When Hugh finally lifted his head, he immediately began looking for where the puppies had scampered off to. “Uh-oh,” he murmured and stood up. “Um…Aubrey?”
“Hmm?”
“I think Abercrombie just christened the carpet.”
Chuckling, she stood. “It’s all right. He’s just nervous and it’s a new place. Besides, he’s marking his territory. His home.” She walked over and found the pup sitting, looking a little ashamed. “It’s okay, sweetie,” she cooed, picking him up before going to the kitchen for cleaning supplies. Hugh took them from her hand and went to take care of the mess. “They are just so sweet! How many were in the litter?”
“I’m not sure. When I went to get them, there were three left. I took him and Cocoa.”
“Oh, Hugh!” she cried. “You left one there all by himself?”
“Well, I…I didn’t want to assume. I mean, two dogs are a handful. Three might be a little crazy. It’s like raising triplets!” He laughed.
“But that poor baby. Left behind without his brother and sister.” She nuzzled the puppy and went to sit on the floor beside Cocoa, who was happily watching Hugh clean. Aubrey reached over and pulled her into her lap too.
Hugh disappeared into the kitchen and soon the doorbell rang again. Carefully putting the dogs down, she made her way to the door. “I don’t think I’ve had this many visitors in all the years I’ve lived here,” she said as she opened the door.
And found a tiny black lab puppy sitting on her doorstep, looking up at her curiously. “Hugh Shaughnessy,” she called as she crouched to pick up the puppy, “what have you done?” She turned and found him grinning from ear to ear, Abercrombie and Cocoa at his feet.
“This is our family. Unique, like us.” He crouched down beside her.
The giggle came out before she could help herself. “You’re crazy, you know that? Three dogs? Puppies? How did you get them to come to the door like that?”
“I had a little help,” he said sheepishly, and as if on cue, a big pickup truck pulled out of the driveway and drove away.
“Who was that?”
“Cupid.”
That just made her laugh harder. “Wow. He really is something,” she said as she pulled all three dogs in close. “You guys are too damn cute!” The newest pup stood up and began to furiously lick her face.
“Careful, Bill’s a little excitable. The wild man of the group.”
“Bill?”
Hugh shrugged. “I kind of promised…”
Pulling back a little, Aubrey picked up the tiny black puppy and watched as he squirmed furiously in her hands. “It’s perfect. I love it.” Then she looked at him. “Abercrombie, Cocoa…and Bill.”
“Not the most traditional kids’ names, but that’s not what we were going for, right?”
“I love you so much,” she said as she put the dog down and reached for Hugh. “And our unique little family.” She kissed him.
When they broke apart, Hugh cupped her cheek. “It’s not so little. These guys are going to grow. Fast. They’re not small dogs either, you know.”
“I guess that means we’re going to need a bigger place.”
“Funny you should mention that.” There was a twinkle in his eyes as he stood and held a hand out to her. “Are you ready for another surprise?”
* * *
Three hours later they pulled up to a house on the outskirts of Wilmington. Hugh knew Aubrey was beyond curious but he refused to tell her exactly where they were going. It had been a lot of fun teasing her along the drive while dealing with the three puppies in the backseat. They had to stop multiple times for their sake so the drive took even longer.
“Are we here? Is this it?” she asked excitedly as he parked the truck.
She took his breath away. Her beautiful eyes were wide with wonder, her smile was stunning. He couldn’t speak so he simply nodded.
Aubrey jumped out of the car and immediately went to the backseat for the dogs. “Come on, guys. We’re here!” There was a bit of commotion and some tangling of leashes, but she handled it like a pro as she walked toward the large house. “This is amazing. Is that the surf I’m hearing?”
Hugh came up beside her and took two of the leashes from her hand. “It is. We’re a little far back but we have a direct path through the dunes.”
“Wow,” she sighed, as she made her away around to the back. “So…you bought this?”
“It’s just a rental I took on for the short-term. I wanted us to pick where we wanted to live and I thought you might appreciate having a little more space and a great view while we were deciding.”
“Hugh, it’s amazing! And I haven’t even been inside!”
“The inside is equally impressive. I haven’t spent a whole lot of time here, but it’s furnished and I made sure we have everything we’ll need for the dogs, so we’re good to go.”
For the next thirty minutes, they walked around the inside of the house and got the puppies settled, putting up a baby gate to keep them corralled in the laundry room. Hugh took her hand and gently tugged her away.
“But they’re so small,” she protested. “Maybe they’ll be scared to be alone.”
“That’s why they have each other,” he said. “Besides, they’re exhausted. Come on.” He pulled her along until they reached the master bedroom.
“This is the best room in the house,” Aubrey said, immediately going to the French doors that led out to a private balcony where she could see the ocean. Hugh came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close. “And now it’s even better.”
He sighed with contentment. “Do you really like it?”
