There’s a baby in there.”
With that, I climbed out of the van and made my way to the front door.
On my way, I spotted Willa in the living room window with a cup of tea in her hands.
She looked a little better.
More rested.
Less wide-eyed and frantic.
She was dressed in a cream-colored cardigan with big brown buttons over another of those matching pajama sets. But she was dry. Her hair looked clean and pulled back into a neat braid.
She watched me with a curious look before disappearing to come and open the door.
“Owen, hey,” she said, smile soft as she moved aside.
“I wanted to check on the drying process,” I told her.
“Of course. Um… did you mean to leave your van running?” she asked.
“I have my dog with me.”
“Is he friendly?”
“Well, he’s a Golden Retriever… so yes.”
“You don’t have to leave him in the car.”
“He’s not hypoallergenic or anything,” I said, glancing over to the playard where I assumed the baby was sleeping.
“That’s okay. Studies have actually shown that babies who were exposed to dogs before a year old have better immune systems, fewer allergies, and less respiratory infections.
Sorry, totally spouting things from books at you.
But he’s welcome to come in. I try to make my family bring their dogs as often as possible when they visit. ”
“Well, he did just come back from the groomer, so he’s as clean as he can get.”
“Good. Bring him in then,” she offered.
She stood there in the doorway as I walked back to the van. I could feel her gaze on me like it was something weighted as I reached in to cut the engine then grab Tuna’s leash.
He’d been half asleep, but found his ample energy as soon as he realized he had a new friend to meet. And a new house to sniff.
“Oh, you’re so handsome!” Willa said in that singsong voice women always used on dogs. “And you smell so yummy, yes you do,” she said, rubbing Tuna’s head as his tail threatened to wag right off his backside. “What’s your name, sweet baby?”
“Tuna.”
Willa’s gaze cut up to mine.
“Tuna?” she asked, lips twitching.
“The rescue named him. His mama was dumped when she was pregnant down South somewhere. They shipped her up here, and she had twelve puppies. All named after fish. So I guess I’m just grateful I didn’t get Mackerel.”
“Or Tilapia,” she said.
“Snapper would have been pretty unfortunate too,” I said, getting a tinkling little laugh out of her. “I know I could’ve changed it, but it felt wrong. He had a name. I kept it.”
“Well, Tuna, you are very welcome to come in and explore.”
“You don’t know what you’re offering,” I warned. “He can clear a coffee table with his tail.”
“Then it’s lucky for me that I just cleaned up,” she said, reaching down to unhook his leash as I moved in and closed the door.
Tuna took off like a shot, sniffing every corner, curtain, chair, and inch of floor as he went.
“My cousin had her two Great Pyrenees over yesterday,” Willa explained. “He probably smells them all over.”
“I see you invested in a white noise machine,” I said as we followed Tuna into the living room where a fan sat a few feet from the playard, but pointed up at the ceiling.
“Actually, I stole yours,” she admitted. “I tried three different ones. She didn’t like any of them. So I took yours out of the bathroom and put the one I bought up there.
“Which is my way of saying please, please let me buy it because I got a whole five hours of sleep last night because of it. Five hours. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but five hours all put together feels like I was in a long, restful coma today.”
A chuckle escaped me at that. “Keep it. They’re industrial ones. Maybe they make a different noise. Probably why the store-bought ones didn’t cut it. Tuna,” I scolded when he went up to the playard.
It wasn’t like he hadn’t been around kids. My sister had a whole litter of them. He’d been around ones from probably a year old to ten. But, still, a newborn was a whole different thing.
“He’s just smelling,” Willa assured me.
But then Adelaide let out a little whimper.
And Tuna sat down and cried.
“Aww. Buddy, she’s okay,” Willa assured him as she walked over to pick up the baby. “See? She’s okay.”
But she wasn’t a happy camper.
“You hungry?” Willa asked, bopping up and down as she walked over toward the couch.
I called Tuna, who was upset to have to leave, but well trained enough to follow a direct order.
The two of us went upstairs where he sniffed all around the bedroom as I emptied the dehumidifier and felt the wall. Which was as wet as I’d been expecting, meaning this whole trip was pointless.
When I turned back around, Tuna was missing.
“Shit,” I grumbled, heading off in search of him through the upper floor. “Where did you go, Tuna?” I grumbled, stopping in the doorway of the nursery.
I couldn’t bring myself to cross the threshold, like the room was somewhere sacred.
It was a feminine and cozy space, all light colors but darker woods. The closet door was slightly ajar, revealing an enormous stack of diaper boxes. Either Willa was someone who overstocked things, or those were gifts from a baby shower.
