After Destiny blew out her six candles and everyone clapped, John made his way to stand next to the birthday girl and her mother.
“Mavvie!” Destiny jumped out of her seat, then caught herself, looking up at John. “Can I hold him?” She’d been extra careful and even a little tentative with him since the incident at camp.
“You can hold him forever,” he said softly, vaguely aware that a hush had fallen over the room. “Destiny Rose, I present you with Maverick Santorini, your sixth-birthday present. From me to you.”
She blinked at him. “He’s m-m-mine?”
“He’s yours, kiddo,” he said with a thick throat. “I’ve never known two creatures who belong together more.”
Her smile was slow, then blinding as she reached up and wrapped her arms around him, and the whole room let out a boisterous cheer of approval.
“Mavvie!” She gathered him in her arms and rocked him. “Happy birthday to us!”
John straightened and met Summer’s teary gaze. “You broke your promise.”
“Every once in a while, a promise has to be broken.” He looked down at Destiny and Mav, then into Summer’s eyes. “But I can make you one that will last a lifetime.”
She leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his waist, lifting her mouth to whisper, “You know as well as I do that dog, that child, and this woman are not going anywhere.”
“Good.” He gave her a light kiss. “Because just like Mav and Destiny, we belong together.”
As he pulled her closer for a celebratory hug, he looked across the room and caught Gramma Finnie and Yiayia giving each other a not-so-secret high five.
Epilogue
“We have good news and bad news.” Cassie and Summer sat down on the bleachers, flanking John. All around, the family had gathered once again, this time to watch a commercial being filmed in the middle of Bushrod Square.
John didn’t really want to hear any bad news, not today. Not when autumn was painting Bitter Bark in a new color, and his Summer fling had officially entered its next season.
“Everything okay back there in the star’s dressing room?”
“It’s a dressing…awning,” Summer said. “And we have come to inform you of the news.”
“Good first,” he said, automatically reaching for Summer’s hand because he loved to be touching her at all times.
“Destiny knows every line to the new version of her song,” Summer said.
“And, good God, that kid should be in Juilliard, not first grade,” Cassie added.
“Tell me something I don’t know, Cass,” John said, shooting a proud smile to Summer.
“The bad news, then.” Summer bit her lip. “Mav’s been cut.”
“He’s hurt?” He nearly jumped off the bleacher.
“No, no. Cut from the script,” she explained. “The director nixed him and picked another dog from that crew the producers brought as backup.”
“What?” John felt a scowl form. “None of them can sing with her.”
“They’re going to do some very fancy editing and use Mav’s voice, but this is for a special puppy blend of food, and Mav’s a little bit bigger than they want for the part.”
“He’s aged out of fame and fortune,” Cassie said on a dramatic sigh.
“That’s fine, but what about Destiny?” John asked, already worried about this stressing her out. “She won’t want to sing with a dog she doesn’t know.”
Cassie lifted a brow. “Tell that to Lexie Lu, the snow-white toy Pomeranian who already has four commercial credits, an amazing owner-trainer, and looks like she was born two weeks ago even though she’s one and a half.”
“Destiny’s good with her?” John asked.
Summer shared a look with Cassie. “Good?”
“The owner already looks a little worried she may not get her dog back,” Cassie added.
John laughed. “She may not. Where’s Mav? Should I spring him from the casting couch?”
“Yeah. Come with us.” Cassie waved them around the stage, currently loaded with lights, cameras, microphones, and about six dozen more people than John imagined was necessary to shoot a thirty-second commercial.
Holding hands, Summer and John followed Cassie to a temporarily fenced-in area where a number of dogs romped and slept, each being watched by a handler. Professional TV dogs, then. Only one roamed freely and came straight toward them.
“Hey, Mavvie.” John crouched down and stuck his face close to the fencing. “I’m afraid you’re a face on the cutting room floor.”
He licked John’s nose.
“I’ll go spring him,” Cassie said, walking to the gate to talk to a production person with a clipboard.
“Mommy!”
John turned to see Destiny under a large open-air tent, sitting in a tall chair with one person working on her hair and another in front of her with a palette of makeup. On her lap was a literal ball of white fur, watched carefully by a woman in khakis a few feet away.
“She’s having the time of her life,” Summer said. “This whole stardom thing comes a little too naturally to her.”
He smiled and waved at the child who’d taken up residence, right next to her mother, in his heart and home. “She’s got makeup on,” he said, frowning as he realized that. “She doesn’t need makeup. She’s six.”
Summer laughed. “It’s just to accent her gorgeous bone structure.”
“She’s naturally beautiful.” He stared at her for another long minute. “And talented. And smart. And, oh my God, she’s stubborn.”
“She’s going to be a handful as a teenager.” It almost sounded like Summer was warning him.
“I hate to have to kill sixteen-year-old boys, but…”
Summer laughed. “I love when you go bad-ass, Nice Man.”
“Liam already told me he’d lend me Fiona’s chastity belt and two guard dogs when she starts high school.”
“Really?”
“You think I’m kidding?”
“I think you’re…” Summer let out a soft, surprised laugh. “Planning a future.”
