by Mara Wells
The judge said a few words of greeting and launched into the words that would bind Lance and Carrie together forever. Lance knew they were important, that he should pay attention, but all he could see was Carrie’s glowing face. All he could hear was the pounding of his own heart.
Caleb bumped his arm, and Lance was forced to let go of Carrie’s hand. Oliver held his hands out flat, like they’d practiced, one ring in each palm.
“Good job,” Carrie whispered to him, picking up Lance’s ring.
They must’ve exchanged rings at their first wedding, but it hadn’t felt like this, he was sure. When Carrie slipped the ring onto his finger with a softly spoken “With this ring, I thee wed,” Lance felt everything click into place. His wife, his son, his life.
He placed the ring on her finger, the judge said a few more words, and finally, they kissed. His brothers patted him on the back. Oliver jumped up and down, clapping, and even Beckham seemed to understand the importance of the moment, spinning in place, twirling the leash into a Twizzler stick.
“Good luck to you both.” The judge dismissed them with a smile.
“We don’t need luck.” Lance squeezed Carrie’s hand. “We’ve got each other.”
Carrie’s color was high, and she laughed, as giddy as if she’d downed a pitcher of mimosas all on her own.
Grandpa William had rented a limo. The wedding party loaded in, an excited Oliver hopping in and immediately finding buttons to push. Windows went up and down.
“I got this.” Caleb dove in, scooping up his nephew, distracting him with tickles.
“After you.” Grandpa William waved Carrie into the limo, but Lance put out a hand to stop her.
“We’ll catch up.” He exchanged a long look with his grandfather, and Grandpa William gave him a sharp nod.
“See you there.” He escorted Grams into the dark interior, and the driver closed the door behind him.
“What’s going on?” Carrie turned happy but puzzled eyes to him.
A BMW, in a blue so dark it looked navy, pulled up. The driver stepped out of the car, adjusted his dark suit coat, and opened the back door.
“This is us.” Lance gestured for her to enter first.
“What a mystery.” Carrie climbed in, holding out her hand for Lance to join her. He didn’t need to tell the driver where to go, since it was all prearranged. He sank back into the cushioned leather seat and stretched out his legs, one ankle crossed over the other.
Carrie leaned her head against his shoulder. “I should probably be more suspicious, but I’m just so relieved.”
“You don’t want to go to the after-party, huh?”
“No, the reception will be fun.” Her head rolled against his bicep. “I’m relieved to be married to you again. Until the judge finally said the words, I kept thinking something would happen. But it didn’t. And now we’re married.”
“No escaping this time.” He kissed the top of her head.
“Thank God.” She snuggled into his side, one of the flowers tickling his chin. “I never want to go on another first date again.”
He laughed, shifting so his arm was around her shoulders. He held her close to his side as the streets grew more tree-lined and condo buildings gave way to single-family residences.
“Aren’t we near the Dorothy?” Carrie watched the passing scenery with a contended smile.
“One block over.”
The BMW rolled to a stop in front of a midcentury gem, one of Carrie’s favorites, he knew, with its butterfly roofline. A large sea-grape tree dominated the front yard, and a horizontal wood-slat fence circled the lawn. At the corner of the property, the wall zigzagged around a towering sabal palm. Carrie’d told him on one of their many exhaust-the-dog walks that she found it charming that the owners had built a wall around the tree rather than chopping it down.
“I’ve always wondered what it’s like inside.” Carrie’s wistful voice made Lance smile.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. “Why don’t you find out?” He dangled them in front of her.
“Why do you have the keys?” Her eyes widened, then widened some more. “Lance, what did you do?”
“It’s my wedding gift for you. Do you like it?” He grinned. He knew she did.
She smacked his hand, hard, and snatched the keys. “Are you serious right now?”
He opened his door and pulled her through. “Let’s take a tour. If you hate it, we can find another place.”
She shook her head, the bright flowers jogging loose until one fell to the sidewalk. “It’s perfect.”
