by Deb Kastner
Aaron thought perhaps she had been going to say dusty but, given the state of the major’s uniform, had decided against it. He was barely able to hold in his amusement.
“I’m parched and I know you must be, as well,” Ruby said. “Would you like a bottle of water?”
“Certainly. Thank you.”
Aaron gestured for Oscar to head for the refrigerator. As he’d been trained, he opened the door with the attached rope and grabbed a cold bottle of water, returning it to Aaron, who then gestured for Oscar to give it to the major.
This time, Major Kelley spoke. “I’ve seen military dogs do amazing things, but this is something else entirely.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he answered, grinning at Ruby. “That he is.”
Finally, Ruby asked the major to accompany her out to the agility course—something that Aaron and Oscar had practiced on extensively and then, it turned out, hadn’t even been part of the final test. He sent up a grateful prayer to God that he’d taken the extra time on the course. The Lord must have known how he would need it now.
This time Major Kelley didn’t enter the pen, even though Oscar was the only dog on the agility course. Instead, she leaned against the fence and watched as Aaron took his place in the middle of the first triangle of obstacles.
“Oscar, hup,” he called, and the poodle took off toward the first obstacle—the A-frame—at full speed, running up and over with ease, his paws touching the yellow paint on each side, not that the major would be aware of the boundaries Aaron knew, though, and he secretly cheered on his brilliant pup. Then Oscar swooped into the collapsed tunnel and sailed over the first jump.
By that time, Aaron had already moved into the center of the second three obstacles, and then the last three. When he was finished, he was out of breath, and his lungs were stinging as if he had a hive of wasps in them.
But he’d succeeded.
They had succeeded. He and Oscar, with Ruby’s guidance. He and his service dog wouldn’t be the team they were without Ruby.
Even the major looked impressed.
He gestured for Ruby to join him and then approached Major Kelley, Oscar back at his heel. Aaron was eager to discover if they’d impressed the major enough to move forward on the contract.
“Do you see what I see?” he asked her. “All that we’ve accomplished in a mere four weeks, thanks to Ruby Winslow?”
She pursed her lips. “If Ms. Winslow brought you this far in a mere month, then I am impressed. Give me your honest opinion, Sergeant Jamison. Do you think other brothers and sisters in arms will benefit by this program?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said enthusiastically. “I believe you won’t find a better service-dog instructor anywhere than Ruby Winslow.”
His heart soared when the major nodded. “I believe you may just be right. And the explanation for the dogs in the yard? I assume there is one.” Major Kelley actually chuckled.
Ruby stepped in to answer this question. “Yes, ma’am. There is an explanation for their behavior. They aren’t even mine. Or at least, they weren’t until today. Just this morning, I took them from a high-kill shelter to evaluate them for my service-dog program. If you come back in a month, you’ll see eight completely different dogs, I assure you. If they don’t make the service-dog program, I and my siblings will train them to be adopted out to families.”
Aaron’s heart warmed. He was so proud of Ruby. Even with the rug yanked so painfully out from under her, she held herself erect and didn’t give in to the emotions he knew must be flooding through her.
“I owe you an apology,” Major Kelley said without preamble. “I judged you without allowing you to show me what you do here. I’m glad you pushed me into seeing the truth. Sergeant Jamison and his dog have displayed amazing growth, and I’m impressed with all Oscar can do for him. The contract is yours.”
“I—thank you, Major.” Ruby’s light blue eyes were glassy, but she didn’t cry.
Aaron reached for her hand and threaded his fingers through hers, squeezing gently.
If the major noticed, she didn’t comment on it. “Congratulations, Ms. Winslow. I’ll get out of your hair now and will be in touch shortly with the paperwork to finalize our contract.”
Minutes later, Aaron and Ruby were still standing hand in hand, watching the major’s Hummer driving away.
They’d done it.
Contract secured.
But there was one more thing Aaron needed to do before he would rest easy today.
Chapter Thirteen
Ruby turned to Aaron and promptly burst into tears of relief and joy.
“Hey, now,” Aaron said, opening his arms to her. “Shh, baby. What’s all this about?”
She stepped into his embrace and buried her face in his shoulder as he gently and silently stroked her back. He felt so solid and warm as she clung to him, and she never wanted to let go.
Everything had been on the verge of completely falling apart at the seams for a while there. She’d held it together while the major had been there, but now all the emotions she’d held in check were threatening to overwhelm her.
And Aaron had shown up at just the right time.
“I thought for a moment there I was going to lose everything,” she said, leaning back and wiping her wet cheeks with her palms.
“What are you talking about? You opened Major Kelley’s eyes today. If it weren’t for you, I’d still be all alone in the world, feeling sorry for myself instead of having a wonderful companion service dog to help me through life.”
He framed her face with his large hands. “Make no mistake about it,” he said, capturing her gaze, “you deserve this contract. You’ve worked hard for it. And you’re going to do wonderful things in the future for my brothers and sisters in arms, as much as you’ve done for me. I believe in you.”
