“For as long as you want it.”
“You’re quitting?”
“They call it retirement, son, and it’s a fine-sounding word.” He held up a hand to stave off arguments. “I know I’m only fifty, but Lizzie wants to live at the beach, and the retirement package is good, and the kids are getting older, so…” He leaned forward. “You’re the only man in this department I’d consider, and if you mention that to the two other captains, well…” He shrugged. “You won’t have to, because they’ll know when it’s announced.”
Declan fell back in his chair. “Whoa. I didn’t think it would be quite this soon.”
“Neither did I, to be honest. And I might have hung in there ten more years if I didn’t know such a good chief was waiting in the wings.”
“That’s…wow. Thank you. I’m honored. I’m ready.” He added a laugh as an unexpected zing shot through him.
“It’s a big change, you know. Way less action, and I think you’d miss the action. I mean, for a single guy, no responsibilities, no wife, getting into a fire can be a big thrill.”
Out of respect, Declan didn’t snort a laugh. “I don’t think of firefighting as a thrill. It’s a calling.”
“Absolutely. And so is leadership, which is your calling.”
Declan fought a smile. “Thanks, Chief.”
“Hey, thank your old man. He was the one who trained you, whether you realize it or not. I know he was in line to be the next chief. He’d be proud of you.”
A kick of satisfaction hit him hard. “I hope so.” He stood when Chief Winkler did, taking the hand his boss extended.
“We’ll announce it in a few weeks,” Chief said after they shook, then he walked to the door. Before he opened it, he turned back to Declan, who probably had a stupid grin on his face. “Oh yeah, contrary to what you think, I’m not the last person in Bitter Bark to get the news. I can’t wait to dance at your wedding, Dec.”
That stupid grin got stupider. “I can’t wait to see you dance, Chief.”
With that thought in his head, dumping the files back into the storage garage and officially signing off on their return was the easiest thing Declan had done in ages. He’d glance at the firefighter list when he got it, but his life was exactly where he wanted it. Evie in his arms, a baby in the making, his career reaching a pinnacle.
Right now, he couldn’t remember what that moldy old emotional basement even looked like, which was exactly as it should be.
Chapter Twenty-four
“It’s today,” Evie whispered before her eyes were even open. “Today is…the day.”
Declan turned to her, his hard, warm body familiar after a few weeks of falling asleep next to him every night that he wasn’t on duty at the station.
“The Living Museum extravaganza wherein I don a black suit that looks like I am about to be buried in it?”
“Wherein?” She poked his shoulder. “Who says that?”
“The guy who wears that suit.”
“You look like my great-grandfather Montgomery Hewitt, a very dashing man.” She snuggled closer, loving the feel of him from head to toe. “But that’s not what today is.” She gave him a squeeze. “I’m due today…or not.”
His eyes grew wide. “Really? Do you know? Now? Can you tell if you’re getting it?”
“Let me go to the bathroom.” She kissed him on the lips, then reached to the floor to grab a T-shirt that happened to be his navy BBFD shirt. “Wait here and say good Irish prayers.”
“When will you be able to take a test?” he asked, pushing up on his elbows.
“Once I’m a few days late. Hang on.” She tugged the T-shirt over her hips and stepped out of bed completely.
Instantly, Judah barked at her, his head up at the first sound of talking, an abject plea on his remarkable face. “Okay, I’ll help you up, Judah. Easy does it.”
“I got him.” Declan sat all the way up and gently assisted Judah onto the bed. “When do you think he can do steps, Evie?”
“Well, it’s only been a few weeks. I’d say two more weeks, and he’ll be able to get up and down the stairs and even jump on this bed.” She rubbed the dog’s back and gave Declan a look. “Careful what you wish for, Dec. There’ll be three of us in here.”
“Or he’ll go up and keep Max company.”
Judah made his way up the bed to snuggle with Declan, giving him a massive tongue bath.
“Oh!” Declan laughed, backing away. “Is that necessary?”
