Chanel. He had something to offer her now. Rushing out the door and to his truck, he couldn’t drive home fast enough.
**
Chanel helped Missy get dinner out and mechanically went through the motions of feeding Trey and responding when Missy and Porter asked her something. Porter’s brow was growing more furrowed by the minute. Missy kept shaking her head at him. Chanel would’ve laughed if anything seemed funny to her anymore. McCoy obviously wanted nothing to do with her. What was she going to do? Should she leave with Trey? Where could they go?
Her parents would welcome them back home and that would be okay. She just wished at some point she could survive on her own. Maybe she should go talk to the other dentist in town about a job. He definitely wouldn’t be paying her twenty-five dollars an hour, but she could save up and rent a small apartment for her and Trey. Annie had mentioned that the apartment above her shop was going to be available in a couple of months. If Missy would keep watching Trey, it would work. At least then the amount of time she had to run into McCoy would be minimal.
McCoy’s truck roared into the driveway.
“Somebody’s in a hurry,” Missy said.
“Somebody has some answering to do,” Porter muttered. He jumped to his feet and hurried to the front foyer.
Missy looked at Chanel with wide eyes.
“What did you tell him?” Chanel asked.
“I held it in last night, but then at lunch today I told him everything. Sorry, sweetie, I always tell him everything.”
“Oh, Missy.” Chanel didn’t want Porter fighting her battles or forcing McCoy to be nice to her. She wanted McCoy to want her on his own.
The front door flung open and McCoy’s voice carried easily, “Chanel! Where is she? I need to talk to her.”
“Now you wait a minute, cuz. You have no right to be blaming that sweetheart of a woman for something that her loser husband did. You should see how sad you’ve made her. Now I’m going to demand that you apologize or I’ll … rough you up worse than I used to do in high school.”
Chanel rushed for the entryway during Porter’s speech. Trey cried out. Chanel turned back, but Missy shooed her. “I’ve got him. Go defend your man.”
Her man? She wished.
McCoy laughed and grabbed Porter in a bear hug. “No need to rough me up tonight.” He looked over Porter’s shoulder. “Chanel?” Immediately releasing his confused cousin, he pushed past him and grabbed both of Chanel’s hands. “You won’t believe what’s happened!”
Porter stared at the two of them. “So, you’re good? You’re going to work this out and treat her right?”
“Yes, Port. I’ll make it all good.”
“You better.” Porter straightened his shirt, winked at Chanel, and went back to the kitchen.
McCoy pulled Chanel over to the couch. He was going to make it all good. How?
They sat down and he turned to her, clasping her hands tightly in his. “Chanel. You’ll never believe what’s happened. Dr. Mason came to see me after you left. He wants me to be his partner! He thinks the town council will want to pay off my student loans if I’ll agree to stay in Snow Valley, and he will sign on a loan to help me pay off the equipment.”
He was so jubilant, his eyes lit with joy, Chanel couldn’t help but smile at him. She hadn’t even known he had a loan on the equipment. What a huge burden lifted. “That’s wonderful, McCoy. I’m so happy for you.”
McCoy took her face between his hands and studied her. “I kind of hoped you’d be happy for us.”
Her heart took flight. “Us? There is an us?”
Uncertainty entered his gaze, but he didn’t drop his hands. “I really hope so.”
“What about the accident, what my husband did to you?” She bit her lip, but it was already out there, waiting for him to blame her and shoot down any ideas of them being an us.
“You knew?”
“Missy and I pieced it together Sunday night.”
“Oh, Chanel.” He gently rubbed his thumb along her jaw. “I didn’t want to burden you with his guilt or my anger. I’m still trying to process it myself, but the accident wasn’t your fault. Please don’t blame yourself.”
Her eyes stung with unshed tears. “I thought you blamed me. As soon as things clicked Saturday night you distanced yourself.”
“I was upset and awkward, but I didn’t blame you.” He released her face and grasped her shoulders. “I would never blame you. Those were his choices, not yours.”
“Oh, McCoy.” She gave a soft cry and then flung herself against him, kissing him until she was certain that there really was hope for an “us”.
He pulled back and smiled at her. “I’m sorry that you thought I was upset with you about that. It was a shock for sure, but it was more I didn’t know how to talk to you about it and didn’t even know if you’d made the connection.”
“Missy and I hashed it all out and I was sick about it. That light in your eyes gave me hope from the first time you picked up Trey and I distinguished it Saturday night.”
“It wasn’t you. I was also loaded down with the financial stress and thinking I had nothing to offer you.”
“You have you to offer me,” Chanel said. “You could deliver pizza and it wouldn’t matter to me.”
McCoy grinned. “As long as I have you.”
“You do.”
He lowered his head to hers and showed her exactly how happy she had made him.
