Page 26 of Serendipity

“How am I ruining this—whatever this is—if you’re not telling me what she was doing here while I was gone?”

I saw red, but the frustration building up inside of me stopped me from doing any more than standing there and glaring at him.

Ezra shook his head, and I had to blink twice as the corners of his mouth lifted.

What’s there to grin about?

“I was hoping to surprise you,” he simply said as he opened the bedroom door.

Before I could say anything to question him, I saw the fluffiest puppy stumbling out of the bedroom.

My eyes widened, and in an instant, all my anger washed away.

“Did you really think I would cheat on you?” Ezra asked, amused. “I think we’re gonna have a whole other conversation about that, love.”

I couldn’t believe my eyes, and with the tears still blurring my vision it was hard to see.

The puppy stopped next to Ezra’s feet, and like the sweetest little thing, he sat down and looked up at him.

“Olivia’s mother’s dog had a litter of three a few weeks ago. It took me a while to decide if I really wanted to surprise you with her, and that’s why you saw me talk to Olivia so often.”

Ezra’s explanation, the phone calls, and all the times they bumped into each other started to make sense.

He actually got me a puppy!

I covered my mouth with my hand as he picked the puppy up and walked toward me. “I love you, Juno. And I’m sorry if I made you feel this way, but I wanted to surprise you with her.”

He stopped in front of me with the brown, curly-haired puppy in his arms, as my tears started to stream down my face.

Words had yet to come out of me, but Ezra was patient, smiling at me gently.

“She’s a labradoodle. Only twelve weeks old,” he explained.

I finally reached out to her, letting Ezra place her into my arms. “Oh, my goodness…she’s precious,” I cried, looking up at Ezra. “Thank you! God, you’re the best.”

He chuckled and brushed my tears away, then leaned in to kiss my forehead. “Are you happy?”

“Of course I’m happy, Ezra. I’m sorry I reacted the way I did.” I sighed and wished this wouldn’t have played out the way it did.

“It was bad timing for all of us,” he said calmly, caressing the back of my head and looking back at the puppy.

“Olivia gave us a few things she never used for her dog as well, and she brought a bag of dog food too. We’ll get more things tomorrow,” he promised me.

I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

She was so soft and sweet, with her big eyes staring up at me and her tongue trying to lick every inch of my face.

“I love her. And I love you. So much,” I whispered.

“Good, because you got us both for a long damn time.”

I leaned in to kiss his lips.

I’d love them forever.

Endlessly.

Ezra

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