“Can’t say I blame him,” Evie joked.
“Your tongue is different. Your tongue is—”
Judah barked once, then sat up, put his head back and let out a huge howl.
Declan rubbed his head. “Are you sure he’s not in pain anymore?”
“Nope. That’s a happy howl. Eyes on you, tongue out, body quivering with joy.” She came around the bed to give him a kiss. “Like I was last night.”
As she stepped away, he got a hold of the T-shirt, pulling her back, holding her gaze. “That was incredible.”
She inhaled deeply and let it all out with a sigh. “Yes, it was.” She gave him one more kiss, then headed into the en suite. There, she gave a little fist pump of joy when there were no signs of her period, then brushed her teeth and stared into the mirror.
Did she look pregnant? She was…glowing. But that might be because she’d spent so much time with Declan, making love, laughing hard, eating well, and falling…
Oh yeah. She was in love. Deeply. Totally. Crazily in love. And it was time she tell him her news. Not the news he was hoping to get, but something that might make him happier. She hoped it would.
She leaned toward the mirror to whisper, “You are never going back to Raleigh, Dr. H.” The decision to move back to Bitter Bark and open The Hewitt Veterinary Neurology Clinic had been shockingly easy, which Grandmama Penelope would say was a sign that it was the right decision. She’d made it the night he told her about his impending promotion to chief of the BBFD.
She just hadn’t told him yet.
Baby or not, she didn’t want to leave Declan or this town or this house or the family that felt like it had adopted her. Hell, she was actually entertaining Nellie’s suggestion that she be the newest member of the Bitter Bark Historical Society. She could even teach a few classes at Vestal Valley, too.
She looked down at her belly, touching it lightly. And, God willing, she’d be raising a baby with Declan, too. And if that didn’t happen, then they could adopt, or even look into being foster parents—of a child and dogs. Whatever happened, they’d be together.
She came out of the bathroom and crossed her arms, leaning on the doorjamb with a big smile and a heart that was as light as she could remember. It was time to tell him.
“Well?” he asked, so excited that Judah barked.
“I’m not not pregnant. So far, anyway. And I usually start in the morning.”
“Judah!” He growled the dog’s name and gave his big head a vigorous rub. “Did you hear that? Not not. That’s a double negative, which means…”
“Nothing yet,” she told him, coming closer to the bed, that light heart suddenly kicking up a few levels as she tried to think of exactly the right words to tell him about her decision.
He looked over Judah’s head at her, that smile she loved so much pulling at his lips. “Look at you, E,” he whispered.
“Look at me what?”
“My girl. My best friend. My…” He sighed and shook his head as if words eluded him.
“Lover,” she finished for him, reaching hungrily for his bare chest and letting him pull her onto the bed.
“Among other things.”
“Possible mother of your children?”
“Here’s hoping.” He leaned over and kissed her nose and dragged his hands over the T-shirt. “This is mine. Take it off.”
She laughed into the next kiss. “With Judah on the bed?”
“He needs to go.” Declan drew back, looking at her, his hands on the T-
shirt and her bare legs. “You know, you look exactly like you did that morning in the mountains. Wearing a BBFD T-shirt and nothing else. Same shirt, same girl.”
“Hardly a girl,” she said, managing to wedge herself between him and Judah. “But I do remember that before you woke up, I was down on the dock, looking out over the lake and mountains.”
“Do you remember what you were thinking about?” he asked, his voice as low and husky as it had been in the sleeping bag that morning.
“I was thinking what the hell would I do if I got pregnant.” She laughed softly. “Oh, the irony. We’d have a nineteen-year-old now.”
He gave her a hard look. “And she would never, ever spend the night at the lake with her boyfriend, that’s for damn sure. At least not without us. And Judah. And all her uncles.”
She giggled and got closer to him. “So you’re going to be that kind of dad.”
“I’m going to be any kind of dad you want me to be.” He kissed her hair. “But you do look the same, Evie. You are the same.”
