Again, I could feel my giddy smile starting to bloom.This puppy was totally ours.He screwed up on his story.I probably wasn’t supposed to see the email.
Oh my goodness, we had a puppy!
“Emily!”His eyes were still on the road but his knuckles were white as he gripped the wheel.“What’s the note say?”
“Is this puppy ours, Rory O’Gallagher?”I asked instead.
“Dammit, woman.Just answer my question.”He was getting agitated but in a cute way.It was as if he was nervous.
Rory?Nervous..?
Deciding to give the man a break, I did as he asked.By now the pup was sleeping so I was careful to turn the tag over against her wavy golden fur.
“It says,” I started, looking at the feminine writing that must have been the woman’s.“Merry Christmas, Emy.Love—” Tears immediately filled my eyes and I choked out the last word.“You.”I looked over at him through the blur of tears.“You love me?”I wasn’t expecting that.
But my goodness, I had grown to love this man too.
Rory’s body visibly relaxed again and he took his right hand from the wheel.With a glance in my direction, he reached out to cup my cheek, his thumb wiping away a tear.“Yeah, Emy girl.I love you.”
12
Rory
I probably should’vehadEmily read the tagbeforeI started driving because all I wanted right now was to watch her face.When her voice choked off the last word and I could hear tears I had a slight moment of panic.
A moment which quickly receded at the awe and wonder in her tone when she asked me if I loved her.
Of course I loved her.Last night only solidified it.
One of the first emails arranging the purchase of the puppy had me adding the sentiment—I’d known how I felt for the woman prior to this trip.I nearly blurted it out any number of times but I felt that Emily deserved grand gestures, something that I didn’t have all that much practice in, so I waited for this moment.
Last night’s email to Meredith simply had me adding my new name for my Emy girl.
I wiped a fallen tear from Emily’s face before returning my attention to the road.It would be nice if Emily returned the feelings but I would completely understand if she needed time.
Two years ago when she and I truly began this game I didn’t have the best track record but I definitely thought I proved I could be the man Emily needed.But if she wasn’t there yet, if she couldn’t say she loved me yet, I would be ok.Things were going in a positive direction for us…
“I love you too,” she finally whispered.
I glanced back at her, huge grin on my mug.“Yeah?”
Emily nodded, her face blotchy from tears but her blue eyes bright with emotion.“Yes, Rory O’Gallagher.I do love you.”
We neared the highway then and as soon as I pulled the truck onto the smoother road, I reached for her hand, holding it over the center console.The puppy snoozed away on Emily’s lap, not that I blamed the pup.Emily was a pretty cozy place to be.
I went from a bachelor in a huge assed apartment I didn’t need, making forgeries for college kids and playing music at parties, to a bachelor living above the family bar.I had my women and I made my money, but it was this willowy blonde beauty next to me who made me re-evaluate everything.
I would gladly live in the tiny two-bedroom rental house—a house where I could put my arms out on either side of me in the bathroom, and without stretching, reach the walls; a house with an oven that was probably from the early nineties; a house with a yard made ofrocks, as I learned Arizonians liked to do—with this willowy blonde, then go back to the way life was.
I enjoyed growing my health and fitness company while helping Emily study her ass off for a career that she was passionate about.I even enjoyed cooking her dinner and cleaning up the house, so she wouldn’t have to worry about it later.
Sure, someday I’d love a bigger place with her—I wasn’t lying when I told her this morning I wanted her to carry my babies.We were going to get a bigger house and fill it with a bunch of hell-raising blondes, and if our girls looked anything like Emily?Well shoot my now.
Or help me pick out an appropriate rifle.
One or the other.
We drove along the highway in silence, the roads understandably busy for the holiday.The radio was on low but couldn’t be heard much over the road noise.Not that I minded.With Emily’s hand in mine, I was plenty comfortable.