He shifted his gaze from Destiny to her mother, looking right into those sky-blue eyes. “And how would you feel about that?”
“I moved here from Orlando and took a job at Bitter Bark Elementary, didn’t I?”
“You sure did.”
“And I’m helping you and Josh design a two-story, single-family home out of the one we’re sharing, aren’t I?”
“Yes, you are.”
“Well, then…” She lifted a shoulder. “Plan that future, darling, but leave out the chastity belts and guard dogs. By the time she’s that old, Christian and Jag will be her personal bodyguards.”
A wholly wonderful sensation filled him, one he was getting so very used to, but never took for granted. That had to be the final cue he’d wanted and needed to hear. He’d been waiting for weeks for the right moment. Today? In the square? He’d kind of hoped to take her flying, but…he didn’t really want to wait another day, did he?
He’d just have to see Yiayia first.
He turned at the sound of a familiar bark, crouching down to give Mav some love as he bounded forward…and blew right past him.
“Hey!” Cassie got jerked at the other end of his leash.
“Sorry.” John took it from her, using his strength to stop forty-pound Mav from crashing hair and makeup to get to his girl.
“Mavvie!” Destiny waved from her beauty throne, but that just made Mav bark again, then let out a low growl at the fluffball on her lap.
“Don’t be jealous, Mavvie,” she called. “I love you best of all!”
Summer darted over to talk to Destiny, but John stayed back, keeping Mav from causing any chaos. After a moment, she came back, slipping an arm around him.
“They’re taking her back for another rehearsal. It could be awhile.”
“You want to stay with her?”
“I think Cassie’s got it. I’m kind of turning into a stage mother, an
d I don’t like it.”
“Want to take a walk with Mav and me?”
She brightened. “Sure.” With another quick goodbye to Destiny, they started off, but John steered them back to the bleachers first. “Hold Mav for me, okay? I want to tell Yiayia something.”
Summer gave him a quizzical look. “And I can’t come?”
“No. It’s a secret.” He winked at her and headed over to where Gramma Finnie and Yiayia were side by side, surrounded by Kilcannons, Mahoneys, and Santorinis.
Sliding up next to his grandmother, he whispered in her ear, “You got it?”
She drew back, her dark eyes widening. “Of course. I told you I would. Now?”
“Now.”
“Now?” Gramma Finnie asked, her little voice rising with excitement.
“Now,” he confirmed.
“Now?” Alex, sitting behind them, stuck his head into the mix.
“Now.”
“Right now?” Aidan, holding Beck’s hand, stepped closer to join them.
“Oh, for crying out loud, can I just do this without the entire family watching?”
Laughing, Yiayia dipped her hand into an oversize bag and surreptitiously slipped a small box into John’s waiting palm.
“Is it now?” His mother appeared from nowhere, with Daniel right behind.
John just laughed and looked from one to the other.
“What’s going on over here?” Declan Mahoney slid over from where he sat on the bleachers, a navy ball cap pulled low over his sunglasses.
“You just watch and learn, lad.” Gramma Finnie patted his leg. “Because I have a plan for you.”
John laughed and looked into the blue eyes of the fire captain. “A word of advice, Dec?”
“I don’t need any advice,” he said, making a few of the others laugh.
“Trust the process,” John replied anyway. “These ladies know what they’re doing.”
Declan looked skyward as John dropped the box into his pocket and managed to escape as the level of family excitement rose.
“What was that all about?” Summer asked, standing to the side of the stage with Mav.
“My family’s nuts.” He put an arm around her, taking the leash. “Let’s go to the playground.”
She inched back. “You want to swing?”
“I want to be on the very spot where I first met you.”
“Aww.” She tucked her arm around his waist and nestled closer. “That’s so sweet.”
“That’s me. Nice and sweet and…”
She shimmied against him. “Hot and sexy.”
The playground, along with all of Bushrod Square, was empty and eerily quiet, but that was because the Family First Pet Foods commercial had asked the town to let them have exclusive use of the entire square.
Happy for the privacy, John walked her closer.
“Here,” he said. “This bench.”
“I remember this bench,” she said, running a finger over the wood before sitting down.
“I was sitting on it talking to Tom Barnard on the phone when a wild five-year-old and her gorgeous mother walked into my life.”
Mav pulled a little, like he had that day, toward the playground, but he instinctively seemed to know he wouldn’t get the love there today. He lay down under the bench while they sat.
John’s heart ratcheted up a beat as he realized the magnitude of the moment.
But Summer was relaxed, stretching out her legs and letting her head fall back to get sun on her face. “I’m so glad I came to Bitter Bark,” she said softly. “I never want to leave.”
“I never want you to leave.”
She lifted her head and looked at him. “This is it, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is.”
“This is love.” She put her hand on his face. “This is forever. I can’t believe how certain I am of loving you, John.”
“You are.” It wasn’t a question. “I am, too. I don’t think about it, I just feel it.”
She smiled. “And I haven’t had one moment of guilt.”
He took a deep breath, stood up, and took her hand, pulling her toward him.
“What is it?” she asked.