“I do,” she said dreamily. “The house, the view…” She turned in his arms and faced him. “You. I love it all.” Standing up on her toes, she kissed him slowly, languidly. “It’s perfect.”
“Not yet,” he said and took a step back, taking her hands in his again as he led her to the bed. “But it will be. Soon.”
He had hoped they would go slow. He had looked forward to seducing her. But when she slid the straps of her sundress off her shoulders and let it slide down her body to pool at her feet, the only thing he could do was reach for her and think…mine.
* * *
The sun was setting as Hugh walked back into the bedroom. “They’ve been walked and they’re eating.”
“And they weren’t traumatized from their nap in the laundry room?”
He chuckled as he stripped off his jeans and shirt and crawled back into the bed beside her. He kissed the tip of her nose. “No one needs therapy yet.”
She relaxed against him. “Well, that’s a relief.” They were content with the silence for a little while, but Aubrey knew she had to bring up one last ugly subject before she would be able to fully move forward.
Rising up on her elbow, she looked at him. “Everything’s been so perfect today, I hate to bring up a subject that may ruin it.”
Hugh’s expression was serene. “Then don’t.”
She chuckled. “I think we really need to talk about it.”
He folded his hands behind his head on the pillow and took a deep breath. “Okay.”
“I wasn’t fully honest with you.” She waited to see if he’d say something, but Hugh remained quiet. “That day, that last day in Montana, I said I didn’t want kids. It wasn’t true.”
“Aubrey…”
But she didn’t let him finish. “It was a coping mechanism I’d taught myself a long time ago. It was easy—after watching my dysfunctional family, I used them as an excuse, but the truth is…” Her voice was shaky and she was close to crying.
Hugh sat up and instantly placed a finger over her lips. “Don’t, okay? I know, sweetheart. I understand.”
She looked up at him in confusion.
“Back in the beginning,
when you told me about the cancer and all you had gone through, I did some research of my own. I didn’t want to make you talk about it because I knew it was hard for you. I knew—even back then—that there was a good chance you wouldn’t be able to get pregnant. I was devastated for you. Not for me. And when we started talking about the future, I figured we’d talk about options. But I didn’t express that very well. Aubrey…I don’t care if we don’t have kids that are biologically ours. If you wanted to, we could adopt or…or…take in foster kids…or have a dozen dogs… It doesn’t matter to me. I hope you know that.”
She was quietly crying now, wiping her cheeks. “Oh, Hugh…you have no idea…”
He pulled her into his embrace. “I’m so sorry for everything you suffered. For all you lost. I want to give you all I have. Everything. I know I can’t make those years go away, but I promise to make all the ones coming for us better.”
Unwilling to move from the security of his arms, Aubrey whispered, “You know there are no guarantees, right? The cancer could come back.”
Tucking a finger under her chin, Hugh gently forced her to look at him. “And I’ll be there to take care of you. Always.”
Aubrey felt everything in her soften and relax. She was about to say something when a loud crash sounded from the other room.
“Uh-oh,” Hugh said as he moved from the bed and quickly donned his jeans. “That can’t be good.”
Aubrey stood and pulled on her dress. “Brace yourself, Shaughnessy, we’re about to go on a wild ride.”
He smiled at her, understanding the multiple meanings to that one simple statement. Taking her hand in his, they went in search of the pups.
Epilogue
“Everyone’s going to be mad, you know.”
“They’ll get over it.”
“It was kind of selfish of us.”
Hugh shrugged. “Nah. I think it was just right for us. Perfect, really.”
“It’s just… Cocoa, stop,” she said with a laugh as she playfully pushed the puppy from her lap. “I knew letting them in here was going to be a mistake.”
“What was I supposed to do? You saw their faces. I’m only human.”
“You’re a softie, you know that, right?” she teased.
“Not just me, sweetheart. We’re both weak where these guys are concerned.”
“Fair enough.” The three puppies were scampering around on the king-size bed. “They really are adorable and I think they did very well today.”
“You trained them hard,” Hugh said. “Plus the treats every thirty seconds really seemed to do the trick.”
She swatted at him. “You weren’t supposed to notice that.”
“Hard not to notice when the bride keeps reaching into her bouquet and throwing things behind her.”
Aubrey laughed. “Fine, so I wasn’t particularly discreet. It worked.”
“Yes, it did.” He kissed the top of her head. “But this is our wedding night. I think we deserve a little privacy.”
Aubrey still couldn’t believe it. They were married. They had opted to have a simple ceremony on the beach. Originally they’d wanted it to just be the two of them, but they’d needed two witnesses. Aubrey had asked her mother and Hugh had asked his father—who had shown up with Martha Tate.
They had gotten married in the early afternoon on the beach and the dogs had been their bridal party—each adorned with a white bow. Afterward, they shared a light lunch and then sent everyone on their way.
“Your siblings are going to be offended you didn’t invite them and that you made your father keep a secret.”
“He loved it. And we’ll have a party later if we want to. This was the perfect way to go. No circus atmosphere. No months of planning.”
