Page 59 of Wicked Healing

They were laughing their asses off when Erin walked in the door carrying a small tan carry crate and a wire cage with several things inside. Luca moved to help her. “You should have told me you needed help, babe.”

She grinned and tilted her chin up at him and he couldn’t deny her a kiss. “Well, I didn’t expect to need help,” she admitted. “What were you guys laughing at?”

The men shared a look. “Amputee humor.”

She made an ‘ah’ with her mouth and walked to Paul, setting everything down beside him.

“Awfully presumptuous, aren’t you?”

Erin tilted her head at him. “Are you seriously going to tell that little girl no?”

Paul’s face fell. “You know I can’t. That little darling has only been in my life a couple of months and I can’t imagine how I lived without her. How I could live without her. If that dog makes her happy I’ll deal with it.”

Erin gave him a supportive smile. “That dog will be the companion that little girl needs. Her world is in upheaval right now and she needs something just for her. I suggest you give her as much responsibility caring for the dog that you can. I’ll go get you her veterinary records now and there’s a form I need you to sign accepting responsibility for the dog.”

“Okay,” Paul said, looking at all the stuff in the cage.

“Now for the important part,” she told him, waiting till he looked up. “Go tell her she can take Sophie home,” she grinned.

Paul grinned as well. “It’s a bit like Christmas, huh?”

Erin nodded. “It’s one of the highlights of my job,” she admitted.

Paul headed into the living room to tell Hope that they could take Sophie home with them. Luca pulled her into a hug, laughing as they heard the scream, followed by the sobs.

“I really do love that part. I remember when I was a kid, getting my first dog. It changed my life.”

He pressed a kiss to her head. “Wicked was my first,” he told her softly.

She leaned back to look at him. “Really?”

Luca nodded.

“He was the perfect match for you as well, then,” Erin murmured. “I believe whole-heartedly in the power of pets healing their owners. You and Wicked are a pair. You’ve been through hell, you’ve recovered together and you’re going to be an amazing team in whatever you do.”

Leaning up on tiptoe she grazed his lips with a kiss. Luca tried to be objective, to decide if what he was feeling was real, and he decided in that second that it absolutely was. Why was he doubting what he felt in his heart?

“I love you, Erin,” he told her, cupping her jaw. “You give me clarity. I can have a thousand thoughts running through my mind but you remind me what is most important.”

“I love you too, Luca. I’m glad I can give you that clarity. You give me way more than that with your attention. For the first time, I can imagine the love my parents felt all those years ago.”

They kissed and Luca could feel the two of them becoming stronger together. If Paul and Hope hadn’t been there he’d have dragged her to bed, but they had to be there for their guests. Later tonight, when the house was quiet he would love her.

* * *

Hope wentquiet in a very different way that night as she bonded with her new pet. And Paul seemed more relaxed.

After Hope had been settled into bed, Paul had told them about the crash that had taken her mother’s life. Erin hadn’t realized it but Hope had been in the crash with her mother at the time of her death. The poor baby had had to watch her die, but she refused to speak of that night with anyone.

That was a terrible burden for a child to carry.

When father and daughter left for California the next morning, Erin felt like they were on a good path. Hope had even told them goodbye, taking a moment to give them each a hug.

“You take good care of Sophie, Hope, and if you have any questions have your dad call me.”

“I will,” she told Erin.

Once again Luca and Erin stood on the porch in each other’s arms, watching the truck drive away.

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