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Grandma Buttons smiled at me. “Classic beauty... like the woman who was wearing it.”
Okay, these women were really stinking good for my ego. Even if they’d dropped a bomb that left my world shaking.
ChapterTwenty-Seven
WYNN
The past fewdays had been emotional for me. First my parents had headed back to Connecticut so my dad could get back to work, and as usual, I ended up getting teary when it was time to say goodbye. My folks and I had always been close so every time they had to head back after a visit, it was like a knife to the chest. All I could hope was that Dad decided to retire sooner rather than later, and Redemption was where they chose to make their new home.
Just as I’d gotten over that blow, the next came when Marcia and Grandma Buttons went home to South Dakota. I’d gotten even closer to the two women this time around, with them considering me family and all, so when they packed up to leave, I was emotional all over again. I loved the life I’d built for myself here in Redemption, and I wouldn’t give it up for anything, but I missed my family. And after the past few weeks, Gage’s mom and grandmother now fell firmly in that category too.
Gage had been wonderful while I’d taken a day to be mopey and sad, holding me when I got weepy and kissing my tears away. Making me fall even deeper in love with him.
I wasn’t sure what to expect once his family left, but he hadn’t said a word about me moving into one of the guest rooms or anything like that. It was as though he was content to keep living as an engaged couple like we had been for weeks now. But I was still struggling with what Marcia had told me.
I knew what it felt like to be cheated on. Though hindsight had proven what IthoughtI’d felt for Darrin hadn’t been the real thing, the fact he’d slept with someone else while he was with me was still a bitter pill to swallow. I couldn’t imagine what it felt like to be betrayed not only by the person you loved, but by the best friend you’d had your entire life.
It was no wonder Gage was so broken.
I’d tried many times to bring it up, to ask if he still felt as strongly for his ex as he had back then, but each time I worked myself up to it, something happened and I chickened out.
I’d decided the only thing I could do for the time being was live in ignorant bliss. If I didn’t ask about Vanessa, I wouldn’t run the risk of getting an answer that would end up crushing my heart.
With all of that going on, it was safe to say I’d been a bit of an emotional wreck. At least that was the excuse I intended to use when Gage eventually found out what I’d done.
I twisted the lock and opened the front door slowly, peeking my head inside and looking around. “Gage?” I called, even though I hadn’t seen his truck in the driveway. I didn’t want to risk stumbling upon him before I figured out what I was going to say. “Honey? You home?”
My question was greeted with silence. I quickly threw the door open, plastic bags hanging off one arm while I carried my new yappy, squirmy puppy in the other.
On my way home from work I’d stopped for gas and saw a person on the side of the road selling puppies out of the back of their car. They were mutts of indistinguishable breed and hadn’t had any of their shots, but the moment I’d locked eyes with this little guy, I’d been hooked. I couldn’tnottake him home with me. Not when he’d climbed out of the box he’d been in with his brothers and sisters and tried jumping out of the bed of the truck to get to me. That was fate, right? It felt like this little guy and I were meant to be.
His whole body jerked in my hold, the little hellion desperate to get free so he could run amok like he had in my car. Thanks to him I had a hole in the upholstery of my back seat and a half-eaten headrest. For such a little thing he was destructive as hell... and quick as lightning when he was doing it.
“Okay, you need to quit squirming, you little monster. Your daddy’s going to be home any minute and you need to be on your best behavior or we’rebothgoing to be in the dog house.”
He let out a little yip and stretched to give my chin a lick before he tried to eat it.
I laughed, nuzzling into his downy coat as I hurried to the bedroom and tossed the bags of new pet supplies on the bed. I didn’t have a clue what I was going to do with them, or the dog for that matter, while I tried to talk Gage around to letting me keep a pet in his house.
I held the puppy out in front of me, staring into his big chocolate eyes as I said, “You have to be extra sweet to win Daddy over, okay? We don’t want to give him any reason to send you back, right?”
The dog answered by biting at the air around him like he was trying to eat my words. Okay, so maybe he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but I was praying his cuteness would override everything else.
I heard Gage’s truck tires crunching along the gravel driveway. “Shit,” I hissed as I jerked my head around toward the front of the house. The puppy let out another yip like he was mimicking my curse.
“Shh! None of that.” I carried him to the bathroom and put him on the floor, using my foot to scooch him back when he tried to make a break for it. “I need you to be extra quiet while I try to sweet talk the big man, okay? Remember what we talked about. Best behavior.”
He plopped his butt on the floor and cocked his head to the side, one ear flopping over as he looked at me like I was a moron. He wasn’t too far off the mark. I was talking to a dog, after all, expecting him to follow the rules with no training whatsoever.
I pulled the bathroom door closed as Gage’s voice called out, “Bits?”
“Uh...” My gaze landed on the bed and I made a mad dash, shoving the bags onto the floor on the other side, away from the door. “In the bedroom.”
His boots clomped against the hardwood as he got closer, and I held my breath, hoping the little monster in the bathroom would stay quiet a little while longer. Gage’s large frame appeared in the doorway, his dimpled smile firmly in place the moment he spotted me.
“Hey, baby,” he greeted, coming over to place a kiss on my lips, as he’d done every day when he got home from work. “You have a good day?”
I fidgeted in place. My eyes kept springing between him and the bathroom door while he moved about the room, emptying his pockets and dumping his wallet, keys, and loose change on the dresser. “Yeah,” I answered as he sat on the edge of the bed to unlace his boots. “It was good. Kind of emotional. I missed my family more than usual. Yours too.”