But, more importantly, no Tuna.
That left the downstairs.
Where Willa and Adelaide were alone.
It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Tuna. I never would have let him come in if I had a pinch of doubt about his temperament. But I didn’t want him drooling and shedding all over the furniture since I did let him up on mine at home, so his manners probably weren’t what they should be.
It was when I stepped into the doorway of the living room that I saw him. Up on the furniture, like I’d worried. Worse yet, he was laying across the couch with his head rested on Willa’s chest, staring at the baby in the crook of her arm.
“Tuna,” I called out a warning as I approached.
“Look how sweet he is,” Willa said, glancing up at me with a sweet smile. “He literally thought he was sneaking up onto the couch. He crept onto my lap like I wouldn’t see him just to get a better look at her. I don’t think he’s even blinked.”
“I don’t think he’s seen such a small baby up close before.”
“Well, he is enamored.”
Who wouldn’t be?
Between the peaceful little face with big dark blue eyes and the gorgeous woman holding her, it was enough to knock a man back a step.
Something about the scene felt oddly… right.
I shook that off, not sure what to think of it.
“It’s looking like another couple of days on the drying,” I told her. “Might go faster if I got that other wall down, though. I know that’s going to be loud with the baby…”
“I’m actually out of the house for a few hours tomorrow. We have a doctor appointment.”
“Is she okay?” I asked, surprised with the way my stomach clenched.
“It’s actually for me. But she goes everywhere with me now. It’s just a, uh, postpartum check-up. But that should be at least an hour, probably more. Depending on how she does, maybe we’ll do an errand or two. I don’t know how long it would take…”
“Not as long as you’d think. Demo is fast. And it’s just the two walls.”
“And the floor.”
“I have hated that stone bottom since the day I moved in. Cleaning it is a nightmare. And if that is going, so is the rest of the floor.”
“What are you thinking of instead?”
“Is it outside the realm of possibilities to get a shower pan?”
“Your shower is huge. But anything can be custom-made. Might take a little longer, but it could be done.”
“Then let’s do that. So much cleaner. And it would go with the tile I picked.”
“Yeah? What did you settle on?”
“I really love the Calacatta Gold marble. What?” she asked.
“Nothing. It’s a good choice. It’s what I redid my primary bath with too. It’s warmer than the usual black veins.”
“Exactly. This whole place was black and white when I moved in. And I liked it then. But I’m drawn to warmer colors now. For whatever reason,” she said, glancing down at the baby as she made a cooing sound that sounded a lot like an owl.
“With how much tile you have in there, it’s going to look really stunning.”
“Right? I think it’ll be gorgeous. I was so wrapped up in the panic of it all that I forgot to ask if you even have it in your schedule to work on this.”
I didn’t. At all. And yet…
“If you’re flexible with time of day, I can work on it at any time.” At night. In my free time. Which I virtually never gave up, unless there was a real emergency.
“Well, we don’t have much of a schedule. I probably can’t look forward to a full night of sleep until she’s five or six months, at earliest, so I’m open to whenever works for you.”
“Okay, good. So I will do the demo while you’re out tomorrow.” I’d have to move another job around, but I wanted this as stressless as possible for her and the baby. “Then we can work on a schedule from there.”
“Perfect. I really appreciate it, Owen.”
She’d said my name dozens of times before. There was no reason for it to make my stomach swoop like it did right then.
But I was going to go ahead and not analyze that.
“Now, I would get out of your hair if I could get my dog to stop being enamored with the baby.”
“Well, can you blame him?” Willa asked, rubbing a finger down her daughter’s chubby cheek. “Is Tuna home alone all day when you’re working?”
“I have a dog-walker for mid day.”
“You’re welcome to bring him here when you come so he’s not alone. We don’t mind the company, do we?” she cooed at Adelaide.
“He’ll love that.” Especially since I would be cutting into my free time with him by working this job.
“Good. It’s settled then. You can be my new mommy’s assistant, right, bubba?” she asked, petting his big head.
“Come on, Tuna,” I called, patting my leg. “Wanna take a ride in the car?” I asked, using one of his favorite words. “And get a pup cup?”
That had him looking at me.
“And a cookie?” I added.
Finally, he bounced off the couch.
“Sure. Sure. Trade us for some whipped cream and a treat,” Willa said, giving him a smile. “See you tomorrow,” she added to me as I hooked his leash to his collar.
“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”
There was no reason I should have been so excited about a demo job.
But there was an anticipation thrumming in my veins as I walked to my van.
It followed me through the rest of my day.
And when I woke up the next morning?
Yep, it was just stronger.