Page 101 of Saving You

“Bailey, breath for me. It’s all going to be okay. Finn knows the neighbourhood from our walks. We are going to go inside,and I’m going to grab his leash and walk around the neighbourhood looking for him. You two can stay here, and I’ll let you know when I find him.”

Her hands fist my T-shirt as she cries into my chest as I continue to hold her. “I’m so sorry,” she mumbles against me.

“Bails, this stuff happens. Everything is going to be okay.”

She nods and pulls back, her head leaning back as she looks up at me. “Okay, but we’re going with you. I created this mess and I’m going to help fix it.”

Determination fills her eyes, and I know there’s no way I’m talking her out of this, so I nod before kissing her forehead and stepping back. The three of us make our way into the house, and I grab Finn’s leash, along with a bag of treats, and stuff them into my pocket. I watch as Bailey makes sure the sliding glass door is closed and locked before we head out the front door.

We head down the road in the same direction that I usually take Finn on his walks. Every few minutes, one of us calls Finn’s name. We make it to the park that marks the halfway point of our walk, and there’s still no sight of him. I stop by the dog park, but he’s not there either. We ask if anyone has seen him and no luck. It’s starting to wear on Bailey. Her shoulders are starting to hunch as she walks with her arms wrapped around her middle. Charlie doesn’t seem phased the way her mother is. She is positive Finn will come back.

We are almost home when one of our neighbours walks out and greets us on the sidewalk. Mr. Price is an older man in his late sixties. His hair is completely grey now, but he keeps it styled in such a way you’d never guess he’s as old as he is. I’ve seen him on his daily runs around the neighbourhood. He’s kept himself in shape since he retired from the fire department about ten years ago. I give him a nod as he approaches us.

“Hey, Caleb,” he says, reaching a hand out and shaking mine. “Your boy Finn was having a blast running up the street a little bit ago. I tried calling him, but he just kept going.”

Bailey perks up. “How long ago?”

Mr. Price smiles at her. “Probably about twenty minutes ago. He was running towards your place.”

Bailey reaches out and squeezes his arm as she says, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Turning to me, she says, “Let’s go. Maybe he’s at the house.”

Hope fills her eyes, and I smile at her.

“Thank you, Mr. Price. My girl here was very worried about him,” I say.

He looks at her with a soft smile. “I can tell. You go find your dog.”

Bailey immediately starts speed walking towards the house. I follow behind her, making sure I keep pace with Charlie, who jogs beside me. Bailey frantically calls Finn’s name as she makes her way closer to the house. When the house is within view and Bailey calls his name, Finn comes running at full speed towards us. Bailey drops to her knees in the grass as he barrels up to her, licking her face. Charlie joins her and giggles as Finn moves on to giving her kisses.

I join them, kneeling beside Bailey. She has the largest smile as she looks at me, and it sucks the breath out of my lungs. She throws herself at me as she wraps her arms around my neck.

“I’m so sorry, Caleb,” she says again.

I pull away from her and grip her face between my hands. “Bailey, please listen to me. You don’t have to apologize anymore. It was an accident. I know you wouldn’t do it on purpose. Bailey. Everyone is alive and safe. That’s all that matters.”

As I stare into her eyes, I realize just how much damage Derek did to her. She’s always so worried that something small is going to cause a huge blow up. I know I will spend the rest of my life showing her and Charlie the love they should have had this whole time.

Kissing her softly, I stand and hook Finn’s leash to his collar. Charlie asks to hold it. Finn is good and walks right beside her as we all make our way home. When we get inside, Charlie feeds Finn, and I hold Bailey on the couch. I know just how much she needs the affectionate physical touch after being starved of it for so long. Charlie comes and joins us, cuddling into her mom’s side, and I put on a Disney movie.

The sound of a stomach rumbling has me looking over to the girls. They’re both completely passed out. Not wanting to disturb them yet, I order us takeout. Finn comes up to me and rests his head on my knee as he stares at me.

Scratching his head, I say, “You caused quite the scare there, boy.”

He tilts his head as I find that spot behind his ear he likes so much.

“You can’t be running out like that. You nearly scared Bailey off, and we can’t have that. We have to make sure both these girls stay forever.” His head moves in their direction before he leaves me and jumps on the couch beside Charlie and curls up, his head resting on her hip as he stares at me. I guess that means he agrees.

I can’t help my grin as I take in the sight of the two girls and Finn all cuddled on the couch. Four months ago, it was just Finn and me with a hockey game on, a bottle of beer, and a pizza. I wouldn’t trade this for anything in the world.

The doorbell rings, signalling our food is here. I slide out from beside Bailey to grab the food before waking the girls so we can eat our lunch. We spend the rest of the day on the couch watching movies, doing a charcuterie board–style dinner.

CHAPTER 35

Bailey

Charlie and I spend the next two days as low key days at home while Caleb worked. Finn has been attached to my side the whole time, like he can tell that the emotions of the last few days completely wrecked me.

For New Year’s, we have plans to go over to Josh and Liv’s for the night. I’m not sure Charlie will make it to midnight, but Liv assured me she can always crash in one of the rooms at their place, and Caleb and I can too if we need.

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