Chapter 11
McCoy flung the front door of their rental house open. It smelled like cinnamon rolls. Oh, he was a lucky man.
“I’m home!” he called out. Home. How he loved to say it. Even if this house wasn’t their own, they were a family and the rest would come as soon as Porter finalized their house plans.
“Daddy’s home,” Chanel said.
Trey toddled toward him with his arms outstretched. Chanel raced around their son and planted a warm kiss on his lips. Trey cried out in protest at being beaten to the prize.
Chanel and McCoy laughed and broke apart. McCoy reached down and grabbed their boy, tossing him into the air then hanging him upside down by one leg.
“You coming home is the best part of our day.”
“Frankly, Scarlett, I do give a darn,” McCoy misquoted Gone with the Wind, but he thought he gave a pretty good impression of Rhett Butler, especially since he’d only seen the show once with his cousin, Kazzy, when he was about sixteen.
Chanel laughed. “I know you do.”
He plunked Trey onto his shoulders and wrapped his arm around his wife. “You’ve been baking for me again?”
“Don’t you even think about those cinnamon rolls, Dr. Wilson. They’re for the church potluck.”
“No, ma’am. I’m eating those cinnamon rolls. I’ll buy some chips and salsa to take to the church.”
“People will think your wife can’t cook.”
“The men are all jealous that I have the most beautiful wife in the world. If they knew you could bake like The Pioneer Woman too, they’d be trying to take me out.”
Chanel laughed and snuggled into his side. “Don’t worry, lover, I’d protect you.”
“I’m sure you would.”
He dipped his finger into the cream cheese frosting and took a sample then let Trey have a lick as well. “Yummy!” Trey declared.
McCoy leaned over and kissed his wife.
“Yummy,” she murmured.
“Yes, you are.”
About Cami Checketts
Cami is a part-time author, part-time exercise consultant, part-time housekeeper, full-time wife, and overtime mother of four adorable boys. Sleep and relaxation are fond memories. She’s never been happier.
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Chapter 1
Mutts, her precious new little babies were mutts and her neighbor was going to pay for every single one. Piper Jensen stared at all five of the puppies and wanted to cry. Not one of them— even as adorable as they were— resembled their papered mother, Anastasia, her beloved Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Nor did they have any traits of their award winning father, Elvis.
No. They resembled their no-account, mischievous father who frequently, as in several times a day, escaped his fenced yard to frolic through the surrounding property in Snow Valley, Montana.
Aptly named, Rascal was a golden retriever and golden lab mix with a strong possibility of a poodle somewhere in his gene pool. She’d never formally met any of her neighbors, including the ones next door. She’d moved to Snow Valley a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving and hadn’t bothered introducing herself to anyone. The only reason she knew the name of the next-door neighbor’s dog was because she’d heard the owner call for the dog to come home almost every single night.
“Ah, Anastasia, how could you fall for the charms of a rogue?” She affectionately patted the new mother on the head. “Haven’t you learned anything from me? Like never trusting anyone of the male species?”
Anastasia ignored her and continued to clean up her brood of golden white puppies. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll make him— or rather his owner— make it right.” Piper groaned and got to her feet as anxiety squeezed around her chest. She had no idea how she was going to tell Emma Jamison— the owner of Elvis and her late-mother’s dearest friend— that the puppies were not purebred. Not only that, her mother’s reputation as one of the best breeders for Cavalier King Charles Spaniels would be ruined once word got out that her daughter had allowed the last female puppy from the award-winning champion Abigail to be ruined by a common dog.
Even though Piper missed her mother, she was glad she wasn’t alive to witness yet one more failure from her only daughter. She blinked against the burning behind her eyes as despair pooled in her stomach. Why oh why had she signed up for that stupid online dating website? She would’ve never met Tucker Langston and would’ve never fallen for his charm or his lies.
Her fingers curled into fists when she thought about how her life had spiraled out of control because of one man. A man she’d thought she might be in love with and had even considered marrying. He just forgot to mention one very important detail… that he was already married and had a child and another one on the way.
Of course she wasn’t the only victim of Tucker. His wife, Caroline Belmont Langston, had also been a victim. However instead of blaming her wayward husband, the former Miss California had launched a social media attack on Piper. All thirty thousand of Caroline’s followers for her fashion blog had labeled Piper as a husband stealer. In a matter of weeks, her career as the music director for an affluent private school had been destroyed, along with her reputation and her independence.
With very little savings, she’d moved back in with her dad and stepmother, hoping to find another teaching job. But that was a little hard to do when everyone considered her a home wrecker.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. Piper wanted a clean slate and that meant moving as far away from the Langston’s as possible. That’s when she’d contacted Emma and told her that she would allow Anastasia to have one litter of puppies. Emma, who lived in Billings, Montana, was eager to accept the offer and, after Piper explained her current situation, had made a deal with Piper she’d be stupid to turn down.
