Page 190 of Lavender Lake
“I thought you could use a buddy while you’re laid up,” Cas said. “According to one of the volunteers, Fig has couch potato like tendencies, but she also has an affinity for mischief.”
“You got me a dog?” I asked him, tears gathering in my eyes.
“Dogs are closer to foxes than goats,” he said, leaning down and pressing a kiss to my head. “And when the fox is ready to be released back into the wild, we’ll do it here. So maybe he’ll be a bit domesticated and come for a visit from time to time.”
I was going to have so many of this man’s babies, it wasn’t even funny.
“We’ll have a fox and a hound,” I said with a grin.
“Almost like it was meant to be,” he joked. “Fig’s not sleeping in the bed though.”
“That’s what Declan said about Tempest,” Muddy announced.
“I have more willpower than Declan,” Cas boasted.
Fig lifted her head and stared at Cas, and then her tail began to thump against the couch.
Cas sighed. “Fuck.”
CHAPTER FIFTY
Town
“Your mouth is stained with huckleberry juice,” I said to Hadley.
She looked at me from behind her sunglasses. “Just lording my pie-eating win over you.”
Hadley placed a hand on her belly, which had finally popped.
“Today is glorious,” I said as I looked out over Silver Street.
“The Huckleberry Festival all weekend and fireworks over the lake tonight,” she said. “What could be more perfect?”
I peered at her. “You know something.”
“I know nothing,” she said with a teasing grin. “When is the crew due to arrive?”
I lifted my wrist, complete with cast, and pointed at her. “Youdoknow something, otherwise you wouldn’t be changing the subject.”
“Even if I knew something, which I don’t, I want to talk about your job.”
I shook my head and shot her a grin. “Fine, we can play that game. The crew is arriving in three days and all the rooms at The Regal Beagle are booked for the week.”
A month ago, I’d pitched the idea to use our family ranch for the Rudolph Lancaster photo shoot. They not only loved the idea, but they were happy to work around Cas’s event schedule.
“I still can’t believe you and Cas are going to be the faces for Rudolph Lancaster’s western line,” Hadley said with a laugh. “That’s so wild.”
“It is,” I agreed. “But hey, you gotta go where life takes you, huh?”
I placed a hand on my stomach. I wasn’t showing yet, but I no longer fit into my pants. My due date was nearly two months after Hadley’s and I still had trouble believing that our babies would be so close in age and that we’d get to raise them together.
“Cas hasn’t brought up marriage in a while,” I said.
“What’s a while?”
“Two weeks.” I frowned.
“Yeah, that is weird,” she admitted. “But maybe he’s just tired of you saying no.”
