Taken with You(10)

“But if I already know he’s not, what’s the point?”

Liz frowned. “You know he’s not husband material because he doesn’t shave when he’s on vacation?”

“No. I know he and I aren’t compatible in the long term because he’s the rugged outdoors type. I’m...not.”

“Yeah, well Drew didn’t think I was wife material and look where we ended up.”

Hailey smiled when Liz made a big production of showing off her wedding ring while refilling her coffee. “I heard you’re pregnant with septuplets.”

Liz snorted as she set the carafe back on the burner. “That’s what I get for eating too much of Rosie’s pie and stopping at the general store on the way home. I was so full, I rested my hand on my stomach for a split second. Did you see the picture on Facebook?”

“Of course I did. Fran’s turning into a one-woman, Whitford version of TMZ.”

“I thought Paige having Sarah would take some of the pressure off, but it’s gotten so bad, I’m waiting for somebody to pass me a pregnancy test under the bathroom stall door.”

“So, off the record...”

Liz laughed. “No, I’m not pregnant. And, even further off the record, we haven’t been trying yet. Soon, but we wanted to enjoy being married—just the two of us—for a little while first. But we’ve been talking about it a lot lately, so not too much longer. And when it does happen, Rose will know before Fran.”

Since Rose had practically raised the Kowalskis, helping their dad after their mom died, that was a must. And Rose lived with Drew’s dad, so as a couple they definitely ranked higher on the totem pole than Fran.

The bell dinged, signaling food ready for Liz to deliver, so Hailey was left alone with her fries and her simmering envy.

She was genuinely happy for her friends. She really was. They’d found men who loved them and they were married or heading in that direction, and Paige had a baby. Wanting that for herself didn’t take away from her joy for them.

A couple of times over the last several years, she’d gone so far as to watch the employment market in more urban areas, even though it would mean more bureaucracy in her job. Shaking up her life didn’t seem like a bad idea when it came with a dating pool that included more than the guys she’d grown up with. Fine dining, a movie theater and other places to actually go on a date didn’t sound so bad, either.

But when push came to shove, she loved her job, her house and this town. And she didn’t simply love being a librarian. She loved her library, and she was afraid if she left, her replacement wouldn’t fight for it the way she did. When the economy was rough, it took a lot of passion and chocolate to get through every budget review and town meeting. She loved the Whitford Public Library too much to walk away from it.

She just needed to find a GQ guy in the land of L.L.Bean.





FIVE



“THIS IS OUR new home, buddy.” Bear was riding shotgun, sitting up and staring out the window after a long nap. He turned when Matt spoke, his tongue hanging out. “You’ll like it. You’ll have a bigger yard. And a pretty neighbor to look at.”

He pulled the truck into the driveway and shut it off. The garage was so full he couldn’t pull it in there if he wanted to, and that wasn’t likely to change any time soon. It would take him a while to unpack the boxes of stuff he didn’t need right away, plus he had an ATV, a snowmobile and his lawn mower, among other things. Having a two-bay garage would have been nice, but he probably would have filled that, too.

After snapping a leash onto Bear’s collar, he went around the truck and opened the passenger door to let the dog out. He listened well, but Matt was aware a new neighborhood would be full of temptation for Bear and he needed to keep a close eye on him until he learned his boundaries. It wouldn’t take long because he was a well-trained dog, but he didn’t want to take any chances.

“Welcome home, Bear,” he said after the dog had watered a bush and he’d unlocked the front door. Once he’d closed it behind him, he unclipped the leash and let the Lab run.

Sinking onto his leather couch with a deep sigh of relief, he watched Bear make his way around the downstairs, sniffing every square inch and box.

It had been a hell of a day. Loading the truck, making the drive to Whitford, then unloading the truck. Then turning around and driving back to Augusta to return the truck and pick up his dog. Now it was almost dark and he felt like he was sitting down—besides in a truck seat—for the first time.

Judging by the sound, Bear had found his food and water dishes on the mat in the kitchen, so Matt leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

Woof.

