by Emmy Eugene
“Hey,” his brother said, obviously out of breath. “Russ and I are holed up in the barn. The rain came out of nowhere.”
“Yeah,” Seth said. “I’m just crossing the bridge back. I was wondering if we needed to do anything.” They had sand and sandbags in the storage shed next to the cowboy cabins where their hired help lived.
“There’s nothin’ to do,” Travis said. “Either the river is gonna flood, or it’s not.”
“I hope it doesn’t flood,” Seth said, slowing as he approached the cabins. Not a creature was stirring, and he didn’t want to make anyone come out into the storm. The thunder cracked through the sky, rolling through the clouds. On and on it went, and Seth actually really liked the Texas Hill Country thunderstorms.
“We fixed the footbridge,” Travis said. “Just in time for it to get damaged again.”
“If there’s nothin’ to do, I’m going to head back to Jenna’s.”
“Yeah,” Travis said. “Russ says the rain should just be a few minutes, and we’ll let you know.”
“All right.” Seth pulled into the driveway of the last cabin and retraced his tracks. He didn’t want to cancel his date because of a little rain. It wouldn’t be as romantic eating on Jenna’s back patio instead of next to the springs, but that couldn’t be helped. At least they hadn’t been stranded up the path when the storm hit.
He paused on the bridge that went over the river, looking both ways. With all the rain, he couldn’t see much, but there was a good ten feet of space before the river would wash out the road. He’d lived in Texas his whole life, and he knew what flash floods could do. They rose quickly, without warning, and receded just as quickly.
So he could wait to sandbag the river. His great-grandfather had deliberately planted crops along the river, so when flooding did happen, they didn’t lose buildings or livestock. Bridges could be fixed, and land dried out.
He parked as close to the sidewalk leading up to the front door as possible. He removed his cowboy hat and left it in the truck. Drawing in a deep breath, he broke from the cab of the truck and hit the ground running.
The porch roof kept the rain off, and instead of bursting into the house, he rang the doorbell like a real boyfriend. Jenna answered several moments later, her eyes wide and worried. “How’s the ranch?”
“Fine,” he said, chuckling. “It just started raining. My brothers are trapped in the barn, and there’s not much to do until the rain slows anyway.” He nodded behind her. “Can I come in?”
“You look completely different without your hat.” She reached up and ran her hand along his face and into his hair.
Their eyes met, and Seth found the edge of desire in her eyes. The same desire running through his whole body. He didn’t waste a moment thinking too hard. He cradled her face in both of his hands and lowered his mouth to touch hers.
Electricity arced through the air, adding to the crackling thunder and pounding rain on the roof. His pulse sped, and he pulled away.
“Oh,” Jenna whispered, and then she kissed him again. Seth sure did like her lips, and he deepened the kiss right there in her doorway as the rain fell.
By the time he got control of himself and pulled away, his breathing hitched in his chest, and his head was swimming.
He reached out and braced himself against the doorframe and looked at Jenna. She looked warm and woozy too, and a gust of wind reminded Seth that he stood on the front porch. “So…can I come in?”
“Yes,” she said, her voice a bit high. She stepped back to allow him to enter. “Isaac’s stuck in town. He knows not to drive in torrential rain like this.”
Seth crossed the threshold and closed the door behind him, reaching for Jenna and spinning her. She squealed and grabbed onto his shoulders. “Seth,” she said, giggling.
“What?” he asked, so glad he didn’t have to take his cowboy hat off to kiss her again. Because kissing Jenna had rocked his world, and he wanted to do it again so he could check and make sure it had been as wonderful as he thought it had been.
And oh, it was.
The next morning, Seth spent an hour in the dog enclosure, feeding and watering the dogs. He bathed the eight that would be headed over to the park that morning, and then he tied bandanas around each of their necks.