Emma could have first pick of the litter and in exchange Piper would get to keep all of the profits for the other puppies, which were expected to sell for fifteen to eighteen hundred each. On top of that, Emma’s sister, Juliet, had moved to Florida for the winter and had invited Piper to stay at her house in Snow Valley if she paid the utilities.
It had all been going according to her plan. Now she had nothing except an expensive vet bill and five puppies she was uncertain what to do with. Emma was kind, but Piper had no idea how the woman was going to react to the news. She had already received down payments for the puppies and might expect Piper to pay for the loss. Plus, she could ask her to move out of her sister’s house, which would put Piper right back where she’d been two months earlier.
Thinking about the lost income and how screwed up her life was, the anger resurfaced against her irresponsible neighbor once more. She looked down at the light colored puppies and shook her head. She had no choice but to confront Rascal’s owner.
Since she was new to the area, she knew very little about him other than what she’d gleaned from the veterinarian, Ian Davies. Gabe Wesson was the single father of two. And, like her, he didn’t like to socialize with the opposite sex. Meaning he didn’t date either.
Technically, Piper didn’t like to socialize period. Since the fiasco with Tucker, she preferred keeping to herself and had decided not to date anyone for a very long time.
Glancing at the clock, she noted it was a little after nine. Mr. Wesson was probably still up, but hopefully his children would be asleep. They didn’t need to hear her yell at their father if it came to that.
Just to make sure her trip wouldn’t be in vain, she crossed the floor to the kitchen and peeked out the window. The well lit home and flickering light of the television indicated Mr. Wesson was still awake.
Preparing for the bitter cold temps of Montana in late January, she bundled up in her tan colored Carhhart overalls and coat, a Christmas gift from her father. It wasn’t the most flattering clothing, but she wasn’t dressing to impress. She was dressing to keep from freezing. Twisting her shoulder length hair into a topknot, she secured it with a hair band and then pulled on a navy blue beanie.
Before she could leave, her cell phone alerted her to an incoming FaceTime call. One glance at the caller’s name made her smile. It was her sister Tomi. Piper missed her more than she missed the warmer temperatures of Southern California.
Tapping on the icon, she accepted the call and braced herself for Tomi’s reaction to her winter gear.
“Please don’t tell me you’re going out in public in that?” Tomi said, shaking her head.
“Not exactly in public.” Piper adjusted the beanie so it didn’t cover her eyebrows. “I’m just running over to my neighbors house.”
“Really?” Tomi’s pretty blue eyes widened with surprise. “So you’re really not a recluse?”
“Ha ha.”
“I’m serious. I was starting to worry about you.”
“It’s not a social call. I just need to confront my neighbor about his dog.”
“Honestly, Piper. You’re already isolated enough without alienating yourself further from your neighbors.” Tomi sighed dramatically. “What did the dog do anyway?”
Piper glanced at the brood of golden-white puppies and frowned. “Let me show you.”
She walked back over to birthing box and turned the phone around so her sister could see.
“Ah, they’re so cute,” Tomi said. “But they don’t look anything like Anastasia.”
Angling the phone so she could se
e her sister, Piper said, “And that’s why I’m going to confront my neighbor.”
Tomi started to laugh.
“It’s not funny.” Piper tried to cut her sister a dirty look, but couldn’t pull it off. Tomi might be her half sister and five years younger, but she was her best friend.
“I’m sorry.” Tomi said while still giggling. “But Mother is going to find this so abhorrent. She’ll blame Anastasia for being a hussy and ruining your dreams.”
Piper closed her eyes, knowing her stepmother would more than likely tell her to quit being so dramatic and move back home. Her dad would agree with his wife, especially once they learned her first and only venture into breeding Cavalier King Charles Spaniels had been an epic fail.
“Please don’t say anything to dad and Maggie. They’ll only worry.”
“I promise not to say anything.” Tomi made the motion of zipping her lips closed. “Even though I should since I want my big sister back home.”
“I miss you too, but you know why I had to leave.”
Tomi’s blue eyes grew serious and she slowly nodded her head. “I do understand, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
Piper swallowed back the emotion clogging her throat. She was so lucky to have a sister like Tomi, although she hadn’t always felt that way about her. At the age of five, Piper was too young to understand why she had to share her father with his new wife, Maggie, and the baby girl they’d had together. She resented her stepmother and wanted to hate her half sister, but Tomi was too cute and adored her older sister. On top of that, Maggie was one of the sweetest people and showered Piper with love. It didn’t take long for her let go of her grudges, and she and Tomi had become best friends.
“You can always come and visit me.”
“I love you, sis, but I hate cold weather. I’ll plan to come out during the summer.”
“It’s not that bad,” Piper argued.
Winter in Snow Valley (Snow Valley Romance) Page 29