“We haven’t even gone inside.”
“Location, location, location.” She checked off three fingers, then raised a fourth. “Great bones. Anything else? We can fix.”
“We are a good team.” He pulled her against him, unable to stand the few inches of distance between them for another minute.
Her hands flattened against his chest. “The perfect team.”
Every kiss with Carrie was special, but he knew he’d remember this one for the rest of their lives. The heat was there, the love, but this time, there was something different. New. It felt like the future opening around them.
She stepped back, her eyes knowing, like she’d felt it, too. “Let’s go see what our future looks like.”
Hand in hand, they walked to the front door. His initial walk-through right before the closing had revealed there’d be repairs to make, details to restore, and God knew what they’d find if they peeled up the flooring in the kitchen. But it didn’t really matter what surprises the house had in store for them. As long as they were together, they could handle anything.
Carrie took the lead, trying a few keys before finding the one that unlocked the door. She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled. He followed her inside.
“Oh my.” She held her hands to her cheeks, taking in the original tile work, perfectly restored, the high ceilings, and the way light streamed through the large windows. “It’s beautiful.”
“You’re beautiful.” He stepped close, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind.
She leaned against him with a contented sigh. “It’s the perfect place to raise a family.”
His heart thudded in his chest. “Our family.”
She turned in his arms, twining her arms around his neck. “’Til death do us part.”
“No take-backs this time.” He lowered his face to hers. She laughed, but he didn’t. His gaze bored into her. “I mean it.”
“I know.” She cupped his face in her hands, holding his eyes with hers. Steady. Unblinking. “So do I.”
His forehead dropped to hers, breath shuddering out of his lungs. The BMW’s horn broke the moment. He’d only hired it for an hour. Time was ticking, but he didn’t care. Let them charge him double for the second hour.
“Guess we need to get back to the family. Oli will be wondering where we are.” Carrie didn’t move, though, staying in his arms like she never wanted to leave.
“We’ll catch up later. Right now, we have a future to start. Wait ’til you see the master bedroom.”
“Show me everything, Lance.”
“That’s a tall order.”
“You’re a tall guy.” She giggled and stepped back. “Quick tour and then to the restaurant?”
He quieted his impatience and led her down a short hallway to the master suite. The bedroom was large with French doors that led to a private deck. Carrie was suitably appreciative, stepping outside and exclaiming when she discovered the small hot tub tucked in the corner of the patio.
“Keep looking.”
She spun in place and noticed the envelope on the wrought-iron bistro set. She picked it up, pulling out two tickets.
“Greece?” She turned shining eyes to him.
He nodded, suddenly worried. Wh
at if Greece wasn’t her dream destination anymore? Why hadn’t he asked her?
She flung herself at him, Oli-style, and he caught her up in a kiss.
“Just when I thought today couldn’t get more perfect.” She kissed every inch of his face, then moved onto his neck.
He’d thought the honeymoon would start tonight, but they were in their new home. They were married. They were alone. He pulled out his phone and sent the BMW on its way.
He scooped her up and strode back into the bedroom. Their bedroom. He was tired of waiting. He wanted his future to start right now. He backed her against the wall, growling into her neck. “Do you mind being late to your own wedding celebration?”
“Please,” she panted into his ear. “Please make us late.”
He grinned. “Whatever makes my wife happy.”
She smiled up at him. “You make me happy.”
His lips slammed into hers, fiercer than he’d ever felt before. She kissed him back, equally fierce. They might never make it to the restaurant, and he didn’t care. His whole life was right here, in his arms. He kissed her neck, right below her ear.
She leaned her head back, giving him more access to the sensitive skin of her neck. The movement pushed her breasts into his chest. He moaned at the sensation.
Her eyes fluttered open. “Lance?”
“Hmm?” His lips trailed toward her collarbone.
“I love you.” She caught his face in her hands, forcing his eyes to hers. “I’m sorry I was such an idiot before.”