“Not even close,” she said. “I’m twenty years older and so much wiser.”
He stroked her hair and cheek. “What do you know now that you didn’t know then?”
“I know…” She looked up and into his eyes, the words bubbling up. “I love you.”
“You do?”
“You can’t be surprised.”
“You hadn’t said it before.”
“I was waiting.” She kissed him.
“For what?”
“For now.” She moaned a little and hugged him tighter. “I love you, Declan Mahoney.”
“I love you, Evie Hewitt.” He grinned at her. “Now there’s a good echo for us.”
Judah tried to climb between them, barking.
“Yeah, we love you, too,” Declan said. “But you have got to get off this bed, because we have to celebrate.”
But Judah barked again, pawing at her. “Oh wait. He’s telling me my phone’s ringing.”
“He is?” Declan snorted. “Now we’ve gone too far.”
“He always tells me when you’re calling during your shifts. He licks my hand so I don’t sleep through your call.” She rolled over and reached past Judah’s head to get her phone, but Declan held her tight.
“It’s not me, so ignore it.” He punctuated that with a kiss and managed to get his hands all the way under the T-shirt.
She eased away. “It could be Nellie Shaker. I promised her we’d touch base first thing this morning. Caterers are coming soon. She hired history specialists who are obsessed with every single thing being authentic to the Victorian era, including the dishes and food and…oh.”
Evie forgot what she was saying as he coasted his hand over her body.
“I’m obsessed, too. With…” He cupped her breasts. “You.”
“One second. I’ll tell her I’m busy.” She grabbed the phone, squinting at it. “Oh shoot.” She straightened right up. “Holy heck, it’s Joan Whitfield. Why is she calling me?”
“Who is she?”
“My boss, Dean Whitfield.”
He gave her a not a chance look and pulled the T-shirt higher. “You’re on sabbatical. And I’m on a mission.” He kissed her belly.
“She wouldn’t call unless it’s important. Hold that…” She brought the phone closer. “Oh. Yeah. Hold that.”
She cleared her throat and tapped the phone. “Evie Hewitt,” she said in her most professional voice, despite being one hot kiss from naked and completely horizontal.
“Joan Whitfield,” the dean’s familiar voice came through the phone. “How is your sabbatical going, my friend?”
She smiled at Declan, who was tracing a line on her leg. “It’s…” His finger disappeared under the edge of the T-shirt. “Incredible. That’s…I mean, it’s…been perfect.” She glared at him, but he chuckled and tortured her by inching his finger higher.
“Good, good. Well, I’m not calling to cut it short, so you can relax about that.”
She couldn’t relax about anything when his hand was…there. “Glad to hear it, Dean.” She emphasized the title to remind him this wasn’t a run-of-the-mill girlfriend calling.
He dipped his head to kiss the very skin he’d been touching, using his tongue to make her crazy.
“So things in your little town are going well?”
“Really…well.” She bit her lip as he nibbled her thigh. “The whole experience has been simply…breathtaking.”
She fisted some of his hair, tugging lightly.
“Oh, really?” Joan laughed, and Evie tried to picture the silver-haired sixty-year-old who loved patterned scarves and red wine. But she failed. The only silver she could see were the threads at Declan’s temple when he turned his head to kiss the other thigh. “And here I thought you were just taking care of your grandfather and his house.”
His lips pressed on the most tender part of her, making Evie want to drop her head back and whimper in delight. “I’m doing a lot more than that,” she said, working to keep her voice steady.
He peeked up with a question in his eyes. Evie smiled and pushed his head down. “I can multitask,” she told her boss…and her boyfriend, whose shoulders moved with a silent laugh.
“I know you can,” the dean said. “Better than most. Which is why I’m calling with some very big news.”
“Oh?”
Declan stilled at the sound of that single syllable, as if the interest in her voice piqued his.
“I’m taking the job as head of the College of Vet Med at Cornell.”
