Page 81 of Hawk

“Are you sure Wolfe won’t mind?” I asked.

He rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. “How many times do I have to remind you that Wolfe isn’t my boss?”

“Sure, Daddy, whatever you say, but we should probably check with him, you know, just to be nice.” Hawk and Gator weren’t fooling anyone with that line. They might all be equal owners, but make no mistake about it, Wolfe was the boss.

We loaded up my things into the back of his truck and then headed to Three Bears to unload. I’d been around long enough that it didn’t surprise me at all when a group of guys met us in the parking garage.

“Where do you want these?” Knox asked.

“Just stack them outside our door. We’ll take care of it from there.”

“Aren’t we going to help?” It felt wrong just to pull in here and let someone else carry all my things upstairs.

“You have somewhere else to be.” Maddox picked up a box and looked at his brother. “Put one more on top for me.”

I watched as Axel purposefully picked the heaviest box and plopped it up on top of the one Maddox was holding.

“Asshole,” Maddox grumbled, but no way was he going to let his brother think it was too heavy. “I’ll meet you guys up top.”

“Is everything ready up there?” Hawk asked.

“Yep. You’re good to go.”

“Up where? Good to go? What have you all been up to?”

“You’ll have to ask your man. Our lips are sealed.” Axel made a locking motion near his lips and then slung it back over his shoulder before picking up a box.

Knox and Bobby did the same, and that just left Hawke and me standing there in the garage.

“What are you up to, Daddy?”

“Come with me, and you will see.” He opened up the passenger door on his truck, and I climbed back in.

I bit my lower lip in nervous anticipation. I had no idea what was going on, but I was sure it was going to be good. Possibilities ran through my mind. We’d talked about the furniture, and he’d been adamant that it be to my liking, so maybe we were going furniture shopping. Or he’d mentioned me setting up a craft room, so maybe he was taking me to the yarn store, especially since I never got to go the other day when all that excitement happened. We’d had our rooftop picnic because we couldn’t go out in public, but now that was all over, so maybe we were going on a picnic somewhere else.

So many ideas and possibilities that all sounded amazing, but none that compared to reality when he put on his blinker and turned into the local animal rescue called Paw Haven.

My eyes darted between the front door and him a couple of times. I’d rarely been speechless, but I honestly didn’t even know what to say.

“What are we doing here?” I didn’t want to assume, but I hoped I was right.

“I’ve spoken with the owners and done all the paperwork. Everything’s in order. All you have to do is go inside and pick out which puppy you want to take home.”

I whipped off my seat belt and launched myself across the seat. He caught me and pulled me into his lap.

“This is the best surprise ever,” I told him as I peppered his face with kisses between words.

“I’m glad you think so,” he said with a laugh.

“So I can have any dog I want?”

“Yep, or a cat, I guess, if you’d rather.”

“Nope, cats are fine, but I want a dog.”

“Okay then, let’s go see what they have available.”

The woman at the front desk, wearing a name tag that said Sylvia, greeted us warmly.

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