“Then I find out she’s sleepin’ with one of the lawyers in her firm. I won’t go into details about how I found that out, but it wasn’t pretty. We had a fight and she told me that since my face was no longer handsome, she just couldn’t see herself with me.”
Shane reared back as though slapped. “What the fuck?”
Matt just nodded. “Yeah. That was a year ago, so it’s not like it was recent, but since then I don’t socialize as much.”
“That’s fucked up man. I am sorry as hell I wasn’t here.”
“Nah. It’s all good now. I focus on the job and find a bar chick to bang when I need to. Just not lookin’ for anything like your sunshine.”
Shane smiled at the thought of his copper-headed spitfire. “You’ll find it one day. The real deal, not some two-bit skank who wouldn’t know a good man if it bit her in the ass!”
The conversation turned over to the cases on hand. “You did good work while under, Shane. We got convictions on most of those mother-fuckers that you sent our way.”
“Yeah, but I never made it to the top. I knew about the prostitution angle that we helped shut down but the dog trade, well that was something that I was just getting’ into when to prove loyalty I had to sacrifice Sarge and that led me to Annie…and the rest is history. But honest to god, Matt, I couldn’t have taken much more without losing my soul.”
“Don’t beat yourself up. We may not have shut them down completely, but we hurt ‘em bad. We may even be able to keep diggin’ to find out where they house the dogs.”
Walking out of the diner to go back to the station, Shane said, “I’m meeting Annie’s parents this weekend.”
Matt kept walking although his dour look was replaced by a grin. “Looks like one of us just might be gettin’ married.”
Shane clapped him on the back but couldn’t help but smile as well.
Chapter 20
The following Saturday morning found Shane, Annie, and Sarge in his truck heading to Jefferstown. The trip would take a little over an hour so he spent the time filling her in on his conversation with Matt.
“Oh Shane. That is horrible. I can’t imagine having to live with knowing that you gave your heart to someone so shallow. And he is still so handsome. The scar doesn’t take away anything from the man inside!”
Shane laced his fingers with hers as he glanced at the beautiful woman sitting in his truck. Pure, fuckin’ sunshine. All the time. He brought her fingers to his lips, kissing them lightly.
As they drove into the driveway of the suburban home that was so similar to Shane’s parents’ home, they saw several cars already parked.
“Who all is going to be here, babe?”
Sighing deeply, she answered, “I have no idea.”
The door flung open before they were able to get to the front porch. “Annie,” her mother yelled as she hugged her daughter tightly. The tiny, red-headed woman then turned to Shane with a huge grin on her face. Grabbing him in a hug as well, she said, “You must be Shane. How nice to meet you!”
Shane and Annie smiled over her mother’s head before being interrupted by a booming voice. “Ruth, let the man breathe.”
Annie’s mother let go of Shane, then turned, yelling loudly into the house. “Well, if you’d get out here to greet guests, I wouldn’t have to drag them in to get a welcome.”
A large man came onto the porch catching Annie as she jumped into his arms. Shane watched as father and daughter hugged, finding himself thinking of his own father. Mr. Donavan then turned to shake Shane’s hand and the two men sized each other up. Shane figured he must have passed the test when Mr. Donavan suddenly grinned and said, “You can call me Harvey and this woman who’s been huggin’ on you is Ruth. Come on in son and have a beer.” Shane winked at Annie before disappearing into the house.
Once inside, they were met with several members of Annie’s family including grandparents and a few aunts, uncles, and cousins. As soon as she could get her mother alone she rounded on her.
“Mom, did you have to invite so many people? I wanted this to just be about us.”
“Oh darling, you don’t get to come home that often and everyone wanted to see you.”
“You’re not fooling me. The minute you found out I was bringing Shane with me, you were on the phone. Mom, this is embarrassing.”
“Nonsense dear.” Her mother walked over to envelope her in a hug once more. “Honey, I know you think I just want to plan for a wedding and grandchildren, but it’s not just that. You work so hard. You always have. You’re driven, goal oriented, and you never stopped until you became a vet with your own practice. But honey, there’s more to life and I want you to have that too.”