Evie gasped and not because Declan found another sweet spot. “Joan! Congratulations. Cornell has an amazing program! And their teaching hospital is one of the best in the world.”
“I know, and I’m stoked for the job, but I wanted to call and tell you personally.”
“Thank you for that,” she said, vaguely aware that she’d inched away from Declan. “You’ll be missed,” she said. And, if she’d already told Declan her news, she’d probably spill the beans to Joan right now. But she didn’t want him to find out that she’d decided to stay like this.
He paused and watched her, taking her cue to slow down the fun as she got more serious.
“Cornell is lucky to get you,” she said, thinking of the strong and fair hand that Joan used at NC State. It was no wonder she’d go to Cornell, one of maybe three schools in the country ranked better than their own for veterinary medicine. “Do you start in the fall?”
“Actually, I’m going this spring, which has the powers that be in a tizzy around here.”
“I can imagine,” she said, holding Declan’s gaze as he abandoned his teasing to let her finish the conversation.
“Be right back,” he mouthed, pointing to the bathroom.
She nodded and blew a kiss. “What do you think they’ll do?” she asked Joan, her mind whirring through the school’s options. “Interview from outside?”
“Nope.”
Evie switched the phone to her other ear as she watched Declan disappear into the bathroom. “Oh?”
“Come on, Evie. You know what I’m going to say.”
A tight tendril of something like twisted hopes and fears wound around her chest. “I’m not sure…”
“You’re the first choice. Would you consider taking the dean position? You’d need to come back a few times before January to pound out the details, but you don’t have to end your sabbatical.”
“Me.” It wasn’t a question. It was the way her career had gone from day one. Every promotion, every time.
Then why didn’t her heart soar with success like it had with all the other steps up the career ladder? Because she was about to jump off that ladder and land in Bitter Bark. But…dean of the vet school?
It’s different for women.
She could hear Declan’s comment and remembered her gut-level reaction to that. But was it different for women? For this woman?
“Oh, they’ll go through the usual hoops and contracts and lawy
ers,” Joan continued. “But you’ve been a good friend, Evie, and I wanted to let you know your name is at the top of the list. And it couldn’t happen to a more deserving person. You have earned the rich rewards and lovely perks of being a dean. And quite a young one, at that.”
A very young one. Young enough to still be…trying to have a baby. Young enough to still be practicing medicine. Young enough to start a whole new life with the man she loved.
“Listen, don’t commit to me,” Joan said on a laugh, as if she sensed Evie’s hesitation. “Make them throw scads of money at you and get the big house off-campus. I know they want you, Evie. You’ve been nothing but a boon to the whole school since the day you arrived.”
“Joan…” She couldn’t think of how to respond. “That’s really kind of you to say.”
“Um, I’m not sensing a but, am I?” The other woman gave a dry laugh. “Because you’d be out of your blasted mind not to take this job, Dr. Hewitt. You were born for it.”
Was she? Or was she born for Bitter Bark and Gloriana House and a family line she loved and being hands-on with the animals? She stroked Judah’s head. Not to mention Chief Declan Mahoney and the job he’d worked for throughout his whole career.
“I’m a little speechless,” she said. “But thrilled for you and…the opportunity. Thank you for letting me know.”
“Let’s talk after you’ve had a chance to let it sink in. But be warned, you should be getting that call any day now.”
“Okay, I’ll be ready. Thank you.” After another moment, she hung up and sat perfectly still except for the hand she moved over Judah’s head, holding his gaze. “What am I going to do, J?” she whispered. “What the hell am I going to do?”
If she took the job, would Declan be willing to give up his dream? Of course he would. He’d do anything for her. But would that make him happy? Would it make her happy? And what would be best for a baby? Would they want to leave the family and Bitter Bark and—
Declan opened the bathroom door, wearing nothing but boxers. “Done?” he asked around the toothbrush in his mouth.
She stared at him. “Yeah.”
He frowned and slipped the toothbrush out. “You okay?”
Man's Best Friend (The Dogmothers Book 6) Page 26
