Page 48 of Townshipped
“Who do we have here?” Doc E asks as I come closer.
I’m about to introduce myself when Doc bends low and ruffles the puppy around his ears. Oh. Of course. The dog.
“No name yet,” Aiden says. “Anyone missing a dog that you know of?”
“Haven’t heard of any dogs gone missing. And I don’t recognize this one.”
Aiden blows out a breath. I can’t help but smile.
“Guess we ought to name him for the meantime,” Aiden concedes.
Aiden introduces me to Doc. I keep out of their way while they move through the herd discussing each goat and assessing the pregnant does closely. It’s a few hours later when Doc takes off in his truck.
The sun is setting and I’m ready to heat some food and curl up with a book or a movie. We’re almost to the house when two more cars come up the driveway. The dog runs ahead of us toward the front door and stands on the porch waiting to be let back into the warmth of the house.
“Busy day in Bordeaux,” I tease.
I recognize the red Shelby immediately.
“Oh, that’s Duke,” I say.
“Troublemaker,” Aiden mumbles.
“With friends like you, who needs enemies?”
He chuckles. He’s standing close enough that I catch his familiar scent of farm and warmth. I’ve memorized Aiden over the past few weeks. He smells like cedar and nutmeg and something a little musky. I’d like to bottle that smell and spray it on my sheets so I could snuggle into that enticing, manly smell as I’m falling asleep every night.
I fight the urge to lean into him. My body craves his touch. I cross my arms and rub my biceps.
“Are you cold?”
“A little,” I fib.
Duke steps out of his car and then Laura exits the car behind him.
“What’s got you coming all the way out here?” Duke asks Laura as they approach us.
“Same as you, I imagine. I’m coming over to invite Em to girls’ night.”
“Yeah. You got me there. I was coming over to invite her to girls’ night too.”
Laura doesn’t miss a beat. “Oh, are you coming to girls’ night? I’m sure Shannon will be there.”
“Why would that matter to me?”
“Guess it doesn’t, now that you’re seeing that woman from Huber Heights.”
“I still keep an eye out for Shannon,” Duke protests. “She’s like the little sister I never had. I promised Chris I would watch over her, so I do.”
“Slay me with your excuses, Satterson. If Shannon’s your sister, Rob’s my brother.”
“Girls’ night?” I ask, trying to diffuse whatever seems to be brewing between Laura and Duke.
“It’s tradition,” Duke says. “The three amigas have been doing it since high school. And then Jayme moved here a few years back and she and Shannon moved in together, so now it’s the four of them. An invitation to girls’ night is like the Bordeaux version of tea with the queen.”
Laura rolls her eyes. “Minus the queen and the tea. Mostly it’s pizza and laughs and a lot of trash talking about Duke.”
“I knew it,” Duke says with a playful smile. “You probably ought to make it girls’ weekend, so you have enough time to cover all the material.”
