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There were three families—the Morgans from Houston, the Morgans from Florida, and the Camerons from Chicago. They had all met Sophia before, so they referred to me as her friend most of the time even though she wasn't there with me.
Caleb, one of the Florida bunch, worked as an FBI agent. His dog was a little too scared of loud noises to be successful as a police dog, and he retired at the young age of one to become a pet. He was a German Shepherd, and his name was Hank. Caleb had been at the lake house for the last week, and his dog was best friends with Ralphie from the start.
I really couldn't ask for a better living situation. I had as much interaction and entertainment as I wanted and all the privacy I wanted, too. They had a beautiful swimming pool and lots of other amenities, and they treated me like they wanted me to help myself to any of it. I had a fridge in my apartment which I kept stocked for myself, but they frequently included me in their meals and wouldn't accept money. They were a loving, warm family who treated me with kindness and didn't ask anything from me in return.
Astrid knew Sophia had been in trouble and owed me, so all of them had heard how I had ended up there. They were interested in my endeavors and never treated me as an outsider. Rose and Hope were both roughly my age, and I made friends with both of them. Rose was a Cameron—Beau's sister. And Hope was from Arkansas and now married to one of the Florida Morgans.
I had been at the house for a month, and in that time, I had come across five grandsons. All were about my age and all were stunningly good-looking. One of them, Charlie, was married (to Hope). But four of them, AJ, Beck, Casey, and Caleb were unattached and all ridiculously handsome. It was like I had landed in a family of superheroes. I was honestly surprised they were all so down to earth. A few of them had come and gone since I had been there. Casey and Beck were no longer staying at the house, and neither was their uncle Max.
My apartment had its own exterior door that led to the side yard, but it was attached to the main house. I was inside working when I heard a knock on the door that led to the house. It caused Ralphie to bark, and I stood up, thinking it was probably Caleb. I had been going to work at sunrise every day. It was four o'clock on a Thursday afternoon, and I was tired and about to wrap up for the day.
"Perfect timing," I said as I opened the door.
Ralphie ran into the hallway, jumping up and barking excitedly.
"Ralphie, calm down," I said. He knew the words, and he instantly stopped barking. "Beau?" I said, making eye contact with the man at the door.
"What am I just in time for?" he asked.
"What?"
"You said perfect timing."
"Oh, nothing. I'm just done with work." I smiled and reached out to hug him. Beau laughed at my unexpected hug as he caught me in his arms. I squeezed him tightly before pulling back and looking at him. He was another gorgeous male to add to all the others who stayed here in the summer. I reached out and gave his chest two hardy but gentle slaps. "You look amazing, Beau. Traveling looks great on you."
He touched his own jaw and smiled humbly. "I need to shave," he said.
"You look great." I pulled on his arm. "Come on in. Do you have time? How long are you staying?"
"I'm here for four days, so yes, I have time. For what? What is all this? My aunt said you had a bunch of stuff set up in here, but I had no idea."
"I have it all spread out right now. Ralphie, get down. I have it set out where it looks like a lot, but I pack it in bins, and it's not so much."
"These are amazing," he said, looking at some finished collars that were sitting on the table.
"Those are about to be shipped out. I’m getting away from making the leashes. I have enough on my hands with collars and tags, and I can outsource leashes that match my leather. I might even start outsourcing collars if the tag thing takes off."
"These are so cool," he said, leaning over and staring intently at my work. "Are these different?"
"It's something new I'm getting into. I stamp a design and then I fill the low spots with paint and resin. I still stamp the pet's name with those alphabet stamps to customize it."
"These would be cool for human names, human necklaces," he said. "Kids would wear these."
I smiled because I loved that compliment. "Thank you," I said. "At first, I was just doing the collars and the tags were an afterthought, but I really love working with metal. I could see myself getting into jewelry at some point. But right now, I'm feeling it with the fur-babies."
"I like this man," he said, stooping to pet Ralphie who was still sniffing at him curiously. "What are you doing, little man?"
I cleared my throat. "He thinks he's big."
"Oh, hey, big man," Beau said. He petted him behind the ears, staring at him. "He's really cute. I love his face. I love your face," he added, talking to Ralphie. "You're a handsome dude. How'd you get so fuzzy?"
"He's a long hair. Or one of his parents was. He's mostly Jack Russel, though."
"He's amazing," Beau said. "And he's got a cool collar," he added, touching it.
"I've got to keep my man looking sharp," I said. "If your mama's a collar maker, you better have the best collar."
"Don't tell Caleb's dog," Beau said.