“All right, guys,” he said. “I’ll be right back. I have to get the fencing in the back of the truck.” He pulled on a pair of gloves and grabbed the fencing panels from beside the door. He loaded them up, put in the bowls for food and water, and grabbed the whole bag of liver treats from the shelf. Leashes went in the king cab, as did all the adoption paperwork. He wasn’t sure why he was nervous this morning. He’d done dog adoptions for a few years now, on the last Saturday of the month. This one was no different.
Except he knew it was different. Jenna would be there, and he had a new venue. After their date last night, he’d gone through all the comments on her post to see if there were any questions. He’d answered all of them, and it certainly seemed like there would be more than eight people at the park that morning.
Thankfully, the rain had stopped after only about an hour, and while the sky was still overcast and the humidity was through the roof, the adoption event was still on.
The rumble of a car engine came closer, and Seth looked down the road to find Jenna’s sedan coming toward him. “Focus,” he told himself. He looked down at his phone, where he’d made a checklist.
Well, Jenna had made the checklist for him, putting everything he needed to bring to the park with him. He smiled at the device and kept his head down as his face heated. The first thing he wanted to do when she arrived was kiss her. Then he could kiss her when they finished the adoptions too. And when he brought her back here to her car.
He wasn’t sure why his hormones were suddenly acting like he was fifteen instead of forty, but they were. So he focused on the list as Jenna stopped and got out of her car. “Hey,” she chirped, and Seth allowed himself to look up.
“Hey, pretty girl.” He left his phone on the backseat and approached her. “Sleep well?”
“Uh, well enough.” She grinned up at him as he gathered her into his arms.
“Why not well?”
“I don’t like being in that huge house alone,” she said. “And Isaac stayed at the hospital.”
“Mm, makes sense.” He trailed his lips along her jawline. Her grip tightened on his shoulders, and Seth kissed her, his day getting about ten times better already.
He pulled away sooner than he had last night, ducking back over to the truck to get his phone. “I have everything but the dogs.”
“Well, get ‘em,” she said. “We don’t want to be late.”
They weren’t anywhere near being late, but Seth went into the enclosure and started opening the inside doors for the eight dogs he was taking to the park. Jenna followed him, laughing as the dogs wagged their way over to her to say hello.
“Okay, you guys wait here,” he said to the canines and Jenna. “I’m just going to let the others outside.”
“All right,” she said, still crouching to give all the dogs a little love.
Seth made quick work of the outside doors, and he went back inside and said, “All right. Let’s load up.”
Almost all of the dogs went, and Jenna straightened. “Will they really load up?” she asked.
“Yep.” He held the door for all of them, and when he got to the back of the truck, all the dogs were in except Lotus, who couldn’t jump that high. “Let me help you, Lotus.” He scooped up the corgi and put her in the bed of the truck. He beamed at Jenna. “You’re driving with me, right?”
“Yeah. And I didn’t even have coffee, so you can take me to breakfast.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder and went around to the passenger side.
“I didn’t have time for breakfast either,” he said. “Not even coffee.” And he loved coffee.
“Wow,” Jenna said. “That’s unlike you.”
“I know.” He glanced at her. �
��So we’ll see how long this takes. They have amazing cinnamon rolls at the diner, but they sell out early on weekends.” He didn’t say much else on the way to the park, and thankfully, Jenna just let him be inside his head.
They pulled up, and he attached leashes to all the dogs and gave four of them to Jenna. “You okay with all of them?”
“Believe it or not, I can handle dogs.”
“I know,” he said. “You want more?”
“Give me two more,” she said, and he handed her the leashes for two more canines. He hauled all the fencing out of the back of the truck and looped his arm through as much of it as he could. Then he grabbed the last two dogs and headed down the sidewalk to the area where the adoptions would happened.
Jenna held all the dogs while he set up the fences, and she unclipped their leashes once they were inside. Willow barked almost continuously, and Seth told her to hush. She didn’t really listen, and Seth hoped that wouldn’t influence her chances of getting adopted.
