“I already do. Where’s my fucking pictures?”
“You’ll get them as soon as we get a chance to take them out. Might be a few days, they’re not usually alone. And they got wild fucking animals in the woods, Johnnie says. We gotta be careful out here. Some kind of dogs or something.”
“Stop talking to me. Do what the fuck I told you to do.”
“On, it, Boss. I’ll send you pictures and bring her back. Bye.”
Chapter 18
It was Wednesday afternoon before Ronan saw Giada again, and it wasn’t because she called. It was because he just couldn’t take it anymore. So he stopped at a store on his way home from classes and gathered up some Valentine’s themed things and toys for the boys, and some boxes of candy, as well as some special things for Giada and sparkly red and silver gift bags to put everything in. He stopped on the way out of the store when a little display of Valentine’s bracelets and rings caught his attention. He thought about it and decided if he was going to give her jewelry, it wouldn’t be something that would break in a week. He got in his truck and drove another couple of miles to a small jewelry store he’d noticed as he drove past for the last couple of days and went inside to see what he could find that made him think of Giada. After deciding on the gift he wanted to give her, he bought it, got in the truck and headed over to the shelter. He got there about 6:00 P.M. and went straight to Giada’s home on the grounds there. He knocked on the door, then stood back so she could easily see that it was him through the peep hole in the door.
He heard the lock on the door turn and then she was standing before him.
“I missed you,” she said.
“I missed you, too,” he answered.
“I didn’t call because I thought you might be mad at me.”
“I’m not mad. I’m just giving you what you asked for. You wanted time, and I’m trying not to pressure you,” Ronan said.
She nodded. “Yeah, I did say that. I’m sorry.”
“Shhh,” he said, shaking his head just a little to stop her from apologizing. “I brought presents,” he said, holding out hishands with two gift bags grasped in one hand, and one in the other.
“Presents?” she asked. “For what?”
“For Valentine’s Day.”
“That’s not for five more days,” Giada said, stepping outside her home and moving closer to him.
“I know. I’m just excited about Valentine’s Day this year. I never have been before, so I thought I’d get a jump on it,” Ronan said, handing her the single bag he held in his left hand.
“You didn’t have to do this,” she said, hugging the large bag to her chest as she smiled at him.
“I know. But I wanted to.”
“Want to come in for a bit?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’d like that if it’s not too much too soon.”
“Not at all, come on in,” she said, leading the way back into her home.
Leo and Matteo looked up from the table where she had them working on practicing their letters; well, Leo was anyway, and Matteo was just busily coloring a large ‘M’.
“Ronan!” Leo yelled, jumping up and running toward him. He didn’t stop until he was just a foot away, and then he launched himself at Ronan.
Ronan was laughing as he caught him in mid-air. “Hey, buddy! I missed you!”
Leo didn’t say anything. He was too busy hugging Ronan so tight it was possible he might have been close to strangling him. But he nodded and wiped his eyes on Ronan’s shirt.
“Ronan, can you catch me, too?” Matteo yelled as he climbed down from the table and ran toward Ronan.
Ronan shifted Leo to one arm, then reached out with the other scooping Matteo up when he got close enough. “You guys are so fast!”
“I know! We race all the time. We’re really good at it,” Matteo said. Then he focused on the bags. “What’s that?”
“That’s a little something I picked up for you guys,” Ronan said, setting Matteo down and handing him one of the bags.
