Page 15 of After the End
He reached down, cupping her belly, and then jumped when a puppy wriggled under his touch, startling a laugh out of him. He’d forgotten about the dogs, forgotten about their adventure, forgotten about everything except the news.
“I’m going to be a dad.” Awe filled him, and he pulled her in close—gently, so as not to squash the puppies or Lemon.
“Yes.” She was radiantly beautiful, his wife, his partner, the mother of his child. “You are.”
“I love you, El.”
“I love you, too, George. Always.”
He kissed her then, with the puppies squeaking and wiggling between them and Lemon cupped against his heart, and George finally knew it was true. This was his wife. This was his love-filled life.
And he was happy.
Fall
Daisy was stressed.
She was pretending to be fine, joking and laughing and cuddling Lemon and her puppies, but Chris knew her. He knew when she was truly relaxed and happy, and he knew when she was scared—and, right now, Daisy was freaked out of her mind.
“We don’t have to do this today,” he said, allowing the truck to slow.
Her jaw set. “Yes, we do. We have an appointment with the vet in Boulder. I promised everyone that we’d bring all the dogs.”
“We can reschedule.”
“No, we can’t.” She leaned forward, grabbing a chew toy from the floor in front of her. As she offered the toy to one of the pups, her hair slid forward, shielding her expression. “The vet is doing us a favor by spaying these four at cost. We can’t ask her to rearrange her schedule just because I’m being a chicken.”
He pulled into the gas station parking lot and parked off to the side. “If you need to wait, we’ll wait, even if that means paying the local vet full price.”
Finally, she looked at him. Her pupils were dilated, and her skin was so pale that it had a green cast. “That’s crazy. It’ll be over a thousand dollars.”
He shrugged. “If you’re not ready, then it’s worth it to put off this trip.”
“It doesn’t matter if I think I’m not ready.” It sounded as if she was talking through clenched teeth. “If I’d waited until I thought I was ready to unlock the door, or go outside for the first time in eight years, I’d still be stuck in my house—or dead.”
Stark fear punched Chris in the stomach—the same fear he felt every time he thought about how close he’d come to losing Daisy.
“I need to do this,” she continued. “Now. Today.”
Drumming his fingers against the steering wheel, Chris studied her. He didn’t want to erode her confidence by doubting her, but he also wanted to protect her. After spending so many years afraid to leave the house, Daisy had made huge strides in the past year and a half. He knew that she needed to take this road trip, to finally leave the safe confines of Simpson, but he hated to see her scared. It made him crazy that all he could do was support her, when he wanted to do so much more to help. “Okay. We’ll go. Know that we can turn around at any time, though. Just say the word, and I’ll make a U-turn.”
Her color was better, and she even had a faint smile. “That’ll be interesting if we’re on a mountain pass at the time.”
“Doesn’t matter where,” he said. “I’ll make it happen, even if I need to do a twenty-three-point turn.”
That got a chuckle out of her, and he felt a little pride at making her laugh. Lemon hopped into the backseat and stretched out, her back legs extended behind her like a frog. “I think she wants you to get this show on the road,” Daisy said, giving his thigh a nudge.
Still concerned, Chris shifted into drive. “You’ll tell me if you need to head home?”
“Yes.”
“Or if you need anything at all?”
“Yes.” Daisy made shooing motions, and one of the puppies pounced on her hand, making her laugh. “Now go. We have an appointment to keep.”
Hoping for the best, Chris drove out of Simpson.
For the first part of the trip, Daisy concentrated on the three puppies playing on her lap. Chris kept giving her quick, appraising glances, but she seemed to be keeping it together. He was glad she had that distraction. One by one, however, the puppies collapsed into a boneless, fuzzy pile and fell asleep.
