Man's Best Friend (The Dogmothers #5) - Roxanne St. Claire Page 0,98
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.”