Page 23 of No Going Back

“That’s what I’ve been thinking lately. It’s the perfect time to try it. What do you say? You willing to try it for a while?”

Her face flushed at the serious tone of his voice. “I’ve never been in a small town. I’ve never seen snow before. Actually, I’ve never left Florida until now.” Then she grinned. “I’d like to try it for a while.”

Sean’s grin was blinding as they drove the last few miles and into Phail.

They’d plugged the address Troy had sent into the GPS and it took them right through the town. They spotted Troy’s store, Phail General. And a diner named No Fail Diner. And what looked like a grocery store called Phail Phoods. And then they were through the town and traveling north.

Sean shook his head as they reached the farmland beyond the town. “It took us about a minute to drive through the place. We didn’t see a single traffic light, but we saw at least three ridiculous names. I know how Epic got his easy-going nature. You need to roll with the punches when you have a name like Phail and a town that thinks it’s hilarious.”

It seemed like a good place to live.

The GPS beeped, and Sean pulled into a driveway that had been cleared. The snowbanks on either side of the drive were almost as tall as the truck. The large farmhouse in front of them was old and worn. And gorgeous.

A huge porch wrapped around the parts she could see. The large windows looked like they’d be low to the floor, and Branna could imagine the views of the countryside they would have.

Sean parked beside the other car in front of the house as the farmhouse door opened. She recognized Troy and Marcus from the video call and guessed the woman was the fiancée Troy had mentioned.

Reality and nerves crashed around inside Branna. The interlude in the truck had been like an extended getting-to-know-you date. Now, she had to return to her real life and deal with all the disasters.

Jabba woofed and stuck his head between the seats to see where they’d stopped this time. Sean ruffled his fur. “We’re here, Jabba. Our new home for the next little while.”

Then he squeezed her hand. “It’s going to be okay, Branna. We’ve got this. Let’s go meet the gang.”

Branna nodded and opened the truck door. Jabba was on her side of the vehicle, so she opened his door to let him out of the truck’s back seat

Jabba barked happily as he loped toward the three people on the porch. The sound of a small dog’s bark froze him in his tracks.

She looked closer to see that the woman held a small dog in her arms. Branna thought it might be a French bulldog and it didn’t look in the least bit scary.

The dog yipped again and wiggled in his owner’s arms, obviously ready to meet a new doggie friend, even if he was smaller than Jabba’s head.

Jabba howled and ran back towards Branna, circling her legs and then trying to jump up into her arms. Because he weighed at least as much as she did, his leap ended with both of them on the ground.

Branna laughed as the dog tried to hide behind her and sit in her lap at the same time.

Sean squatted beside her. “You okay?”

“I’m fine, but I’m going to guess Jabba hasn’t had a lot of playtime with other dogs.”

Sean patted Jabba. “It’s okay, buddy. These are our friends. You’re going to like them.”

Jabba’s high-pitched whine had them all grinning. The bulldog’s tongue was out and Branna was pretty sure he was laughing at Jabba.

Sean rose and held out a hand to help Branna to her feet. Jabba moved behind them and stuck his head through the space between, eyeing the other dog warily.

The two men approached, and Sean hugged each of them. Then they both hugged Branna. Troy grinned. “Welcome to Phail, you guys.”

Then he squatted down and held out his hand to Jabba. “Do you think I can introduce my fiancée and our dog or will that send you hiding under the truck? He’s friendly, I promise.”

Jabba sniffed Troy’s hand and licked him.

“Good boy. Okay, here goes.” Troy stood up again, and the woman moved forward. He slung his arm around her shoulders. “Piper Keenan, meet Branna O’Dea and Sean Falcone, the guy we call Falcon.”

The humans all shook hands, and Troy continued. “This little guy is Oreo, and he likes everyone, even dogs the size of hippos.”

He picked up the dog, whose tail wagged at the speed of hummingbird wings. Troy kept a firm hold on the dog while he squatted again. “Easy Oreo. This is Jabba. Jabba, you’re not allowed to eat Oreo. He’s a good guy.”

Jabba leaned back then forward a few times before he finally got close enough to sniff the small dog. Oreo kept writhing and leaned close enough to lick Jabba’s nose. The bigger dog’s ears flew straight up and then flopped down, but he didn’t back away. Instead, he sniffed Oreo again.

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