Wild Open Hearts (Bluewater Billionaires) - Kathryn Nolan Page 0,114

I know you said they’d never written you back, that you never knew how her life had turned out.”

My heart was thudding loudly in my chest.

“Eric called them, asked if they’d be willing to send any pictures. Of course, they were. There was some mix-up with their address way back when you’d been trying to contact them. They’d moved, never got your letters. It was never because they didn’t want you to be involved.”

“I thought…” I started, but couldn’t continue. I thought they didn’t want me.

“I know,” Luna said kindly.

She placed the pages down and slid them across the table toward me with a delicate reverence. “Willow passed away in her sleep when she was thirteen years old, about nine years after she was adopted by the Harrison family. Who, according to Eric, loved her to pieces.”

They had. Even the scanned, older pictures I held in my hand showed Willow sitting by a Christmas tree wearing a Santa hat. On a hiking trail on a leash. Running at the beach, sleeping by a fireplace. Humans, her family, were in every shot—petting her, holding her, running with her. They were photos of love and devotion between human and animal.

“Eric spoke with their son, who was a kid when they got Willow. He told Eric to thank you, profusely, for bringing such a loving dog into their lives.”

I wiped at my eyes, which were suspiciously wet. “She was happy.”

“She was very happy, Beck. Very loved. Very cherished. You gave that to her.”

I couldn’t speak for a minute, was too fucking overwhelmed with everything. When I could finally clear my throat, I said, “Why did you do this for me?”

“This is who you are, Beck,” she said, tapping the pictures. She placed her hand over mine, threaded our fingers together. Her touch, after missing it for so long, felt euphoric. “This is what I see when I look at you. This is why I love you. I’m sorry, so very, very sorry, if I ever made you feel used. Or like a charity case. I’m sorry if you ever felt like my time with you was just to rebuild my reputation. Nothing could be further from the truth. All this time, I thought Lucky Dog was my happy place, a shelter from the storm. A refuge.” She leaned over, brushed our lips together. “You’re my happy place, Beck Mason.”

I didn’t even think—just acted, as usual. I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into my lap. Our faces were still close as I brushed the hair from her forehead.

“Thank you,” I said. “Thank you for… I never knew, you know, and I thought maybe they were ashamed of where Willow came from.”

“They weren’t,” Luna said, stroking my hair. “They couldn’t have been prouder of where she’d come from. Couldn’t have been prouder of the work you had done for her.”

I pressed my forehead against hers, palm between her shoulder blades. “We got the money, Luna. From the foundation.”

“I’m so happy to give it to you.” She smiled. “It’s for you. And Lucky Dog. It’s for more dogs like Willow.”

Trust. No more walls. No more fear. My heart was wide open.

“I wrote this for you,” I said, handing her the piece of paper. My fingers were shaking slightly.

“For me?”

“For you.” I locked my arms tight around her. Now that she was in my lap, I wasn’t ever going to let go of her.

“Lucky Dog assessment for Penelope’s adoption,” she read. Stopped, eyes flying up to mine. “Jem told me she was ready but I… I never said. I figured, you know, you would have given her to someone else.”

“Keep reading,” I nudged.

“As a staff member at Lucky Dog, please give your assessment of why you think Luna da Rosa is the right home and family for the dog in question.”

I hadn’t written much—wasn’t my style, and it was too hard. But what I’d put was all feeling.

She cleared her throat. Read the truest words I’d ever written: “Before I met Luna, I lived a life based in fear. Fear that I would never be more than my past. Fear that I would never be the leader I knew I could be. Fear that I would never know love. I know better now. Luna da Rosa sees the value in all and she sees the value in me. Which means, as an adoptive dog parent, she would give Penelope a life of love, and organic dog food and kombucha. Most of all, Luna