“But we can spare a few more minutes, right?” he asked between kisses.
“Absolutely.”
IT WAS AFTER EIGHT and they were just sitting down to dinner—Chinese takeout. Their time at the shelter had taken a bit longer than they had anticipated, but they found Lola’s owner and spent some time showing him pictures of her and the puppies. His name was Roger, and he was so grateful for everything Gavin and Bailey did for his beloved pet that neither felt right about rushing to leave.
“Matt found a job for me,” Roger had told them, “and I start on Monday. It’s not much but by the end of January I should have enough money to get off the streets and into a small place of my own.”
“That’s wonderful,” Gavin had said. “Good for you.”
“Here’s the thing,” he went on, “I don’t think I can keep Lola. The place I’m hoping to get doesn’t allow pets and...I know she’s going to be with you for a while, but I wanted to ask you to find her a good home. One with a family and a yard and someplace she can be warm and dry and well fed. Can you do that?”
Gavin had looked over at Bailey and saw the tears in her eyes. Holding one of her hands in his, he told Roger he’d make sure Lola found the best home and he’d send him updates.
Now he looked over as Bailey sat down opposite him and sighed.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I keep thinking about Roger and it breaks my heart. I know he’s truly wanting what’s best for Lola, but it still seems so sad.”
“I know. But it would be worse if he took her back and then had to let her go. Trust me. At least now we can find her a good home and hopefully it will be with someone here in town and we’ll get to still see her for her healthcare.”
“Maybe,” she said, pouring some of her chicken and broccoli onto her plate. “And we still have to find homes for the puppies.”
“Well, maybe not all of them.”
That seemed to perk her up. “What do you mean?”
Shrugging and hoping he sounded casual, he said, “I was thinking we’d maybe keep one or two of them for us. Cooper seems to be a little protective of them and I think it would be good for him to have some playmates too. What do you think?”
“Oh my gosh! I love that idea! I know they have to stay here to be with Lola for a while, but maybe once they can be away from her, I can keep one at my place and you can keep one here with Cooper and...”
“I guess that could work for now.”
“For now?”
Reaching across the table, Gavin took one of her hands in his, marveling at the softness. “Bailey, I know it’s fast and maybe it’s too soon, but...I’m thinking long-term here. I want to go to sleep with you every night and wake up with you every morning. I think about all the time we wasted because I was too busy arguing with you instead of being brave enough to tell you how I felt.”
“Oh, Gavin...” she said with some hesitation.
“No, no, no...I get it. I know it’s fast and maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. I mean, you haven’t even told me how you feel so...um...just forget about it. We’ll do things your way. When the puppies are weaned and can leave Lola, you can have your pick of the litter and maybe, if you want, you can come back to work here and bring the puppy with you so he can hang out with Cooper and his brother or sister during the day. Then on the weekends, we can all hang out together. It will be great. What do you think? It can work, right?”
Oh good grief, he was babbling! And he never babbled! Ever! What the heck was happening to him?
“Do I get to say something now?” she asked with a sweet smile.
He nodded, afraid to even open his mouth for fear of more ramblings coming out.
“I really like everything you suggested. And if you’re offering, I would love to come back to work. I love my job and I love this clinic and all the people and pets who come in. But most of all, Gavin Maguire, I love you.”
It was too much to hope for, he thought, and surely he had to be hearing things because this many good things never happened to him.
Ever.
Gavin was pretty sure his mouth was moving, but now words weren’t coming out. He was incredibly relieved when Bailey got up and came over, sat in his lap, and kissed him.
And he loved kissing her.
He could do it for hours on end and be the happiest man alive.
When they finally broke apart, they were breathless. She cupped his face in her hands and smiled. “I think this is going to be my favorite Christmas ever.”
He nodded. “Considering it’s really going to be my first, I know it’s going to be my favorite because I’m sharing it with you.” He hugged Bailey close and realized how excited he was about his future and it was all because of her. He pulled back and studied her face. “Who knew that going to rescue a pregnant dog would lead to this?”
Her smile only grew. “I love how it led to this—we rescued a dog who really ended up rescuing us.”
“Us?” he asked curiously.
“Definitely us. Although I think Cooper laid the groundwork for trying to bring us together sooner.”
Now he was really confused. “How do you figure that?”
“Well, you never asked Amber or Hannah to look after him when you weren’t here. Only me.”
“He really seemed drawn to you the most...”
“I think he knew before we did that we should stop fighting and get together.”
“You’re putting an awful lot of thinking power on a dog who sleeps eighteen hours a day and refuses to learn how to give me his paw.”
She laughed. “Cooper is an awesome dog even if he doesn’t know any tricks. And look at him over there with the pups.” They both turned to where Cooper was sleeping beside the massive dog bed. “He’s so sweet the way he stays by their side so much of the day.”
“I think he’s just mad that they took his new bed,” Gavin deadpanned.
She swatted at him playfully. “Oh, stop! Don’t ruin the hero worship I have for that sweet dog.”
“Fine, fine...worship the territorial dog.” Then he kissed her. “And I think the feeling’s mutual—Cooper’s pretty smitten with you too.”