She’d thought she’d had her tears under control, but she started sobbing again at his tender words. He held her and let her cry as she released all the emotions and tensions this day had brought upon her.
“What would I do without you?” she murmured into his shirt.
Clearing his throat, he glanced at the ground and dug the toe of his boot into the earth. “Yeah, about that...”
He paused and she stopped breathing, leaning back to look up at him.
“What would you say if I stuck around for a while?”
“Around Whispering Pines? Are you serious?” Her pulse was roaring.
He wasn’t leaving!
“You want to stay?” she asked, almost afraid she’d heard wrong.
He shrugged. “Only if you want me to.”
Did she ever. She couldn’t think of anything she wanted more.
“I’ve already got a good side hustle going.”
“Really?” It probably would have been easier for them to speak if they stepped apart, but there was no way Ruby was going to let that happen. Her arms remained firmly around his neck and his were equally strong around her waist.
“I spent the morning in town speaking with Sally at the pizza joint and Doug at his ice-cream shop.”
“Is that right? So, will you be delivering pizzas or scooping ice cream?” she teased, not caring what he did as long as it meant he was staying.
“Neither. I was hawking my cupcakes.”
“Seriously? Oh, Aaron, that’s wonderful. I’m so proud of you.”
His face reddened under her scrutiny, but his smile couldn’t have been wider.
“For the moment, it’s a part-time gig, but I wanted to show you I’m a man who can provide for his family and not the total washout I was when I first arrived in town.”
“What do you plan to do with the rest of your time?” she asked curiously.
He bent his head down toward hers and captured her gaze with his. “I’ve really gotten into this whole dog-training thing. What
you do here is nothing short of phenomenal, and I would be honored to be a part of it. I know this isn’t usually how a job interview is supposed to go, but I was really hoping you might offer me something here. I’d like to work for you. I’m not picky. I’ll clean up the dog pens and feed the pups or whatever you need me to do.”
Ruby wanted to pinch herself. Hours earlier, her heart had been broken and her future looked lonely at best. Now she was standing in Aaron’s arms, listening to his wonderful plans for the future.
A future that included her.
“Of course, you can come work with me. With me, Aaron, not for me. I can’t think of anything I’d like better,” she said without missing a beat. “I thought you’d left for good. I so wanted to ask you to stay,” she said, her tears coming back in earnest now.
“Then why didn’t you?”
“Because you disappeared right after we’d shared our kiss together. And I thought that meant you didn’t want to be with me.”
He shook his head. “Are you kidding? There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than right here. Don’t you know what you’ve done for me?”
She shook her head.
“I thought I was no good to the world. I believed my life was over because I could no longer serve in the marines. You showed me there is so much more to life. You forced me to look beyond myself and my problems because you needed me to help you secure your military contract. And because you never abandoned me, you didn’t allow me to lose hope about myself. Your service-dog program is perfectly named. You’ve given me a new lease on love, Ruby, and I’ll never be able to repay you for that. I’d like to try, though.”
She chuckled through her tears, her heart feeling as if it would burst in her chest. “That’s really sweet.”
He grinned and touched his forehead to hers. “I wasn’t aiming for sweet.”
“No?” Her voice softened. “What, then?”
“I taught Oscar a new trick, one that isn’t part of the program. Do you want to see it?”
“If you want to show it to me,” she said. It seemed to her to be a strange time to bring up a dog trick, and she wondered if he was emotionally backing off again. It wouldn’t be the first time that had happened.
He blocked Oscar from view for a moment as he leaned over him. When he stood to his full height again, his smile had left his face and his gaze was unreadable.
“Check it out,” he said, gesturing toward Oscar, who approached Ruby, carefully balancing a sparkling—
Was it a diamond solitaire on his muzzle?
Oscar sat handsomely without disturbing the ring at all.
Ruby was in shock. She couldn’t move or breath or—anything.
Aaron picked up the ring off Oscar’s muzzle and took her right hand in his. His smile returned as he placed her palm over his heart.
“I—I can’t kneel,” he said. “Even though I really want to. I’m kneeling in my heart, okay?”
Ruby hiccuped a sob and nodded as tears flooded into her eyes and down her cheeks.
“You’re amazing, you know that?” he said, his voice even lower and raspier than usual. “I’ve known for some time that I had serious feelings for you, but the night at the bonfire when we kissed sealed the deal for me.”
“Me, too,” she whispered.
“I can’t live without you. Being needed by someone is a whole new experience for me. You’ve opened up my whole world. Now I want to give it back to you. I love you more than I ever believed I could love someone. You’re my whole world, Ruby. Will you marry me?”
Her left hand shook as she offered it to Aaron, and he slid the ring onto her finger. Then he leaned down and tenderly kissed her, sealing their promise.
“This part isn’t going into the service-dog program,” he murmured.
She giggled. “I love you, you big grumpy marine. This is definitely a one of a kind.”
“Yes, it is.” His voice was thick with emotion. “Our new leash on love.”
“Our new leash on love,” she echoed before his lips touched hers again, making everything right in their world.
