Page 35 of Chelsea’s Knight

“The floor is tile, though,” she muses.

“Babe, they’re dogs. Not people. They’ll be fine, I promise.”

Chelsea

“Okay, so maybe I was a little ridiculous, asking you to put the comforter in there too,” I remark much, much later when we’re finally finished and both dogs are back and settled on their own queen-sized bed.

He chuckles but says, “It’s fine, Chels. They’d have been fine too, but there’s nothing wrong with making sure they were comfortable.”

“Let’s watchHow It Really Happened,” I suggest.

“A murder mystery when we’re alone on the road?” he asks, smirking at me.

“I’ve got you, Smokey, and Cooper to come to my rescue,” I tease. “All of y’all are in the line of fire before me.”

He tries and fails to hold his glare, chuckling at my dorky ways. “Woman, I love and adore everything about you and yes, I’ll always put myself in front of you if danger is present. If you want to watch true crime shows, who am I to say no? They’re usually pretty good, anyhow.”

“Most of the time, yeah. I mean, the cases we know a lot about get boring to me, but this show tends to look at the ones not as well-known or spotlighted in the media.”

I snuggle into him as he puts it on the channel then turns off the light on the nightstand. There’s a small night light in the bathroom. I honestly suspect I’ll be asleep shortly after the beginning storyline credits, but the narrator’s voice is soothing.

As he spoons into me, his arm wrapping around my waist, he whispers, “You’re not gonna last for the whole show.”

I quietly snicker then reply, “You know me so well. Night, handsome.”

“Good night, Chelsea.”

* * *

“Okay, I found the downside to traveling with Cooper,” I state as we wait at the drive-through to place an order for our fast-food breakfast.

“What’s that, sweetness?” he asks.

“No Cracker Barrel. That was something we always did whenever Nonni, Poppa, and I went on a road trip. We’d stop there at least once, either on the way to where we were going or once we headed home.”

He pulls away from the restaurant and maneuvers until we’re back on the local highway and heading to the interstate.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“There’s a Cracker Barrel at the next exit up.”

“We can’t go in, Canyon.”

“You can go in and place a to-go order, sweetness. I know you want to check their store out too.”

“You’re willing to do that for me?” I whisper. Every time he does something like this, it blows me away.

“Told you, Chels, anything in my power that doesn’t cause any harm to come to you, it’s my pleasure and privilege to do. Open up my phone and find their app, which I have downloaded. You can set up a to-go order now then shop while you wait for it to be prepared. I’ll walk the boys.”

“I can always take Smokey in with me, too,” I remind him. “It would be good practice, don’t you think?”

“Actually, yeah, that’s not a bad idea. Okay, new plan. When we get there, go ahead and put the order in while I walk the boys. Then, you and Smokey can go inside to wait for the order and shop. Does that work?”

Excitement builds at the thought of checking out their country store.

“Yes! It’s been so many years since I’ve been in one. Oh! I bet they’ve got stuff out for the holidays now, too. I can probably find some things for the new babies.”

He chuckles as he hits the turn signal to take the next exit. “I thought that’s what the Buc-ee’s clothes were for.”

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