He caressed her cheek with his thumb, resisting the urge to kiss her only because he had to be certain of one thing first. “Please stay, Sadie. Please don’t run away. No matter what you might think, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Boomer chose that moment to make his appearance, announcing his arrival with a groan before he plopped down across both their laps to remind them it was too early to be awake.
“Okay,oneof the best things.”
“I’m not leaving.”
“You’re not?”
“I mean, I was dead set on it until about half an hour ago. I didn’t realize so many people in this house actually liked me.” She offered him a playful smile.
“They more than like you. They love you.Ilove you.”
Sadie stared at him in shock, her eyes instantly turning shiny. “You don’t mean that,” she said in a whisper.
“Of course, I mean it.” He rested his forehead against hers. “I love you, Sadie. Maybe it only feels like a week, but I think my feelings were growing beneath the surface since the first day I met you. Of everyone at the dinner table—and it was a full house that night—you were the one I remembered the best. Your brilliant smile that lit up the room. Your clever wit and love of mashed potatoes.”
“Only when Mom makes them. Because she measures the butter—”
“With her heart.” That won him a bright smile that warmed him from the inside out.
“I had a crush on you since that first night,” Sadie admitted. “I didn’t want to. I fought it hard. But you know what?”
“What?”
“It’s the best battle I’ve ever lost. Because if I’d won, I never would’ve fallen in love with you.”
He drew her lips to his, melting into her kiss. A kiss that until moments ago he wasn’t certain he’d ever taste again. She combed her fingers through his beard as he deepened the kiss. Boomer grumbled below them, clearly annoyed that they weren’t sleeping like he wanted to be. They shared a laugh and both rubbed the pup that lay between them. Still not quite fitting in their laps, even though there was two.
“You still think Boomer wants a brother?” Sadie asked.
The shepherd’s tail thumped once against the floor.
“Sounds like a yes to me,” Conner said before he pulled her in for another kiss.
EPILOGUE
MARC
Sadie’s carwas parked outside the animal shelter when Marc pulled into the tight parking lot, one with cracked pavement and weeds growing up from those cracks. The whole place needed a facelift, but the funds from the bachelor auction were most neededinsidethe facility. This weekend, he decided, he’d come back with a weed eater.
The happy yips of dogs greeted Marc as he headed inside the building the shelter had outgrown a couple of years ago.
“Oh good, you’re here!” Dani Parsons said with an air of relief. “Daisy needs a nail trim. I don’t know what voodoo magic you performed the last time, but she won’t let me near those toes. She won’t letanyonenear them. She’s in her usual spot.” Dani pointed to the door leading to the kennels. “We have a new volunteer inbound any minute. I need to get ready for her.”
Marc dropped a reassuring hand to Dani’s shoulder, one that hardly reached his elbow. “I’ve got Daisy.” He didn’t let on his disappointment that the cocker spaniel had yet to be adopted. She was a lovable pup who’d make a great family dog, but if she was bored, she tended to chew everything in sight. If he was home more often, he’d adopt her himself. But Daisy needed someone who was around more than they weren’t.
“Your sister’s out back,” Dani added as she hurried away.
Sadie, or maybe it was Conner—he couldn’t remember anymore—mentioned a visit to the shelter this week to find Boomer a brother. Marc already knew which dog would be the best fit, but they’d have to come to that conclusion on their own.
He was still adjusting to his best friend and middle sister as a couple—something he never expected to accept, much less approve of. But in the past month, watching them together had opened his eyes in a big way. Deep in the recesses of his still-cold heart, he was happy for them.
He even had them over for a cookout last week, just the three of them. Conner met him at the grill that night to show Marc the ring he bought. To get his approval since Dad obviously already said yes. If Marc was having trouble seeing his sister as a responsible, grown woman, the two-carat diamond his best friend bought for her certainly helped adjust his perspective. If Sadie could turn a new leaf despite all the hard times he’d given her along the way, the least he could do was try to embrace this new normal.
Their blossoming relationship reminded him of happier times. But any nostalgia from his memories with Rebecca faded quickly now that he’d spent more time confronting what he’d been burying. The red flags he’d ignored from day one.
Rebecca gave Marc an ultimatum more than three years ago, but all he remembered about it was the loss. Missing her by minutes. Wondering what might have been if only Sadie had managed to stall her. For years, he unfairly blamed his sister for what he painfully came to realize was his own subconsciously purposeful failure. He sabotaged his chance, but until now, he never understood why.
