Finding Forgiveness(72)

“Hunter, I’m so sorry I let this happen,” his grandmother said as she hugged Hunter again.

“I shouldn’t have waited so long to talk to you, Gran. I should have known you and Pops would have taken care of me.”

Roman sat silently as Hunter and his grandmother talked about all the changes in his life but Roman only half listened because his mind was racing with what he needed to do to get Hunter back what was rightfully his.



***

Hunter smiled as his grandmother waved the little girl’s arm at him from the doorway. After they’d finished talking, his grandmother had introduced him to Emma, Dane and Jax’s ten-month old baby girl and he’d fallen instantly in love with her chubby face and animated gestures. He’d gotten to hold and play with her for a while and he’d felt Roman’s gaze on him more than once. It had opened up a whole new realm of questions about what their future would hold and he couldn’t wait to find out.

The revelation that his father had duped his grandmother into signing over complete control of his trust didn’t surprise Hunter in the least. And he had no doubt that his father would fight tooth and nail to keep control of the property, especially after Roman had told him that it was worth millions of dollars. He’d been staggered to hear that but hadn’t even once considered selling it if Roman could help him get it back. And the idea of sharing it with Roman, maybe someday living there like his Gran and Pops had planned to do, well, there was just no price that could be put on that.

Hunter gave his grandmother and Emma another wave as he stood next to Roman’s car to wait for him. He watched his grandmother disappear into the house and then glanced at his phone. He’d assumed Roman had gone back into the house to make a pit stop but at ten minutes and counting, Hunter had to wonder if the man had gotten some bad chicken or something when they stopped at the small deli on the outskirts of Missoula for lunch.

Hunter was about to head back up the stairs when the door opened and he saw Roman backing out of it. He wondered at the strange position but only for a moment because as soon as Roman turned around, Hunter gasped at the sight of the squirming puppy in his arms.

“What did you do?” Hunter asked as Roman handed him the puppy.

“Us runts gotta stick together,” Roman said as he gave the puppy a pat and then leaned down to kiss Hunter. “We need to bring him back for his shots in a week and Dane’s going to get his medications together for me to pick up tomorrow.”

Hunter knew he was grinning like an idiot as he carried the puppy to the car and got into the passenger seat. “Thank you, Roman,” he said as Roman got the car started.

“You’re welcome,” Roman returned as he brushed another kiss over Hunter’s mouth. “I love you,” he whispered just before the puppy’s wet tongue covered both their mouths in a trail of slime. “He needs a name,” Roman said as he backed the car up.

“Already got one,” Hunter said.

“What?”

“Champion. Champ for short.”

Roman smiled. “Champ it is.”



***

“Roman, it’s fine. Just put him down. She won’t hurt him,” Gray urged.

Roman wasn’t as confident as Gray as he watched the way Ripley was eyeing the puppy in his arms. He’d learned from Dane that Champ was some kind of Great Dane mix and that even as the runt of the litter, he’d likely be close to 150 pounds easily when full grown. Not that that would do the puppy any good right now with the huge German Shepherd who looked like she could kill him with one good bite.

“Roman, trust me,” Gray said.

Roman finally put the puppy down but remained squatted next to him as Ripley came up to sniff him. There were some tense moments as the two dogs worked out some dominance ritual that Roman didn’t have a clue about but then they were off and running through the huge backyard.

“Where’s Hunter?” Gray asked as they began walking toward the spot by the water where the dogs could play.

“He’s driving down a little later. Some of his classmates were meeting at the library to prep for an exam on Monday. He’s going to go meet his grandmother to pick up the trusteeship papers and then he’ll meet us here for dinner.”

“I’m glad they worked things out,” Gray said. “Sounds like things went well with Finn too.”

“They did. I don’t think Hunter was expecting it so he’s still struggling to accept that he can put this whole thing behind him.”

“Sometimes the things we think we left in the past are just waiting to catch up to his when we least expect it.”