“Yeah, he’s going to give me a ride back home,” I murmured. “Not that I have a truck or anything to get me to work tomorrow.”
“I’ll give you a ride,” he offered. “We get there around the same time.”
I smiled. “That’s okay. I think I can borrow something from Cody. She has an old Jeep that she usually only uses during the summer. But it’s perfectly sound.”
Kind of.
It had a terrible heater, had only a ragtop, and you froze when you drove it during the winter. Hence Cody getting a new car that wasn’t a decade old.
“I’ll give you a ride,” he said instead of giving me that out. “You can use her Jeep if you need to, but we’re both going to the same place. We’re both leaving and arriving at the same time. And I literally have to drive past your road to get to the yard.”
I bit my lip for a long second before replying, “If you’re sure.”
“I’m sure,” he said as he got up and stretched. “Your clothes are in the dryer still, I think. And I don’t really know what Cody was thinking when she packed your bag, but it’s all freakin’ summer clothes.”
That was Cody. Thoughtful, but not practical.
I headed to his laundry room and said, “Let me just change in here so you can have all your clothes back.”
“Keep them,” he suggested. “They’re warmer than yours.”
I scrunched up my nose. “I don’t think…”
“Take them.”
So I took them.
I headed to the door and slipped my feet into the one article of clothing he’d allowed me to wear that was mine—my boots.
“Come on, Brawny,” I called out.
He looked up from the couch but didn’t move.
I sighed. “Maybe we could share custody of him. He seems happy here.”
He was already shaking his head. “I’m not keeping your dog.”
“I think he’s a little bit of both of ours,” I admitted. “You actually had him for two months longer than I did.”
He cleared his throat. “I don’t know…”
“He can stay,” I said. “It’s not like I don’t know where to find him. And bring him to work with you tomorrow. We can let him into my house when you get there to pick me up.”
He still looked torn.
I walked out of the house and down the stairs, forcing myself to not look back.
I did, however, call out, “Thanks for everything, Romeo.”
“You’re welcome,” he called from behind me.
I didn’t look at Romeo until I was safely ensconced in Vito’s truck.
“What’s going on with that face?” he asked. “Where’s Brawny?”
“Romeo and I decided that we’re sharing custody of him. It’s not fair to Brawny. He loves us both.” I paused. “And I’m sad because you picked me up and I’d planned out the rest of my life with that man. I was going to be a stay-at-home mom. I was going to mother his eight children. He was going to go to work and come home to a home-cooked meal every day and a clean house. I was going to raise chickens and garden. We would live off the land. I would never have to leave again.”
Vito chuckled. “Does he know that?”
