Page 17 of Bae

“Tutor girl, what the hell is this?” Braeden wondered, interrupting my moment of sniffing my wife.

I made a mental note to get back at him later.

She perked up away from me a little and glanced over at B, who was scowling at the strange, rather large dog taking up the doorway while it barked its head off and refused to allow him through.

“You best move out the way, beast,” he told it. “I got places to be.”

Rimmel laughed and patted my chest. Reluctantly, I stood her on her feet but caught one of her hands in mine.

“It’s okay, boy,” she told the dog, stepped forward, and held out her hand. “Easy. They’re friends.”

The dark stopped barking and looked at Rim. “Come here.” She snapped her fingers. Instantly, the large dog trotted over to her and licked her fingers.

She giggled.

“Rimmel…” I partially sighed.

She glanced up, a little guilty.

Braeden cackled, leaned over, and kissed Rim on the temple. “Hey, sis.” He pulled back, glanced up at me, and smirked as he motioned at the dog. “Have fun with that. I got a wife and baby to kiss.”

He disappeared instantly and left me alone with the dogs and Rimmel. Speaking of dogs. Darcy was dancing impatiently around my feet, so I dropped down and held out my hands.

Darcy was a black-and-white Border Collie that Rim brought home from work not long after she had the miscarriage. The life in her eyes when she sat on the floor to play with him was all I needed to see.

When I asked her what his name was, she promptly announced Mr. Darcy after one of the dudes in the books she reads so much. I wasn’t about to call any dogMr.,so we settled on Darcy.

Murphy was a little put off, but other than that, Darcy fit right in, and just like that, there were two dogs and a one-eyed cat in this house. It wasn’t like I didn’t expect our animal count to grow. Hell, that was one of the reasons I bought twenty acres.

“Hey, buddy,” I said and scratched him behind the ears. He licked me in the face a couple good ones, and I winced. I noticed one of his toys nearby, and I picked it up and threw it out the door, somewhere into the kitchen. He rushed after it, and I stood.

Rimmel shuffled from one foot to the other and gave me a smile. She was wearing my hoodie, the sleeves so long they covered her hands. The dog in question was at her side, staring at me like he still wasn’t sure what to make of me.

I dropped back down and held out my hand.

He came forward tentatively and gave my fingers a sniff.

“How long’s he been here?” I asked.

“Five days,” she replied reluctantly.

I laughed. “And you never mentioned him?”

“Someone brought him into the shelter just before closing the other night. It was during that terrible thunderstorm we had. They’d found him in the middle of the road, soaking wet and scared.” She began.

I glanced at the dog, knowing where this was going.

“He was so upset from the storm. I couldn’t just lock up and leave him there. Poor thing.” The empathy in her voice was so sincere. The dog wagged his tail. It’s like even he knew he hit the jackpot the second she laid her eyes on him.

My girl… Sometimes I wondered how the hell her heart fit inside her chest.

“So I brought him home and cleaned him up. Poor thing was starved! It was only supposed to be that one night. But he never left my side the next day, not even at the shelter. He stayed with me no matter where I went. When I was packing up to leave that afternoon, he sat by the door and looked at me…” Her voice trailed off.

I rubbed my hand over my face and hid a smile.

“What’s his name?” I didn’t even bother hiding the acceptance in my voice. Like I’d deny her anything.

“Really?” she asked, her voice hopeful.

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