He swallowed and inched back, ready to get down on one knee but feeling the need to draw the moment out. “If I may quote a great song not written by Destiny Rose…you take my breath away.”
She smiled up at him. “The anthem of the kissing part.”
“And I want to ask you a question. But, I guess it’s done like this.” Slowly, he lowered himself to one knee, getting a deep and joyous gasp in response. “Summer Jackson, you are the brightest light that’s ever come into my life. You are everything warm and wonderful. I had no idea I could love you, and Destiny, the way that I do.”
She bit her lip, her eyes filling as she looked down at him.
He pulled out the ring box and flipped it open, not surprised his hands trembled. “Will you marry me?”
“Oh.” She breathed the word, glancing at the ring, but looking right back into his eyes as she pulled him up, her fingers, also trembling, pressed to her lips. “Oh, John, I love you so much. I would be honored to marry you. Yes, yes, yes!”
He slid the ring on her finger and kissed her again, just as Mav jumped up and started barking.
“Mommy!”
“Destiny!” They turned to see her running toward them, ringlets flying.
“What is she doing?” Summer asked.
“Look behind her.” There, Cassie—and half the clan—stood in a group, watching everything. “Word travels fast in this family. And they probably knew she’d want to be in on this.”
As Destiny reached them with her arms outstretched, John reached down and lifted her up.
“Is it true?” she squealed. “Will you be my daddy?”
“Only if you’ll be my daughter.”
“Yes! You are my daddy, my favorite daddy!” she sang in her signature melody.
Laughing, she threw her arms around his neck, and John looked through her hair to see the tears flowing down Summer’s cheeks.
Mav barked and ran in circles, while across the square, one great big Greek and Irish clan clapped and stretched out their arms to welcome two more members.
Leaning around the squirming child, John pulled Summer in for a kiss, his arms and heart full of the two most beautiful ladies in the world.
The Dogmothers matchmaking work isn’t close to done! Watch my newsletter or reader group for updates on Declan Mahoney’s love story…book six in The Dogmothers series.
Want to know the release date, see the cover, and find out the title? Sign up for the newsletter at www.roxannestclaire.com.
Or get daily updates, sneak peeks, and insider information at the Dogfather Reader Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/roxannestclairereaders/
The Dogfather Series
Sit…Stay…Beg – book one
New Leash on Life – book two
Leader of the Pack – book three
Santa Paws is Coming to Town – book four (a holiday novella)
Bad to the Bone – book five
Ruff Around the Edges – book six
Double Dog Dare – book seven
Bark! The Herald Angels Sing – book eight (a holiday novella)
Old Dog New Tricks – book nine
The Dogmothers Series
Hot Under the Collar – book one
Three Dog Night – book two
Dachshund Through the Snow – book three (a holiday novella)
Chasing Tail – book four
For a complete list, buy links, and reading order of all my books, visit www.roxannestclaire.com. Be sure to sign up for my newsletter to find out when the next book is released! And join the private Dogfather Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/roxannestclairereaders/ for inside info on all the books and characters, sneak peeks, and a place to share the love of tails and tales!
A Dogfather/Dogmothers Family Reference Guide
/> THE KILCANNON FAMILY
Daniel Kilcannon aka The Dogfather
Son of Finola (Gramma Finnie) and Seamus Kilcannon. Married to Annie Harper for 36 years until her death. Veterinarian, father, and grandfather. Widowed at opening of series. Married to Katie Santorini (Old Dog New Tricks) with dogs Rusty and Goldie.
The Kilcannons (from oldest to youngest):
• Liam Kilcannon and Andi Rivers (Leader of the Pack) with Christian and Fiona and dog, Jag
• Shane Kilcannon and Chloe Somerset (New Leash on Life) with daughter Annabelle and dogs, Daisy and Ruby
• Garrett Kilcannon and Jessie Curtis (Sit…Stay…Beg) with son Patrick and dog, Lola
• Molly Kilcannon and Trace Bancroft (Bad to the Bone) with daughter Pru and son Danny and dog, Meatball
• Aidan Kilcannon and Beck Spencer (Ruff Around the Edges) with dog, Ruff
• Darcy Kilcannon and Josh Ranier (Double Dog Dare) with dogs, Kookie and Stella
THE MAHONEY FAMILY
Colleen Mahoney
Daughter of Finola (Gramma Finnie) and Seamus Kilcannon and younger sister of Daniel. Widow of the late Joe Mahoney. Owner of Bone Appetit (canine treat bakery) and mother.
The Mahoneys (from oldest to youngest):
• Declan Mahoney and…
• Connor Mahoney and Sadie Hartman (Chasing Tail) with dog, Frank, and cat, Demi
• Braden Mahoney and Cassie Santorini (Hot Under the Collar) with dogs, Jelly Bean and Jasmine
• Ella Mahoney and…
THE SANTORINI FAMILY
Katie Rogers Santorini
Dated Daniel Kilcannon in college and introduced him to Annie. Married to Nico Santorini for forty years until his death two years after Annie’s. Interior Designer and mother. Recently married to Daniel Kilcannon (Old Dogs New Tricks).
Hush, Puppy Page 30