He brought over the adoption paperwork, as well as the food and water bowls, the treats, and a couple of balls while Jenna babysat the dogs. When he got back, a couple lingered near the fences. He practically threw everything on a nearby picnic table and approached them.
“Hey,” he said. “I’m Seth Johnson.” They turned toward him, and he brightened. “Oh, hey, David.”
“Seth.” The two men shook hands, and David gestured to the woman he was with. “This is my wife, Elaine.”
“Nice to meet you.” He looked at the dogs. “Were you walking through, or are you interested in a dog?”
“We’re interested,” Elaine said. “Most of these are pretty big.”
Big dogs were harder to take care of, he knew. That was why he had so many of them. Strays he’d picked up or that people had brought to him to rehabilitate. “I’ve got a little corgi,” he said. “Her name is Lotus. And you’ll never meet a better dog than Claire.”
“Which one is Claire?” David asked.
“Claire,” Seth said, and the brown and white mutt turned, her tongue hanging out as she smiled. “That’s Claire.” He reached over and gave her a pat. “She’s awesome.” He picked up a leash. “You’re welcome to take her for a little walk. All of my dogs are spayed or neutered. They’re current on their immunizations, and none of them have health concerns. Claire is pretty social, and she’s good with other dogs and pets, and she loves to chew on a rope.”
He could talk about all of his dogs the way he could Claire, and he loved his adoption events as much as they tore at his heartstrings.
“Let’s take her for a walk,” David said.
Seth put a leash on Claire, and opened the fencing enough to let the dog out. David and Elaine started down the sidewalk, and Seth watched them go.
“Seth,” Jenna said. “You’ve got more people interested.”
He turned around and found several people standing there. “Oh, hey,” he said, grinning at them. “Come on over. You don’t have to stand back there. You can go in if you want. Pet them. I have a couple who love to chase a ball.”
The event continued, and Seth had adopted out three dogs in the first fifteen minutes. Jenna assisted with the paperwork, while Seth talked to the people, telling them about the dogs and monitoring the humans with them as they walked and played.
“We’ll take Skip,” a father who’d come with his daughter said. Seth grinned at him, the little girl, and then Skip.
He bent down. “You lucky dog,” he said. “You get to be part of a family.” He straightened and pointed to Jenna. “She’ll help you with the paperwork. And you can take the ball.”
“Really?” the girl asked, and Seth just nodded at her.
More people arrived. Every dog got attention, and Seth was so happy for the canines. He barely knew where to look, but he held very still for a moment and looked around the park. The activity, the gentle serenity, the barking of a dog—it all brought peace to his heart.
He turned and looked at Jenna just as she laughed at something Eve Ocarson had said. The Oscarsons were taking Dude, and Seth hadn’t been able to adopt him out last month. Maybe the bandana with fire hydrants on it had really done the trick.
Twenty minutes later, the last dog waited patiently beside Barb Benney, who owned the all-day breakfast diner. Her husband had died last year, and she lived alone above the diner. “Now I won’t have to be alone,” she said, beaming down at the black mutt with white feet Seth had named Boots.
The dog looked absolutely pleased to be going home with Barb, and Seth started taking down the fences while Jenna finished with Barb and Boots.
With everything back in the truck, Seth sat behind the wheel and exhaled. “Holy stars in heaven,” he said, looking over to Jenna.
“Told you,” she said with a grin. “It’s nine-fifteen, and you’re already cleaned up.”
“I’m sure you have a breakfast spot picked out already.” He smiled back at her, though he’d missed his kiss here in the park.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jenna said innocently. A few seconds of silence passed, and then they both burst out laughing.
“All right,” Seth said, still chuckling. “Tell me where to go.”
“Oh, I’ll tell you where to go,” she said. “It’s not the diner for a cinnamon roll, though, if that’s okay.”
