~~~
Mya picked out a gorgeous wedding dress; she’s going to take Braxton’s breath away on their wedding day. It looks like a dress straight out of a Disney princess movie.
Brooklyn and I picked out our bridesmaids dresses and got fitted. Her wedding is May 17th so she was relieved we finally agreed on the dresses we liked. They’re doing the Houston Texans colors, so we’ll be wearing red satin-one shoulder dresses that stop above the knee, and blue suede pumps with big white dahlias in our hair.
I looked over the bridal dresses the boutique had, but nothing caught my eye as the dress to wear when I become Mrs. Kayden Knox. The ones I liked that were in the bridal magazine, they of course didn’t have. I decided to wait and look around some more when I go back to L.A., and then have the dress shipped here to be fitted. I still have to choose what I want for my maid of honor and bridesmaid dresses. I know I want something short and country looking since the wedding will be on the beach and the reception back in Sugar Land.
After saying goodbye to Mya, Brooklyn and I head out to Brooklyn’s Jeep. She’s supposed to stop by a woman’s farm to possibly purchase a Labrador puppy from her. She said the house is too lonely with me living with Kayden now at his beach house, so she’s considering buying a dog to keep her company.
Even though she and Dixon are married they’re still living separately, and taking things slow. He’s been spending the weekends at the beach house with her, but staying at the suite he has at Knox hotel during the week for work. She’s still flying back and forth to L.A. but because her role on the soap is a small one, she usually films her scenes for the week Monday and Tuesday then comes back to Texas Wednesday afternoon every week. Today’s Friday, so she’s excited that Dixon will be there tonight; she wants to surprise him with a puppy.
We’re throwing a huge party at the beach tomorrow night to officially celebrate our engagement along with Brooklyn and Dixon’s marriage. It’s been nice spending the last month being hermits and laying low, but I’m ready for some fun, and nothing is better than bon fires and friends.
Following her GPS, Brooklyn pulls up to a long dirt driveway thirty minutes later. It’s a dog’s paradise here, nothing but fields and fields of green grass. The dog’s not going to know what to do when it realizes it’s new home is on a beach with only a little bit of grass surrounding the house.
The house is a modest, two story white farm house with a big red barn off to the side of it. A large tractor’s busy tilling the field beside the house. Brooklyn parks behind a large, white F-350 and we both jump out of the Jeep to make our way towards the large porch. Just as we’re walking up the steps, we hear a woman’s voice greeting us from behind.
Spinning around, we find who I’m assuming is the lady selling the dogs. She looks to be early fifty’s and greets us with a big sincere smile. Holding out her hand she introduces herself, “Hello, I’m Darla. Are you here about the Labs’?” She asks, shaking each of our hands.
Brooklyn speaks first, “Yes, we are. I’m Brooklyn; I talked with you on the phone.”
“Oh yes. Nice to finally meet you, and are you also here about a puppy?” She asks, turning her attention over to me.
I can’t help but laugh as I answer her, “No ma’am. I’m just here with Brooklyn. I’m Savannah, by the way.”
We follow Darla into the back yard where the puppies are running around inside a large fenced in area. They are so cute! She has yellow and chocolate Labradors’. They look like little balls of fur rolling around and wrestling with their brothers and sisters.
As soon as we step into the fenced in area, the puppies immediately run towards us, barking the cutest little bark I’ve ever heard. I kneel down in the grass, and instantly I have three puppies filling my lap, each of them trying to lick me to death. One is enjoying itself gnawing on my boot heal. I mentally thank myself for wearing a pair of blue jeans and a t-shirt, because these little guys are all over me.
“Are they not the cutest thing!?” Brooklyn asks as she rubs the belly of one of the chocolate colored puppies rolling around on its back.
Taking one of the puppies in my hand, I stand up and cradle it in my arms. Smiling down at it, I can’t help but melt as it looks up at me with its big green puppy dog eyes. It instantly reminds me of Kayden, making me love the little guy even more.
“They are! Have you decided which one ya wanna get?” I don’t know how she’ll ever choose, they are all so adorable.
Crouching down, Brooklyn picks up a little yellow Lab that’s been keeping herself busy chasing a butterfly, “I want this one; she’s spunky just like me. I think she’ll love running around the beach chasing the seagulls.”
I know I’ll probably regret this decision after I find my favorite pair of Jimmy Choos chewed up, but being spontaneous is in my nature. Rubbing the puppy’s ear, I hug him tightly against my chest. Looking from Brooklyn to Darla, I say, “I think I’ve changed my mind; I want to buy this one if he’s available.”
Brooklyn jumps to her feet bursting with excitement, “Yay! We can have play dates!
Darla gives me a warm smile and rubs the puppies head that I’m holding, “She sure is; only the ones with bandanas on have been purchased already. The owners have just been waiting for them to be old enough to go home with them.
After filling out the paperwork and paying for them, we head back to the Jeep. Both puppies are on their leashes, chasing one another and dragging Brooklyn and me behind them.
“Just think, we could breed them when they get older and have tons of chocolate and yellow Labs’ running around!” Brooklyn says with excitement in her voice, thinking she’s just come up with the world’s most brilliant idea.
I let out a giggle as I open my passenger door and climb into the back seat to sit with the puppies. “Umm, no. I do not want to deal with a horny dog in heat. I’ll be getting this one fixed as soon as possible, and they’re brother and sister…you can’t breed them.” I say matter-of-factly, petting both puppies as they bounce around on my lap.
Jumping into the driver’s seat, Brooklyn looks back at me, “You’re such a Debbie Downer. You know that, right?”
