Page 51 of The Finding Series: Vol. 2

With those words, Finn had somehow released him. It was something Hunter had staunchly refused to believe would happen even if he ever did hear those words come from Finn’s mouth. But it was one time he was a hundred percent glad to have been in the wrong. He still had every intention of making things right for Finn with the town but knowing that Finn didn’t hate him had lifted an additional weight off his shoulders that he hadn’t even known was there. And while he wasn’t sure if they could ever be friends, the four of them had had a really good time at the coffee shop the day before. But if there was even the remote possibility of that happening, Hunter had to take the final steps to fix things. And that meant it was time to go home.

ChapterTwelve

Roman pulled his car into the driveway of the Victorian style home and parked it next to a black SUV that was sitting near the porch stairs that led up to the house. A police cruiser was sitting next to it and from earlier conversations with Luke and Gray, he knew it belonged to Dare’s other deputy, Jax Reid. Neither he nor Hunter had seen the deputy since that day that Finn and Hunter had run into each other for the first time so Roman had no clue if the guy was going to be receptive to their visit or not. Gray had said that Hunter’s grandmother babysat for the couple and since she hadn’t answered when they’d driven to her house, Roman had figured she was on duty for the vet and his cop boyfriend. He really hoped Jax and Dane turned out to be as open-minded as Rhys and Finn because he doubted that Hunter would be able to take any more emotional trauma at this point. Even though the visit with Finn couldn’t have gone any better, Hunter had still been wrung out by what had happened and continued to struggle with the feeling that he’d somehow gotten off too easy. Roman had no doubt that those feelings would ease as time went on but he definitely didn’t want any more shit dumped on Hunter by people who didn’t know what a good heart he had.

Roman and Hunter got out of the car and started walking towards the house when they heard a commotion coming from the small building near the house. A door opened and then there was a shout. All of a sudden, an almost entirely white puppy raced out of the building and across the driveway, its big ears flapping around its wide head.

“Jax, he got out!” someone yelled.

Hunter knelt down on the ground and called to the puppy who quickly changed course from where it was headed towards the road and ran straight into Hunter’s arms. He scooped it up just as a man came out of the building and frantically began searching the grounds. He already had a puppy under each arm and was struggling to keep them in his hold.

“He’s here,” Hunter called as he showed the man the puppy and the man slumped in relief.

“It’s okay, Jax! We got him!”

Roman recognized the deputy as he hurried out of the building, also carrying two puppies. “Oh thank God,” Jax said as he shifted the puppies to get a better grip on them. All of them were white but had splotches of black on them. They also appeared to be bigger than the one in Hunter’s arms.

“Thank you,” the slightly smaller of the two men said. Roman stepped forward to take one of the puppies from him. His eyes shifted to Jax who was studying Hunter. He clearly recognized him. Roman automatically stepped back so he was standing slightly in front of Hunter and he didn’t miss the way Jax’s eyes took in the move.

“Dane, this is Hunter Greene,” Jax said. “And I’m sorry, I don’t think we actually met the other day,” Jax said as he tried to reach out a hand but then abandoned the idea when the puppy tucked under his arm started squirming.

“Roman Blackwell,” Roman supplied.

“Roman, Hunter, this is my fiancé, Dane,” Jax said.

Dane’s whole countenance lit up at the word ‘fiancé.’ “It’s nice to meet you both,” he said as he reached out his hand to shake both of theirs. “Hunter, your grandmother has told us so much about you.”

Hunter stiffened at that and Jax quickly said, “We didn’t tell her you were back in town.”

Hunter relaxed. “Is she here?”

“Yeah, she’s inside with Emma,” Dane said. “You mind helping us take these guys inside?”

“Sure,” Hunter said as he snuggled the puppy in his arms. “Do they have names?”

“All of them except for the one you’re holding,” Dane said. “We’re letting their adoptive owners name them.”

“They’re not yours?” Roman asked.

Dane shook his head. “We’ve been fostering them after someone found them abandoned on the side of the road when they were only a few weeks old. The one you’re holding, Hunter, is the runt so we’re having a little more trouble finding him a permanent home. He’s got a few health issues that means he’ll be on medication for a while and not a lot of people want to have to deal with that.”

“Poor baby,” Hunter murmured as he dropped a kiss on the puppy’s head. He got a kiss for his trouble and chuckled as they followed Dane and Jax up the stairs.

As soon as Dane opened the door, a shrill voice called, “Those puppies better not have dirty feet like last time because I spent all morning mopping the floor.”

Hunter froze in the doorway as his eyes focused on the stairs leading to the second floor. An old woman with a baby in her arms was carefully walking down the stairs. Her eyes were focused on each step so she didn’t see Hunter until she reached the last one and then she froze, her mouth open in a wide O. The woman was as thin as a stick and had her silver hair piled up in some fancy look that almost reminded him of the beehive hairdos women used to wear. She was wearing a black and white linen dress with a matching jacket and a pillbox hat. With her perfectly applied makeup, she looked like she should be sitting in some fancy tea room somewhere eating watercress sandwiches. Well, except for the shoes. Because instead of matching, dressy shoes, she was wearing a pair of sneakers that had some kind of jewels bedazzled on them.

“Oh, my darling boy,” she cried as she moved forward and handed the baby to Dane who ended up shoving the puppy he was holding into Roman’s arms.

Hunter didn’t move or make a sound as his grandmother’s arms went around him and neither reacted when the puppy began squirming between them.

“Gran,” Hunter finally whispered. He succeeded in pulling the puppy from between them and somehow Jax managed to take it even though his hands were full. Jax gave Roman a quick nod and he followed him through the kitchen to a small laundry room where a gate was set up to keep the puppies in the room. Roman carefully put the puppies he was holding down on the other side of the gate and then hurried back to the front door. Hunter and his grandmother were still hugging but Hunter was anything but lax as he held her close.

“Come, come sit,” his grandmother urged as she began leading him towards the living room.

“Gran, um, there’s someone I want you to meet,” Hunter said as he held out his hand to Roman. Roman took it and watched Hunter’s grandmother for any sign of contempt as Hunter said, “Gran, this is Roman Blackwell, my boyfriend.”

The old woman looked him up and down several times before saying, “You got a job?”

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