“Totally okay,” Seth said, because he thought he could easily spend a lot of days, weeks, months, and years with Jenna Wright, which gave them plenty of time to get hundreds of cinnamon rolls.
He wasn’t sure if he should be scared or not. He reminded himself he didn’t need to rush into anything, but the pit in his stomach didn’t go away, even when Jenna named his favorite place to get a breakfast burrito.
Chapter Fourteen
Jenna enjoyed her Sunday afternoon out at the duck pond, first telling her mom about Seth and then texting with the man who had invaded every part of her life. She’d spent most of the day with him yesterday, and the man could kiss as if it was a profession where only the best excelled.
She spent the first hour at work looking up all the events happening during Octoberfest. The city had already started to set up the carnival, as she’d discovered on her way to work this morning.
She made a list of things she thought would be fun, from the apple cider tasting, to wandering through a pumpkin patch, to the Ridgeway Market. There were a ton of activities for kids, and a food truck rally, and two parades, and dozens of other things.
Jenna had never really gotten too involved with all of the happenings around Chestnut Springs. She’d only been back for a few years, and her house sat on the outskirts of town, away from all the festivities.
Working at an elementary school brought enough chaos into her life, and she didn’t normally need to go out in the evenings to face a crowd, or deal with more noise.
The volunteers started checking in for the second grade reading program, and Jenna closed the tab with the schedule of events and focused. She had to get some work done, because Seth would be here today, and he’d promised to bring lunch with him.
Person after person checked in, but none of them were Seth. She finally texted him. Are you coming to read today?
Almost there, he responded almost instantly. I sort of forgot and it’s a good thing there aren’t any cops out right now.
She smiled at her phone and then put it down when Dan came around the corner. “Jenna,” he said. “Have we heard from Summit about the digital citizenship presentation?”
“Not yet,” she said. “I have it on my list of people to call today.”
“Great.” He handed her a sheaf of papers. “These go in my principal’s fund.”
“Okay.” She put the papers in her top tray, wishing it were more empty.
A moment later, Seth blew into the office. “Sorry I’m late.”
“Seth,” Dan boomed. “Here for second grade reading?”
“That’s right.”
“I’ll walk
you down.”
Seth glanced at Jenna. “Don’t I need to sign in?”
“Kim will write your name down.” Dan nodded at Kim, who waved.
Annoyance surged through Jenna, because Dan was treating Seth like some kind of celebrity.
“I need to talk to Jenna for a sec,” he said. “I’ll be right there.” He grinned at Dan and walked over to Jenna. He slipped something into her hand and said, “I’ll have to run out and get lunch. I didn’t have time to stop before I came.”
“It’s fine,” she said. “You don’t have to bring me lunch.” But she hadn’t brought anything from home, and her stomach was already growling.
“I will.” He swept a kiss along her cheek and headed out of the office.
“He is so dreamy,” Kim said, standing up to write Seth’s name on the check-in list.
“You’re married,” Jenna said with a smile.
“But not dead.” Kim shot her a grin. “You guys are cute together.”
“Yeah,” Jenna said, because she wasn’t sure how to respond. She liked Seth a whole lot, but they’d just shared their first real kiss over the weekend. She wasn’t in any hurry to get married again, especially because she had no biological clock ticking away.
The office quieted down, and Jenna managed to get a couple of things checked off her list. She looked up when someone said, “Delivery for Jenna Wright.”
“She’s back there,” Kim said, giggling.
Jenna half stood so she could see over her computer, and she found a man bringing a very large flower arrangement toward her. “What’s—”
“Sign here,” the man said, setting the enormous vase full of red roses and white baby’s breath on the counter. She did, reaching for the card the moment the man accepted his device back.
“I bet those are from Seth,” Kim said, gathering at Jenna’s counter. Jenna opened the card, and sure enough, Seth had sent the flowers.
Just thinking of you, the note read. Warmth filled Jenna from head to toe, and she leaned over to smell the flowers.