“Aww...” Resting her head on his shoulder, she sighed happily. “This is good.”
And Gavin had to agree. “Yes, it is.”
Straightening, she looked at him. “How about we finally eat our dinner so I can get this baking done?”
“Sounds good.” Truth was, he was starving and more than ready to eat.
Bailey stood and gasped.
“What?” he asked, concerned. “What’s the matter?”
“You’re not going to believe this but...it’s snowing!”
Standing up, Gavin turned and looked out the window and smiled. As he wrapped his arms around Bailey’s waist, he murmured, “You know what this means, right?”
“No, what?”
“Change of plans,” he said, kissing her throat.
“Mmm...I don’t even know what that means, but I’m already on board.”
“It’s coming down pretty heavy and I’m going to guess that it’s going to snow all night so...let’s cancel appointments for tomorrow so we can stay up all night.”
She purred with delight as he kept placing tiny kisses on her skin. “You think baking is going to take up the whole night?” she teased.
He laughed softly. “The baking will have to wait until tomorrow. Now that I know we don’t have to get up early, I have much bigger plans for tonight. Better plans.”
“Ooh...I like the way you think.”
Releasing her, they sat back down to finish their dinner when Gavin figured he’d surprise her one last time. “Yeah, now that we don’t have to worry about getting up tomorrow, we can stay up late and decorate this tree! I bought all kinds of lights and ornaments, but I thought you’d want to do that with me!”
She blinked at him several times as she tried to process what he was saying. “So...wait...you want to stay up late so w
e can...decorate the tree?”
Leaning in close, he gave her a sexy grin. “Well, that’s part of it. But if you had other plans for how we could spend the night...”
Now it was her turn to give a sexy smile. “Gavin, I have all kinds of plans for us.” Then she primly picked up her fork. “Now let’s eat. I have a feeling we’re going to need all of our strength before the night is through.”
“Baby, I love the way you think too.”
And if he wasn’t already feeling like the luckiest guy in the world, he would be now.
Epilogue
“AND THIS ONE’S FOR Cooper...”
Gavin rolled his eyes. “He already got a present. Actually, he already got three presents.”
“And he’ll probably get a few more so...deal with it.”
It was Christmas morning and they were sitting on his living room floor surrounded by mountains of discarded boxes and wrapping paper and now an assortment of dog toys. Bailey took her Christmas presents seriously and when she came over with all of them yesterday afternoon to put under his tree, he was certain she must have shopped for half the town.
But she hadn’t.
It was all for him, Cooper, Lola, and the pups.
He was majorly relieved that he had found the time on Friday to go out and do some shopping of his own after the roads were cleared. They hadn’t gotten nearly as much snow as he thought they would so that made his life a lot easier. Although, shopping for Christmas gifts for the first time in his life and doing it the day before Christmas Eve was an experience he was likely never to forget.
Nor would he ever repeat.
Next year, he was going to shop early.
Like in September.
Last night, they each opened one gift from each other—something Bailey explained was a tradition in her home. She had bought him a pair of pajamas—another tradition he had been warned about in advance—so he had done the same for her. It seemed ridiculous, but it was actually kind of fun. The look of pure delight on her face when she’d opened the box told him he’d done the right thing.
Beside him, Bailey was rifling through the wrapped gifts and pulled out another box. “This one’s for you.”
“Bailey, this is all too much...”
“Oh, hush. Let me have my fun.” She was adorable in the flannel pajamas he’d given her—they were red and white and had reindeers on them. He thought she’d appreciate them with all of her exuberance over the holiday, and she did.
“Well then let me grab one for you to open now too,” he said, finding the small box and handing it to her.
And rather than opening his gift, Gavin sat back and watched her open hers. The whole situation was causing a bit of anxiety for him—he’d never done this before and had no idea if he purchased good gifts or bad ones.
“Oh, Gavin! I love it!”
He almost sagged with relief. She was holding up the wooden picture frame he’d picked out for her and in it was a picture of Lola and the puppies. “I thought you might like a reminder of them.”
“It’s perfect,” she said and again, there were tears in her eyes. She was a very emotional person and he was beginning to realize how much he loved that about her. “It’s absolutely perfect.”
“I can’t believe we’ve already found homes for these guys and it took only one day,” he said, unwrapping the box in his hands.
“Well, to be fair, we did stop at about eight different houses yesterday, sooo...”
“Okay, fair enough. The odds were in our favor, but still. I’m glad they’ll all be local and we can watch the pups grow up.”
“Especially since we’re keeping two and now they’ll always get to see their siblings,” she said, smiling happily.
Gavin took the cover off the box and started to laugh. “Um...Bailey...”
“What? Don’t you like it?”
And then he laughed even harder as he pulled out the t-shirt with the Grinch on it—something she admitted to calling him. It was a picture from the Christmas movie where the Grinch’s heart grew three sizes. “You think you’re pretty funny, don’t you?”
It wasn’t really a question.
“Well, it seemed very appropriate for you this year.”
There was no way he could argue with that logic because she was spot on.
“Yeah, well...maybe I’ll wear it to work on Monday and shock everyone.”
