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“What’s this?”
“Take my truck. Tank is full and tires are new,” he answers. “My dad’s truck is about due for an oil change, and the back tires are lookin’ a little worn.”
“Are you sure? I mean, I recall one time you referring to your truck as your baby.”
He smiles. “Positive. I want you girls to be safe, and Joey’s booster’s already in the back seat.”
The gentleness in his voice rattles my equilibrium. Honestly, it hits me square in the fucking chest. And to my surprise, when both Joey and I get inside his truck, Rhett walks around to the driver’s side and leans against the doorjamb, his head peeking in through the rolled-down window.
“Be safe, okay?”
I nod. “We will.”
“Call me on the radio if you have any trouble,” he instructs and then meets Joey’s eyes. “And you be on your best behavior and listen to Leah, got it?”
“Got it, Daddy.”
Rhett reaches out and tenderly pats his hand over the top of mine. “See ya when you get back.”
The gesture is so simple, yet it makes my heart flutter inside my chest.
And the way he smiles at me, his entrancing blue eyes filled with something I can’t fully discern, I have the odd urge to take a mental picture of him so I can keep this memory locked tight in my mind.
Once I start the engine and Rhett is making his way back inside his parents’ house, I can’t help but think how different he seems from when I first met him.
I thought he was an asshole grumpy cowboy with a perpetual chip on his shoulder.
But now? I don’t see him like that anymore. Sure, he can be really obstinate sometimes, but he’s also incredibly sweet and kind. He’s a father and a son and a man who loves and cares and provides for his family.
It’s almost as if I’m really starting to like this cowboy. Like, a lot.
Probably too much.
“You think we got everything?” I ask Joey as I push our cart away from the checkout line and toward the exit doors.
We’ve spent a good ninety minutes inside Target, and it shows inside our cart.
The damn thing is filled with all sorts of goodies—items on Jenny’s list, items on my list, as well as a few items that Joey convinced me to get her in the name of adding some cowgirl pizzazz to her bedroom.
Honestly, I don’t know how the two of us ended up in the decor section, but Target is a black hole vortex of shopping. You truly never know where you’ll end up or what you’ll end up leaving with. It’s an affliction I like to call the Target Trance.
Though, I can’t deny, I’m excited to help Joey put up the pink lace curtains she picked out as well as the new polka-dot comforter and sheet set she wanted for her bed.
Once we’d decided on a theme—pink cowgirl rustic—we went a little wild with buying bedding and cutesy pictures to hang on the walls.
“Leah! Look!” Joey exclaims once we reach the outside air. “Puppies!”
I look to my left, and sure enough, there is a tent with a sign that reads Adopt-A-Pet right in front. Two women dressed in matching green polos greet customers as they stop to look at the puppies running around inside a caged-off play area.
“Can we go see them?” Joey cups her hands together in the same manner I saw her do with Rhett earlier today. Her big blue eyes stare up at me, and I don’t know what kind of human being could actually say no to this little girl, but I sure as hell know it’s not me.
“Sure. Why not.”
Plus, I can’t deny I’m a lover of all things tiny, adorable animals.
Joey squeals in excitement, hops off the back of the cart, and runs down the sidewalk as fast as her boots will take her.
I follow behind her much slower, pushing our cart filled with Target loot and avoiding running over anyone’s feet.
Once I get there, she’s already talking to one of the ladies in the green polo shirts.
“What’s this puppy’s name?” Joey asks and points to the smallest, strangest-looking tiny dog who is sitting all by himself in the corner of the play area.
“That’s Ernie,” the woman answers with a smile. “He’s a Chihuahua mix.”
“Why’s he all by his self?”
“He just gets a little nervous around other puppies, I think. Well, and people, too.”
A little nervous? The dog is shaking like a leaf, and his already big eyes look like they might pop out of his skull.
“And why is he here?”
“Well, because his mama left him with us so we could find a good home and a good family to take care of him.”
Oh no. Oh no-no-no.
I look down at Joey, and her bottom lip is already puckering out.
“His mama left him?”