Epilogue
Two Years Later
Aaron had been working hard all morning on a batch of cupcakes—one cupcake in particular. He’d been a married man for a year now and couldn’t be happier with his wife, Ruby, and their service-dog program. He still provided cupcakes for Sally’s Pizza and the ice-cream shop, as well as Winslow’s Woodlands gift shop.
He and Ruby had built a cabin on Winslow land, and he spent most of his time working with service dogs, especially for the military veterans who regularly came in due to the contract Ruby had obtained.
He probably didn’t have to keep baking cupcakes, but he enjoyed being able to put the extra money into a college fund for any children they might have.
What had once been saving for the future had now become much more of a reality when, about four and a half months ago, Ruby discovered they were pregnant. It had been a surprise to them both, but they couldn’t have been happier.
Aaron sometimes felt as if he should pinch himself, wondering how he’d come from being a wounded marine with no future at all to a happily married man with a growing family, and—well, that was a surprise, too.
He and Ruby had gone in for the reveal ultrasound just yesterday. Ruby wasn’t yet aware of the ultrasound results. Aaron wouldn’t even let her look at the monitor.
Aaron had suddenly come up with an idea that he thought would make Ruby happy and had asked her sisters to help him plan and execute a surprise for her. He still thanked God every day for gracing him with the Winslows’ large brood. Not having had any brothers or sisters growing up and feeling completely isolated as an adult was a thing of the past. Now he had siblings galore and as much help as he needed to make this one of the happiest days of his beloved wife’s life.
Today, the whole family would be gathering for a picnic, where Ruby would get to find out in the midst of her loved ones who she was expecting.
Before yesterday, they’d gone back and forth about the possible gender of their child. Ruby was convinced she was carrying Aaron’s son, but in Aaron’s heart of hearts, he wanted a daughter who was as beautiful and precious as his wife. Sure, teaching a boy to throw a ball would be fun, but he could teach his daughter the same thing, and he’d learned a lot about tea parties from Lottie.
At present, he was the only one who knew the results of the ultrasound. He hadn’t even shared it with any of Ruby’s sisters, figuring they’d all enjoy finding out at one time. He was in charge of the cupcake, and he’d carefully added the cream to the middle. It was yellow cake with mint-green frosting on the outside. Not only was mint green a neutral color and could convincingly be considered a baby theme, but it reminded him of another time and place and a gorgeous redhead with mint-green frosting in her hair.
Hopefully, this cupcake would truly be the best one she’d ever tasted.
* * *
Ruby couldn’t decide if she was more nervous or excited. Definitely a lot of both. Butterflies had loosed in her stomach, and her adrenaline had kicked in with a vengeance—making her baby do loop-de-loops and jumping jacks in her womb. Goodness, but he was an active little guy.
Or girl, as Aaron was so fond of reminding her.
She dressed in her maternity jeans and a top that would have worked for a tent. She couldn’t believe how much she’d grown over the past five months. One would think she was carrying an elephant if they didn’t know better. Yet one more reason why she believed she was carrying Aaron’s son, a big boy who’d grow into a large man like her handsome husband.
And speaking of her husband—he’d certainly grown tight-lipped. She knew he and her sisters were planning a reveal party. They could hardly keep that a secret since Aaron wouldn’t even let her see the ultrasound that she’d so been looking forward to watching. Thankfully, he pro
mised he’d had a disc made of it and they’d get to watch it together as soon as the party was over.
“Almost ready to go, babe?” Aaron asked, buttoning up the same black shirt he’d worn the first night they’d kissed.
She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, playfully jerking at his collar. “Do you remember the first time you wore this?”
He snorted. “How could I forget? The tag was still attached to the shirt. How embarrassing.”
“And yet, as I seem to recall, you got over it.”
“I remember.” His raspy voice had lowered, along with his head, as he brushed his lips across hers.
She framed his face in her hands, enjoying the same light scruff that she’d felt under her palms that first night. “When I kissed you the night of the bonfire, I thought I’d made a mistake. I tried to pull away.”
“Mmm. I wasn’t going to let you do that, now, was I?”
“Thankfully not. I love you, sweetie.”
He growled, as he always did when she blessed him with that moniker. A marine, he’d told her on several occasions, was not sweet.
“I love you, too. Now let’s get going. Your family is waiting for us, and if I’m not mistaken, they’re nearly as anxious as you are to find out what we’re having. I foresee a lot of shopping in the near future.”
Ruby was definitely looking forward to baby shopping. She’d been window-shopping for tiny clothing for months now. It was hard to believe she’d be holding her own baby in just a matter of months.
Even though the picnic table was a fairly easy walk from their cabin, Aaron made her take their truck, which was its own obstacle, as getting her unwieldy body into the cab wasn’t exactly an easy thing to do—at least until Aaron swept her into his arms and deposited her on the passenger seat. He totally spoiled her.
And she liked it.
When they pulled up to the picnic site, Jake and Avery’s Lottie and Molly and Logan’s Judah were swinging on the nearby play set while Jake and Avery helped now almost three-year-old Felix slide down the slide.