That didn’t take long. He hadn’t started installing the doggy door for Bear yet, which meant he’d be playing canine doorman until he got it done. And he’d have to supervise the trips outside until Bear learned what was his yard and what wasn’t.

“Gotta go out, boy?” Another woof, so he walked into the kitchen and opened the back door.

Bear shot out onto the small deck, sniffing as fast as his nose allowed, then ran into the yard like a maniac. Matt watched him for a minute, but then realized his neighbor was out in her backyard.

There was a garden shed at the back of the property, just before the tree line, and the doors were opened. It looked like she was checking garden hoses. She had a couple of them spread out on the ground, with one still coiled, and she kept bending over to check areas that had probably been kinked for leaks.

It wasn’t a bad view. She was wearing jeans that hugged her curves and he found himself watching her progress down the first hose. Every time she bent over, he got a little more appreciation for living next door to the town’s librarian.

When she walked back to start the other hose, he looked back to his own yard and realized his dog was gone.

“Bear!” Through the corner of his eye, he saw Hailey spin around, her head coming up. “Bear!”

She started to run and, before he could make sense of what was happening, she caught her foot in the garden hose and went ass over teakettle.



HAILEY STARED UP at the sky, trying to process how she’d ended up flat on her back in the grass with her head pounding, her breath coming up short in her chest, and her knee screaming in protest of whatever had just happened.

“Hailey!”

Hearing her name shouted killed any hope he was going to do the polite thing and pretend he hadn’t seen her less than graceful fall. Sure enough, just a few seconds later, he was on his knees next to her.

“Are you hurt?”

“Just my dignity. And I’m not sure I had much to spare as it was.” He chuckled, bending forward so she had no choice but to look into his face. Such a handsome face with concerned eyes. “I’m okay. I only see one of you, thank God. One of you is enough.”

“Too bad you didn’t damage that funny bone of yours when you fell. Why did you take off running like that?”

“When a game warden is yelling ‘Bear!’ like a maniac, normal people panic.”

Matt sat back on his heels, a chagrined expression on his face. “Bear is my dog’s name.”

She turned her head and saw a big black Lab sitting at the edge of her yard, his head cocked to the side as if he was trying to figure out why a grown woman was lying in the grass. “How original.”

“I found him when he was just a baby. He was a black fur ball with huge paws, stuck in some puckerbrush, and when I got him out, he nuzzled me for a few seconds and then tried to rip my coat to shreds to get to the crackers in my pocket. Name seemed to fit.”

As if he knew they were talking about him, Bear walked over to sit next to Matt. Both of them staring at her was just weird, so Hailey pushed herself up until she was sitting, too. When she held out her hand, the dog skipped the sniffing and getting to know you stage and bumped his head under her palm for a good scratch.

“I didn’t know you had a dog,” she said.

“He’s been with my dad this past week. The long commute meant being away longer hours than usual, plus I didn’t want him to wander off in the chaos of moving.” He ruffled the dog’s fur, then wrapped his arms around him when Bear threw himself against his chest. “I missed you, too, buddy.”

Hailey couldn’t take it. The obvious love the man had for the dog he’d rescued as a puppy was too much. How was she supposed to keep her guard up when they were so damn adorable?

She managed to push herself to her feet, intending to put some distance between herself and the pair, but her knee protested her weight and she winced. Shifting her weight to her other foot, she eyeballed the distance to her door. Her backyard had never looked so big before.

“Let me help you.”

“You never miss an opportunity to be the Good Samaritan, do you?”

“It’s a gift. Although there have been a lot more opportunities than usual since I met you.”

That was a statement she couldn’t really deny with a straight face, so she shrugged. She expected him to offer her his shoulder. She even braced herself for the possibility of him putting his arm around her waist.

Matt did wrap his arm around her waist, moving in so close her arm was forced over his shoulders, but she wasn’t ready at all when his other arm slid behind her knees. As he lifted her off her feet, she made a squeaking sound and clung to him.