“I seem to remember you looking down at people who did this sort of thing not so long ago,” she reminded him.
“That was before I was the one figuring out what I wanted. Besides, I didn’t want to take away from Aidan and Zoe. Their wedding is only two months away and they’ve been planning it for a while. If we decide to do anything, I think it’s only fair to wait until after theirs.”
“I agree.” She sighed happily and snuggled up against her husband. “I’m glad they’re going to do it close to home. I just wish they had let us help a little more.”
“They’re no different from us. They wanted something small and intimate and yet a little away from home.”
“Hilton Head Island really is beautiful. We could have done something spectacular at the resort.”
Hugh shrugged. “After coming here and seeing this house, they decided they wanted something like that for themselves. Besides, it’s not about the ceremony.”
“It’s a little about the ceremony,” she corrected.
“Maybe for the bride. For the groom it’s all about the wedding night,” he said with a growl as he nuzzled her neck.
“Hugh!” she cried out with laughter, and soon the dogs were all barking and jumping around them.
“Okay, I can see we’re going to have to take a pause in the action.” He stood and pulled on a robe before calling the dogs. “Let’s go!”
Aubrey watched, laughing the entire time, as Hugh led the dogs from the room like the Pied Piper. Five minutes later he was back. He shut the door, stripped off the robe, and climbed back in the bed beside her.
“Thank you,” she said to him, her tone softer, more serious.
“For what? Putting the dogs away?”
She shook her head. “No. For loving me. For accepting me. For being willing to take on this adventure with me.”
He smiled slowly, seductively. “Sweetheart, there is no one else in the world I would rather be with. You’re my everything.”
Aubrey knew their lives would never be dull. Never predictable. They were truly starting a new life.
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Always My Girl
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Always My Girl
One look at the massive beach house had Quinn Shaughnessy shaking his head. Why this wedding couldn’t just be a normal event—at a hotel—he couldn’t understand. It would be easier. It would be more practical.
And it would mean there was a bar on the premises for him to go to and get away from his family for a little while and maybe pick up an attractive woman.
Not that he didn’t love his family—he did. But three days with everyone back under one roof was a little more togetherness than he was in the mood for. No matter what the occasion.
Ever since moving out of the family home at eighteen and going to college, Quinn had never looked back. There were the occasional trips home for school breaks, when he was forced to go home and share a room with one of his brothers, but for the most part, he found excuses to stay other places. He enjoyed his space, his freedom, and he’d never felt the need to make excuses about it.
Being one of six kids in a four-bedroom house growing up had been less than a dream. When he went to college—even though he shared a room there with one other guy—living in the dorm felt different. No one was looking over his shoulder or trying to get him into trouble or trying to tell him what to do.
It was like nirvana.
After graduation, he’d lived on his own while on the race-car circuit. When his career came to an end—sooner than he’d anticipated—Quinn still managed to land on his feet. And with a place of his own…rather than going home.
The large house loomed in front of him.
Aidan and Zoe were getting married this weekend, and because Zoe didn’t have any family left and Aidan was a private kind of guy, they’d opted for a small, intimate wedding. On the beach. With only the family and a few friends in attendance.
> All under one roof.
He cursed under his breath and sighed. It was only one weekend. It was the chant he kept repeating in his brain as he climbed from the car and stretched. Why they had to choose a beach four hours from home when they lived at the beach in North Carolina was beyond him. And to make it worse, they’d chosen a location that wasn’t all that far from Hugh’s Hilton Head Island resort! They could all be in their own rooms at a luxury resort right now, having drinks served to them by the pool instead of this.
“Clearly, being in love makes you an idiot,” he muttered and opened the trunk to grab his luggage.
“You’ve been here less than five minutes and you’re already calling people idiots?” a voice said from behind him. Turning, he saw his brother—the groom—walking toward him with a big, sappy grin on his face.
Quinn straightened. “Not people, just you,” he teased.
“Aww…you say the sweetest things,” Aidan teased right back before grabbing Quinn in a bear hug. “Glad you made it.”
“Like I had a choice.”
Aidan sighed good-naturedly. “This makes Zoe happy. So I’m happy.”
“You could have picked a place closer to home. Or Hugh’s place.”
Aidan shook his head. “The resort was beautiful and everything would have been taken care of, but Zoe and I aren’t like that. We wanted a place where—”
“You can be in control?” Quinn interjected with a laugh.
Aidan couldn’t help but laugh with him. “Something like that. Either way, the house is great—six bedrooms—and we snagged the place next door for the rest of the guests.”
“How many people are coming? I thought it was just us.”
“No, we couldn’t do that. We do have friends we wanted to have here, you know. Some of them had to travel a lot farther than you, so we wanted to have them close by and give them a place to stay.”
“Makes sense. So who’s on the guest list? Any single friends of Zoe’s?” he asked with a lecherous eyebrow waggle.
Love Walks In Page 30