His heart kicked in his chest, an unmanned jackhammer. He mimicked her gesture, palms to her cheeks, staring into her hazel depths. He was drowning, and he never wanted to come up for air. Carrie’s chest rose and fell in an uneven rhythm. He trailed one hand down and laid it against the beat of her heart.
His lips stretched into a slow smile. “What matters is we’re here now.”
“In our home.”
“You’re my home.”
“Well, then, Lance Donovan. Welcome home.”
There’s more love to be found at the park! Don’t miss the first book in Mara Wells’s heartwarming Fur Haven Dog Park series.
Chapter 1
Riley Carson’s butt buzzed. She pretended not to feel her phone’s vibration through the denim of her cutoff jean shorts and lifted her face to the morning sun, sucking in a lungful of humid air.
“Ah, nothing like late summer in South Florida.” She kept an eye on her toy poodle, LouLou, who galloped around the patchy grass of the neighborhood dog park alongside her best dog park pal, a black Labrador ten times her size. Well, it wasn’t really a dog park, more an empty lot that the good dog folk of the surrounding area had commandeered as their own. And Lady wasn’t really a Lab, more a mix of large breeds with a Lab head and soulful eyes.
“If only there were more mosquitoes.” Eliza, Lady’s owner, batted half-heartedly at a few early-afternoon pests. “And more humidity so one hundred percent of my clothing can stick to my skin instead of the usual eighty percent.”
Recently retired from her legal practice, Eliza was a dog park fixture, bringing Lady from their home across the street multiple times a day. She’d been the one to find LouLou, abandoned in a cardboard box with holes punched in the top, just outside the lot’s entrance.
Riley crinkled the ever-present plastic bag in her pocket, remembering meeting Eliza on her door-to-door search to find the poodle’s owner. “I can’t believe it’s been over a year since you brought LouLou into my life.”
“Love at first sight, wasn’t it?” Eliza dabbed at her steel-gray hairline with a tissue. White streaks at her temples defied gravity and frizzed around her face. “She was a pathetic thing, wasn’t she? So dirty and with the worms.”
“Nothing a body shave and a trip to the vet couldn’t fix.” Riley didn’t like remembering those days. LouLou had been skeletally thin, her apricot coat sparse and matted. She’d been weak, her survival touch and go, especially given her advanced age. Now, she was the picture of health, clearly finding joy in herding her giant friend around the perimeter of the chain-link-enclosed lot.
“They’re quite an unlikely pair, aren’t they?” Eliza tracked the dogs’ progress while they ran the fence. Clods of dirt flew from under Lady’s paws, and LouLou chased after them as if they were toys. The fact that the clods crumbled in her mouth didn’t stop her from chasing the next one, but it did remind Riley that she needed to bust out the dog toothbrush. Poodles had notoriously bad teeth, and Riley figured there was nothing wrong with a bit of prevention. Luckily, LouLou liked both the vanilla-mint flavored toothpaste and the extra attention.
“Opposites attract, I guess. I’m glad they’re such good friends.” That Riley was also grateful for Eliza’s friendship went unspoken. Morning, afternoon, and evening, the two met up to let the dogs run, and somehow that had turned into long hours of conversation, day after day, that left Riley hoping when she reached Eliza’s age, she’d have half as many funny stories to tell about her life as Eliza did. Right now, though, her life was the opposite of exciting—work, work, and more work.
Riley’s butt buzzed again. She winced and pulled out her phone. She texted a quick reply and added another item to her to-do list. Although she wasn’t technically always on call, in practice, it certainly seemed that way. “I’m sorry. I know the dogs both love a good run, but we have to cut it short today.”
“Butt problems?” A smile was never far from Eliza’s lips, and they stretched into a grin at Riley’s sigh. Eliza patted the tissue behind her ears and down her neck before stashing it under her bra strap, hidden by the neckline of her floral blouse. Riley had seen her pull a key and a driver’s license out of her blouse. She wondered what else Eliza stashed in there.
