Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 77505 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77505 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
“Baby,” I said, surprised by the rush of emotion.
It wasn’t the first time she’d gotten me a gift. I’d had a birthday since we met. We’d celebrated Christmas and exchanged presents.
But this—this was different.
“To be completely transparent, I totally had to ask all the guys and the girls for ideas. Because baskets are not exactly my forte. But I think we did pretty good.”
Her smile was a little crooked, a bit uncertain, unsure of herself and her grand gesture.
“You did fucking amazing,” I told her, stalking forward to frame her face in my hands, then press a long, lingering kiss to her lips. Until she was swaying on her damn feet. “And we’re gonna go through all of it together. But first, I gotta show you my appreciation,” I said, lowering down to my knees in front of her, and reaching up to pull down her shorts and panties.
Dylan - 7 years
“That’s a good baby,” I cooed at the yellow Lab puppy at my feet.
She was going to be a service dog for someone who was visually impaired.
There were four other pups in the class: two Goldens and two more Labs. We’d had some success with other breeds, but in general, there was a reason service dogs were most often these breeds. They were biddable, friendly, smart, and eager to please. And the high food drive didn’t hurt when it came to training.
They weren’t all going to be seeing-eye dogs, though. One had shown an aptitude for sensing seizures. Another had a nose for gluten, so he was going to go to someone with a severe allergy once we were sure he was fully trained. The remaining two were perfectly suited for mobility assistance. They would be trained to retrieve things, turn on lights, open doors—anything someone with limited mobility might struggle with.
It wasn’t our only focus—service dogs. But it was our most important work. Service dog training was a huge commitment. Most dogs needed at least a year of extensive training. And it was rewarding and heartbreaking at the same time. It was always hard to let them go, even if they were never ours from the beginning.
So, to mitigate those complex emotions, we only did small groups and agreed to have a year break between.
In that time, we did all sorts of things. Puppy classes. General training. Working with “problem” dogs for both individuals and local shelters (that part, being at no charge). And, yes, we did some very careful work with personal protection animals. We’d started with Stas and Czar’s Rotties. And we’d done five other dogs since then. One for an actual celebrity, which had been fun—seeing them walking around our little nowhere town, getting gawked at and papped by the locals.
“Alright, you need to get going if you’re going to meet the transport,” Emma said, taking the puppy’s leash from me.
We all took turns taking the service dogs home so no one trainer got too attached to them. And so they didn’t get too attached to us. It was Emma’s night. Because I had to drive out of Shady Valley to pick up a little present for my husband.
Husband.
God.
That still sounded weird.
And we’d been married over a year.
Admittedly, it wasn’t a step I’d been overly concerned about taking. In my mind, we were happy and committed. Why did we have to bring the law into it? But when he got down on his knee with that ring box in his hand, I have to admit, some part of me melted like freaking butter.
It wasn’t about the contracts.
It was about the symbol.
The proof on my hand that said this man chose me and would keep choosing me. Every single day. For the rest of our lives.
I liked that.
And I liked that he had my staked claim on his hand too. Because it hadn’t escaped me how many women in town drooled over him. And they needed to know he belonged to me.
It wasn’t that I doubted Colter’s loyalty. After what he’d been through, there wasn’t anyone on the planet I trusted to be faithful to me more than him.
I just wanted the women to know to find their own gift-basket-making men. Good luck, I got the only one.
The wedding had been small and private. I hadn’t worn a dress. He hadn’t worn a suit. Our dogs, however, had been dressed to the nines.
“Don’t forget to grab a leash and a stuffy,” Emma called as I turned to run after checking the time.
I did just that, then jumped into my giant SUV.
I still had my bike.
Colter and I liked going for rides.
But for daily practicality, I needed my SUV. I was always carting around our dogs or someone else’s dogs.
Including today.
Sugar, Mack, and Molly were at home with Colter. And he thought I was working all day with the service puppies.