Page 46 of Sunny Skies Ahead
“He has been doing this all day since the vet got that huge splinter out of his paw. He’s supposed to be taking it easy, so he doesn’t agitate his paw more,” I said, glaring at the animal. The dog didn’t seem to mind that he and I weren’t best buddies yet, as he continued to run circles around all of us.
The dog weaved in and out of people’s legs, much to the ladies’ delight, before running headfirst into the open fridge door. Lucas cursed and glanced down. Right as he leaned down to make sure the dog was okay, the four-legged demon took off again, resuming his sprints like he hadn’t just brained himself on a fridge door.
“Chill out, Basilone, damn.”
Connor and I both turned towards Lucas, who was digging around in the fridge for a non-alcoholic beer. He slammed the fridge door shut, using the bottle opener on the counter to break the seal.
“What?” Lucas said after taking a swig.
“Basilone,” I said, and Connor’s smile widened. The dog continued to run circles around the living room before slowing down.
“Who is Basilone?” Abbie asked.
“John Basilone is to machine gunners what Chesty Puller is to infantrymen,” Connor said.
“I’m not following,” Imogen said. “Is this Marine Corps lore?”
“Something like that,” was all I said, lest I open a can of worms.
“John Basilone fought at Guadalcanal,” Lucas said. “He fought his way through hostile ground in order to resupply the machine gunners under his command. The man ran for days, weaving through the battlefield to ensure his guys had supplies and ammunition to keep up the fight. He was later killed in action at Iwo Jima.”
“That was a surprisingly concise explanation,” I said, giving him credit where credit is due.
“Unlike you Chesty fanboys, we know how to make our point.”
“His nickname could be Bass,” Connor said, scratching his chin.
Imogen clapped her hands in sheer delight as Bass finally settled at her feet.
“It’s perfect,” she crooned, and as much as I was decidedly not a dog person, seeing the joy on her face at the new addition to our chosen family had all manner of emotions mixing in my chest. “Welcome home, Bass.”
Something twisted in my chest as I watched her. So rarely did Imogen find herself in a place where she could be unapologetically herself. Where she could embrace everything she loved and wear that love on her sleeve, unabashed, unashamed. The knowledge that she had found that here, at Winding Road, in this farmhouse, in this space that we had cultivated so carefully, brought me a sense of pride I hadn’t realized I could feel.
This felt different than receiving an email from one of the veterans we worked with saying that he had made amends with his family and was focusing on their sobriety. This felt more personal: it was deeper, I realized, because this was about Imogen.
This woman who I had so much respect for. This woman that I wanted to know, to cherish.
As if sensing my thoughts, Imogen looked up, her eyes searching mine out. Connor, Lucas, and Abbie were already digging into the casserole Abbie had made, and their conversation focused on some drama in the country music world I wasn’t well versed in.
Imogen held my gaze for a moment before she gave me a soft smile and mouthed “thank you.”
God help me if my heart didn’t crack right down the middle at how breathtaking it all was.
I wasn’t a dog person, but I decided in that moment that I’d get her a dozen dogs, if she’d smile at me like that again.
Chapter fifteen
Imogen
Watching Kameron slowly warm up to Bass was going to be my undoing.
I knew Kameron’s reaction to finding Bass in the woods had nothing to do with the dog itself and everything to do with the fact that Kameron just wasn’t a dog person.
Bass wasn’t an “ankle biting” dog, as my grandmother would have called them. Bass was a sweet, gentle-hearted lap dog. He fit himself in amongst the five of us, as if he had always been part of our little family.
He loved to run around the farm, and at night, he tucked himself into his dog bed in the living room and slept all night.
I was lounging on the couch of the farmhouse, scrolling through emails after scheduling a few social media posts. I responded to a few basic inquiries, most of which was redirecting folks to the cohort application or our FAQ website page where they could get more information about the farm.