That had her laughing with delight. “Would you? Oh, my goodness, that would be awesome!” Then she lunged for him and they rolled on the floor while she kissed him. When she lifted her head, she was smiling down at him.
“I love you, Bailey. Merry Christmas.”
“And I love you too, Dr. Grinch,” she teased.
“That’s ex-Dr. Grinch to you.”
Nodding, she agreed. “Definitely ex, but I still love you.”
“Best Christmas ever,” he murmured right before he pulled her in for another kiss.
IF YOU ENJOYED A CHRISTMAS Rescue, you might enjoy the rest of the Silver Bell Falls series.
Christmas in Silver Bell Falls
Christmas on Pointe
A Very Married Christmas
Please enjoy an excerpt from Christmas in Silver Bell Falls!
IT WAS DARK OUTSIDE and every inch of Melanie’s body hurt. Slowly she made her way back around the house to close the windows and jacked up the heat. Luckily the fireplace was gas, clearly a recent update. She flipped the switch and sighed with relief when it roared to life and the blower immediately began pushing out heat as well.
Guzzling down a bottle of water, she looked around with a sense of satisfaction. The house was small, maybe only a thousand square feet, but it had potential. Grabbing a banana from her cooler, she peeled and ate it while contemplating her next move.
“Shower,” she finally said. “A nice hot shower or maybe a bath.” The latter sounded far more appealing. Locking the front door, Melanie walked to the newly-cleaned bathroom and started the bath water. It was a fairly decent-sized tub and for that she was grateful. “Bath salts,” she murmured and padded to the master bedroom to search through her toiletry bag.
Within minutes, the bathroom was steamy and fragrant and Melanie could feel the tension starting to leave her body. Her cell phone rang and she cursed when she realized she had forgotten to call her father when she’d arrived.
“Hey, Dad!” she said quickly. “Sorry!”
He chuckled. “Are you all right?”
“I am. The house was a mess and once I got inside and looked around, I couldn’t help but start cleaning. I guess I lost track of the time.”
“Have you eaten dinner yet?” he asked expectantly.
“A banana.”
“Mel...” he whined. “You have to start taking better care of yourself.”
“I will. I know. Actually, I’m just getting ready to take a nice hot bath to relax. I promise I’ll eat as soon as I’m done.”
He sighed wearily. “Okay. Be sure that you do. Call me tomorrow.”
“I will, Dad. Thanks.”
She hung up and turned the water off. Looking around, Melanie grabbed some fresh towels from one of her boxes and set them on the vanity before stripping down and gingerly climbing into the steamy water. A groan of pure appreciation escaped her lips as soon as she was fully submerged.
“This almost makes up for all the grime,” she sighed and rested her head back, closing her eyes. “Heavenly.”
For a few minutes, Melanie let her mind be blank and simply relaxed. The hot water and the salts were doing wonders for her tired body and it was glorious. Then, unable to help herself, her mind went back into work mode. A running list of supplies she was going to need was first and she cursed not having a pad and pen handy to start writing things down. Next came the necessities of going into town and maybe meeting her neighbors.
And then there was the book.
The groan that came out this time had nothing to do with relaxation and everything to do with dread. “D
amn Christmas story. Why can’t I write what I want to write?” It was something she’d been asking her editor for months and the only response she got was how all of the other in-house authors were contributing to building their holiday line, and she would be no exception. “Stupid rule.”
And then something came to her.
Melanie sat up straight in the tub and only mildly minded the water that sloshed over the side of the tub. “All I need to do is write a story that takes place around Christmas. It doesn’t have to necessarily be about Christmas!” Her heart began to beat frantically. “I’ve been focusing on the wrong thing!” Relief swamped her and she forced herself to relax again. Sinking back into the water, she closed her eyes and let her mind wander to all of the possibilities that had suddenly opened up.
“A romance at Christmas time,” she said quietly. “Major emphasis on romance, minor on Christmas. Technically, I’m meeting my obligations.” She smiled. “Hmm...a heroine alone—maybe stranded—in a winter storm and a sexy hero who storms in and rescues her.”
Melanie purred. “Yeah. That could definitely work.” Sinking further down into the water, an image of the hero came to mind. Tall. That was a given. Muscular, but not overly so. Maybe lean would be a better way to describe him. And dark hair. She was a sucker for the dark hair. “Sex on a stick,” she said quietly, enjoying the image that was playing in her mind.
The bathroom door swung open and Melanie’s eyes flew open as she screamed. The man standing in the doorway seemed to have stepped almost completely from her imagination. If she wasn’t so freaking scared at the moment, she would appreciate it.
“I wouldn’t count on sex on a stick or anyplace else if I were you. You’re trespassing and you’re under arrest.”
Love on the Edge of Reason
Pine Harbour, Book 8
Zoe York
TOM MINELLI DOESN'T know why Chloe Davis has fled Pine Harbour, but she's pregnant with his baby and he wants her back. Not just back in town. He wants Chloe back in his life, and not as the casual hook-up friends they were before. But finding her proves harder than he expected—and when he does track her down, a snow storm rolls in right behind him, trapping them together in a cabin on the lake.
Snowed in for Christmas Page 22
