Page 66 of Icing the Enemy

Corbin’s letting his little sisters and brother pick out a dog to take home. He’s a little Irish Setter, all black, and you can barely see his eyes. Corbin tells us all about him and asks the director if his siblings can take the puppy home at the end of the week.

Week?I didn’t know they were staying a week.

Layla, Levi, and Lorna are as animated as I’ve seen them, and this poor little dog is going to be loved, played with, and enjoyed by the Shearer family. When Jasper tries to take him from Levi, Levi says, “No, he’s mine.”

Corbin bends down, ruffling Levi’s hair. “Dogs are meant to be shared. They need lots of love. Oakley shares Dixie with me, even though she was originally her dog. Now, she’s our dog. And when you have a dog, you need to share him with the family. You have to take him for walks, make sure he gets lots of exercise, give him baths, brush his teeth, and clean up his poop.” He looks at all three of the kids. “And I don’t want to hear that you three aren’t the ones taking care of this little guy. This is how you learn to have responsibility.”

I straighten and lift my head and in my best male voice, I add, “With great power comes great responsibility.”

Jasper says excitedly. “You have the best wife. She can quoteSpider-Man!”

Corbin does the paperwork and at lunch, the family debates names for the puppy. They come up with Paddy. The next day, I take the girls and the littles to the pet store to pick out a collar, leash, food, and toys from Corbin’s list. Pets can be expensive, and he doesn’t want this to be a burden for his parents.

His brothers and parents go with Corbin to watch hockey practice and when they get back to Corbin’s house, Corbin is beaming like a spotlight at a concert. “You should have seen Jasper. After practice, Stinson and Finnegan stayed to work Jasper out. He dashed and sliced through the ice, scoring multiple times on Finnegan. Can you believe it?”

“Jasper, if you got the puck past Adam, then you’re the real deal.” I high five Jasper and do my winner’s dance while Jasper rolls his eyes.

Corbin wraps him in a hug. “Now I have to figure out how to stay in the league five or six more years so we can play together.”

“I’ll wipe you off the ice, old timer.”

Seeing Corbin with his family gives me tingles. He’s so loving and caring. I’ve been the recipient of it at times, but it seems Corbin is struggling with whether to move our relationship into the “real” realm. And I plan on making it clear what I want once we have some alone time.

The Shearer family is on the go, all of the time. The next day is filled with Opryland, and I ride the big rides with his twin sisters, and Levi asks me to ride the teacups that go round and round. I think we ride three times before I throw up. His mom sits with me, eating a big pretzel while the older siblings take the younger ones into one of the iMax movies. She clears her throat and says, “I know you didn’t date long and since he hasn’t dated too many girls, except in high school, it’s hard for me to know whether this relationship is too fast. But I can tell he loves you.”

I blurt out, “Well, he better love me. He married me.”

Her eyes crinkle around the edges, but the wrinkles only show when she smiles. Like I said, good DNA. “It wouldn’t take long for him to fall in love considering his personality. Your mom passing away and of course, he loves dogs. He needs to take care of people to feel whole. But like Mamaw told me after the reception, ‘The boy needs someone to throw him off balance, and she’s perfect.’ Then Becca told me how you listened to her when she felt like she couldn’t bother us, Mamaw, or Corbin, and that means the world to me. It takes a village to take care of ten children. Thanks for pinch hitting for us.”

“Becca’s done a lot for Corbin and me. Getting our marriage license backdated and making me feel welcome. Corbin and Becca’s connection is one I admire, but I’m also a little jealous, having been an only child and my mom dying when I was eighteen. I think Becca and I are in a good place now.”

“You are, but if you hurt her brother, skip town to Mexico because she’s coming after you.” She cracks herself up, kind of like Corbin does. He’s the perfect mixture of his mom and dad. Caring, practical, generous, loving, and hot as a tamale with ghost pepper sauce.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

After Corbin’s practice, we all meet at Dane and Lettie’s house. Their families are from the same county but different towns, so it’s like a big reunion. Dane’s mom and Lettie’s grandparents tell us stories from when they were little and the bestest of friends.

Corbin and I go down to the recording studio with his sister Pepper and Lettie. She shows us their platinum albums on the walls, but then she asks Pepper if she would like to record a song. Corbin gives her a nod, and Pepper claps her hands. “Yes, that would be awesome.”

As Corbin and I sit to watch, once Pepper gets to the chorus, her nervousness melts away. “She’s really good,” I whisper. “What’s in those eastern Kentucky mountains?”

“Nothing, so we practice what we love. I have a feeling Pepper will be on Broadway someday.” He pulls me closer, and I rest my head on his shoulder, taking in the harmony and feeling that Corbin and I are no longer fiction—we’re real. I want so badly to ask, “Do you love me?” But Lettie’s water breaks as she hits the last high note. Corbin calls Dane who’s outside playing basketball with Corbin’s siblings.

Dane and his family head to the hospital while we watch Laney and Kingston and let his siblings play for a while, then we meet Dane’s mom to drop off their kids at the hospital. He says to Mrs. Greathouse, “We’ll come by next week to meet her. Congratulations.”

Corbin and I sleep together every night. He never misses kissing my cheek or my shoulder, but he’s had team meetings,film sessions, practice, then an extra practice with Adam, so with his family here, there hasn’t been any time to have a serious talk about my feelings for him. And if I bring it up while they’re here and it’s not the response I need to hear then I won’t be able to fake it. I fell off the cliff headfirst.

His family leaves today so we have one last late lunch together and another ping-pong tournament. This time, Corbin and I win. And I don’t mind letting everyone know that I’m a two-time tournament champion. He gathers me around the waist, swinging me around like a rag doll as we celebrate our victory and being wrapped in his arms is the only trophy I need.

I take his family to the commercial airport and Corbin to the private one where he catches the team plane for the first game of the regular season in Seattle. He asked if I wanted to go, but we don't have a sitter for Dixie, so my job is to find a dog sitter we can trust to be in Corbin’s house. We kiss goodbye, and I drive the truck back home.

Becca and Winnie come over to watch the game the next day. Becca makes an incredible number of snacks, and Winnie brings the wine. So, we sit around waiting for the game to come on. Before we know it, the wine is gone, and I have to go to Corbin’s basement wine cellar.

“Why does he have a wine cellar? He doesn’t even like wine, does he?” I ask the girls.

“He’s never been a big drinker, usually one cocktail or beer,” Becca informs me. “You seem to bring out the fun side of my brother.”

I flap my arms. “It’s on. It’s on.”

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