Page 24 of To Belong Together
Now, his procrastination backfired.
When he called the dogs away from the entrance, Camo zipped through the house, pushed the door open, and trotted through the storage area. On the far wall, a little window looked down on the driveway. Camo stared through it as if his best friend were abandoning him.
“Leave it, bud.”
Given her reaction outside, seeing a dog watching would spook Erin if she happened to look up. John could take a no, but not a repeat of her whimper when she’d huddled to protect herself from the charging canines. That fear had been the first crack he’d seen in her brave independence, and an answering crack split his frustration.
The dogs must’ve heard his protectiveness when he’d called for them to leave her alone, because they’d never obeyed so quickly.
Instead of obeying John’s latest command, Camo pressed another nose print onto the glass.
John made his way between stacks of boxes and slipped two fingers under the dog’s collar. He didn’t mean to watch her, but Erin crossed in front of his car, trailing a finger through the salt he’d picked up this weekend before she let herself into her own vehicle. Once she was there, the angle blocked her face, but it looked as though she wiped her hands over her cheeks. Was she crying?
Regret socked him. She’d come needing reassurance he wasn’t suing, and he should’ve stopped the conversation as soon as he’d given it.
He’d said too much to Kate too. Good thing he kept most of his thoughts to himself, or imagine the damage he would do.
No. He didn’t have to imagine. He knew well that, even when he opened his mouth for a good cause, relationships crashed and burned.
Trigger’s gray head pushed past John’s knee, adding another nose print to the collection Camo had started.
What a pathetic trio they made.
“Come on, boys.” He turned away, guiding Camo and trusting Trigger to fall in line. “If it makes you feel better, she doesn’t like me any more than she likes you.”
Camo twisted his thick neck to look back. Trigger hadn’t followed after all. Apparently, there was no making any of them feel better.
9
Soon, the sun would drop below the horizon, but for now it reflected across the snow and into John’s eyes. Melted accumulation washed against the wheel wells as Gannon pulled onto the highway to take John to Rodney’s Auto Sales and Service.
“Do you think an engagement ring should be a surprise, or should I let her pick it out?” Gannon let the question hang in the SUV, his face serious for a few seconds before he grinned.
“It’s time, huh?” He’d known Gannon wouldn’t wait long to propose after they moved, since Addie was the reason they’d uprooted from LA after a decade there. John had been happy to do it. Happy for his friends, happy for the more tranquil lifestyle, happy to be closer to family. Now, jealousy slithered out in a sigh. “She knows?”
“It’s been more of a ‘when we get married’ than an ‘if’ for a year now.”
John nodded. The jealousy wasn’t about Adeline. It was that he didn’t have anyone to talkifwith, let alonewhen. “Go with surprise.”
“I thought so too, but …” Gannon sucked a breath through his teeth. “I’m a lot of things, but qualified to pick a ring is not one of them.”
John snorted.
“I’m going to need better advice than that.”
John squinted toward the sun, which hovered near the horizon of ice-laden Lake Superior. “Have Carissa narrow it down to three or four and pick from those.”
“Oh. Yeah.” Gannon shook his head. Apparently looping in their stylist had never occurred to him. “I should’ve asked you what to do at Christmas too.”
Gannon had asked, but John had been having too much fun watching him scramble to decide on the perfect gift.
John had only taken pity on him now because an engagement ring was serious business. “Congrats, by the way.”
“Thanks.” Gannon glanced at him, shifted in his seat, and returned his focus to the road.
“Just say it.”
“You asked Tara to Kate’s wedding.”
