Page 67 of Devoted Enough

Nate placed his hands on my shoulders and turned me to face him as I asked, “Did you do this?”

He laughed and shook his head. “No, but I knew Doug did pro bono projects in the community, and I also happened to know he is a huge dog lover. He has six of them.”

“Six?” I asked, half laughing, half sobbing. “I’ll have to allocate just one day for him to bring his dogs to play by themselves. I’ll call it Doug’s Doggie Day. Nate…do I deserve this?”

His eyes went wide. “What do you mean? Of course you do, Haven.”

Wrapping my arms around my body, I turned away and stared at the mountains in the distance. “When I first thought of doing a dog park, the membership idea was necessary. If I gotthe loan, I would need a way to repay it, so what better way to help than offer memberships? But that little girl inside of me, the one who used to watch her mother and father count out how much money they had for the grocery store, felt like a traitor to the people struggling to make ends meet. If they couldn’t afford the membership for their dogs, they would be left out.”

I turned to face him. “Do you know how many times I felt left out growing up? I wanted to go to camp like all my friends, but we couldn’t afford it. I wanted to cheer, but my parents couldn’t afford the uniforms. I couldn’t even play sports because it was hard enough to buy shoes to wear to school, let alone shoes to play soccer in.”

A look of pain washed over his face, and I shook my head. “Don’t feel sorry for me, Nate. I didn’t say that for you to look at me with pity.”

He took my hands in his. “Haven, the last thing I do is pity you. You’re one of the most amazingly strong and independent women I have ever met. I love that your heart is pure and kind and that you even thought about those less fortunate when planning the dog park.”

I chewed on my lip. “It feels like everything has slid into place so easily, which isn’t how my life goes. It’s crazy and chaotic, and I’m always trying to figure out ways to make ends meet, yet still be able to grow. The whole rob Peter to pay Paul thing. Then Sophia came into my life, then you and I found one another in a way I had only dreamed about. All my dreams are coming true, and I’m…”

My voice trailed off as a frog formed in my throat.

“You’re what?” Nate asked.

Lifting my head, our eyes met. “I’m scared the floor will be pulled out from under me, and I’ll lose it all. I’ll lose you.”

Squeezing my hands, he bent down and slowly shook his head. “You’re not going to lose me or anything else, Haven. Andas far as you not being deserving of any of this, that is plain bullshit. You’ve worked hard; everything you accomplished is because of that hard work. Just take a deep breath and do what everyone else around you are doing.”

Smiling softly, I asked, “What’s that?”

He placed his finger on my chin and tilted my head up more. Leaning down, he brushed his lips across mine before he whispered, “Believe in yourself.”

Chapter Twelve

NATHAN

Haven’s eyes started to fill with tears before she blinked them back and softly said, “Pinch me.”

Grinning, I looked over to where Sophia and Doug were standing and going over the plans. Meeting her gaze once again, I said, “I think we should save that for later in the bedroom.”

Haven laughed. “Thank you for making me see I was having a pity party for one.”

“You were not, Haven. You were expressing your feelings, and nothing is wrong with that. I want you to always feel like you can be honest with me.”

She bit into her lower lip and shook her head. “Nate Shaw, you may just be the most perfect man in the world.”

I scoffed. “Hardly perfect. But I am behind you a hundred percent. I want to see your dreams come true, Haven.”

She drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out. “I’m so glad my tire was flat that night.”

Drawing her into my arms, I held her tightly as I kissed the top of her head. “So am I. So. Am. I.”

Glancing back over to Sophia and Doug, she cleared her throat. “We should get back over there.”

“The sooner we get Doug on board, the sooner we can get this project going.”

Lacing her fingers in mine, we returned to Doug and Sophia.

“Okay, what’s the next step?” Haven asked in a voice that was filled with hope and excitement. Sophia and I exchanged a smile as Doug launched into the steps that needed to be taken next.

My heart felt full with something I had never experienced before as I watched Haven contain the happiness that was clearly about to spill over.

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