“Mr. Cardoza problems.” Riley thumbed through a few more messages, turning the screen so Eliza could see her to-do list of the day. “Duty calls.”
“You’re good to them, those pesky residents of yours at the Dorothy. Sure keep you on your toes, don’t they?” Eliza patted Riley’s arm and called Lady. The big dog slid to a stop a mere inch from crashing into Eliza, head lolling to the side with a doggy grin. Such a large dog for such a small woman seemed incongruous at first, but Riley had quickly learned that they shared an irreverent sense of humor and a great love of pâté.
“You know it. But after the disaster at my last job, I’m grateful for the work. See you this evening?”
LouLou came running, too, now that Lady was leaving, and Riley bent down to clip on her leash.
“Wouldn’t miss it.” Eliza threaded Lady’s leash through her fingers. “Kiki and Paula got back from Italy yesterday. They’ll bring Princess Pugsley, which will be a nice treat for Lady, and I for one can’t wait to hear about every moment of their trip.”
“And see every picture, right?” Riley smiled at Eliza’s enthusiastic nod.
“You know, they met right here at the park. Kiki had that old Maltese, God rest her cranky soul, and Paula started bringing Princess Pugsley when she was a puppy. Gosh, that must be five years ago now.”
“A real doggy love match.” Riley pulled her hair back into a sloppy ponytail and secured it with a band from her wrist, following Eliza through the gap in the fence they used as the dog park entrance. Two poles, meant to hold the chain-link upright, tilted away from each other, creating a slot large enough for humans and dogs to slide through.
“But it sure wasn’t love at first sight. Those dogs hated each other. Kiki and Paula on the other hand…” Eliza winked. “Just you wait, Riley. Maybe the dog park will bring someone special your way, too.”
“Thanks to you, I have my someone special.” Riley squatted to give her poodle a good scratch behind the ears. “I don’t need anyone else. Come on, LouLou. Maybe Mr. Cardoza has some treats for you.”
“You’re skeptical,” Eliza called to Riley’s retreating ba
ck, “but I’m usually right. You’ll see. I have an excellent sense for these things.”
“No romance for me, thank you very much. Work your matchmaking wiles on some other sucker.” Riley waved but didn’t turn around. Getting into it with Eliza about her failed engagement was a topic for another day. And the name of that day was Neverday.
Riley’d shared a lot with Eliza about growing up in the area, how her mom’s job working for a cruise line had her out of the country for weeks, sometimes months, at a time, leaving Riley’s grandmother to mostly raise her. She hadn’t shared much about her love life, though—neither her disaster of an engagement nor how she sometimes fantasized about the cute UPS driver with the sexy accent who delivered Eileen Forsythe’s medications on the first Tuesday of every month. No, for now, her job, her poodle, and her Grams were enough commitments in her life. Who had time for anything more?
LouLou followed Riley along the sidewalk that led back to the Dorothy, the Art Deco apartment building where Riley spent her days—and quite a few nights—trouble-shooting maintenance problems for the residents. Another failure. Her gig at the Dorothy was a long way down from her position as an assistant manager at the luxurious Donovan Resort in downtown Miami, but when the whole chain was sold off due to a series of political and financial scandals that ended up with the CEO in prison, she got laid off, and she didn’t have a choice. It was the job at the Dorothy or no job at all.
Really, she was grateful for the strings her Grams had pulled to get her hired. It meant she was an elevator ride away from her favorite relative, the woman who’d provided the only stability in her young life, and she was certainly learning a lot of new skills. Skills she’d never thought she’d needed, but who wouldn’t want to add handywoman to their résumé?
Sure, she missed her Donovan Resort team, the inside jokes, and the after-shift drinks at the bar. She missed greeting returning guests and welcoming new ones for their first stays. She missed her not-too-shabby paycheck and how putting on the Donovan Resort’s requisite black blazer and pulling back her hair instantly made her feel like a kick-ass professional.