I don’t answer her; I just roll my eyes and continue playing with the little balls of fur wrestling with each other on my lap. They are a little over twelve weeks old and funny enough she said they were born on Valentine’s Day, just a few days after my birthday.
After a quick stop at PetSmart, and a few hundred dollars later, we’re finally pulling into the driveway at mine and Kayden’s beach house. I’m a nervous wreck, as is Brooklyn, waiting to see the reaction of our men to the new puppies.
Brooklyn now has a cute little pink bandana with little white daisies tied around her puppy’s neck. We bought collars and little silver name tags at the store for them. We thought I’d be cute to make their names similar since they’re brother and sister, so after naming off a half dozen names, we decided on Bailey and Bentley. Bentley is very rambunctious and is rolling around on the grass beside the driveway trying desperately to tear off his Texas Longhorns bandana I bought him. If his adorable little face doesn’t win Kayden over, I know the bandana will.
Now that I’ve had time to think about it, I think it’s a great idea for us to have a pet. We have horses, but the staff at our house, it still sounds weird calling it our house instead of Kayden’s, take care of them for us. With Bentley, he’ll be our responsibility. They always say get a dog before starting a family and I think it will help us learn how to work together caring for our puppy child until we take the next step to having a baby of our own.
The thought of being a mother terrifies and excites me all at the same time. It’s a huge step in a relationship; you’re permanently tied to that person for the rest of your lives after having a child with them. Also, your life changes drastically; you go from worrying about yourself to your world revolving around your child’s life. When I had my period last week I was relieved because I’m constantly forgetting my pill and ha
ving to double up. I’ve been so distracted lately, but I need to try harder to remember to take it every night. Kayden and I will get married, and then focus on starting a family. I still have so much in my career I want to do before starting a family.
I think it’ll be good for Brooklyn too. She’s used to going through life without a worry in the world; a dog will help her grow up. I’ll more than likely get stuck babysitting every time she goes on location to shoot or to L.A. to tape an episode for As the Days Go By, but what are auntie’s for? I just hope the poor dog doesn’t drive her insane. I can’t picture her scrubbing up after it has an accident on the floor, and I definitely can’t picture Dixon doing it either. They’ll be forced out of their comfort zone, that’s for sure.
After letting the puppies go potty we lug all of Bentley’s stuff into the house. I set his kennel, dog bed, package of pee pads, dog food, treats, and chew toys in the living room. I’ll have to set up the spare room off of the living room as his little room for his toys and dog bed, but right now I feel like throwing on some yoga pants and walking him down on the beach so he can wear off some of his energy before Kayden gets home from work.
Brooklyn spends the next hour with me down on the beach with the puppies; we take over a hundred pictures of ourselves and the dogs. We send one in a bulk text to Rebecca, Reagan, Mya, my parents and her parents. I don’t send any to Kayden nor does she send any to Dixon, because we both agreed it would be more fun showing them in person.
We make our way back up to the house as Bentley and Bailey chase each other up the sandy hill. The once warm sand is now becoming cool as the sun is starting to set in the horizon. I scoop Bentley up, and make my way towards the stairs leading up to our front door. Brooklyn sets Bailey in the passenger seat and shuts the door. She quickly hops up onto her hind legs and pops her head out the open window barking her cute little bark.
“Text me after you tell Kayden; I cannot wait to hear what he thinks of Bentley!” Brooklyn says walking around and jumping into the driver seat. She turns the ignition and Seether’s Breakdown starts blasting throughout the Jeep.
Waving goodbye, I shout over the music, “Will do! And you better text me too! I can’t wait to hear what Dixon’s reaction is! Better yet snap a pic of his face once he sees Bailey and send it me!” I laugh as Dixon’s bewildered face flashes in my mind. Bentley barking at Bailey momentarily distracts me; I pick him back up and yell to Brooklyn over the music again, “You coming over early tomorrow, before the party?” I ask, leaning against the railing and enjoying the breeze blowing through my hair.
Now that spring is here, Galveston is warming up, and I can feel summer swiftly approaching.
Popping out of her open roof, Brooklyn flashes me an impish grin, “Of course! We gotta let our babies play before we go into party mode!”
I shake my head and laugh at her referring to the puppies as our babies’. She’ll end up having an entire closet bursting with doggy dresses by the end of the week. I hate to break it to her that these puppies are going to get big, fast. They are adorable little balls of fur right now, but soon enough they’ll be big dogs shedding all over and running us ragged.
Chapter Nine
After a month of non-stop drama and having the press in our faces, I am more than ready to have fun with our friends tonight. Nothing’s better than a bon fire, good music, and relaxing on the beach to help relieve stress. It’s been a crazy couple of weeks since Nadia retracted her story about Kayden and telling the press what really happened, and Kayden doing an interview with People magazine exposing Logan and Giselle.
Things are finally calming down, and life is getting back to normal. Sadly, with the way our society works, the bad press has only increased people’s interest in Logan, which I think was his motivation all along. I’m trying to not pay attention to any of it. I’m just focusing on my life here in Texas, and planning our wedding. Life’s a lot less stressful when you remove yourself from all the L.A. drama.
I hear Bentley barking his cute little bark as I open the front door leading out to our deck. He spends all day barking at the damn seagulls, and of course they strut around on the sand taunting him, knowing he’s trapped on the deck out and of reach.
Walking out with a Twisted Tea in one hand and a Corona in the other, I spot Kayden lounging in a chair wearing dark blue jeans, a short sleeve button up plaid shirt and his favorite cowboy boots. He’s got his Longhorns baseball cap in his hand, swinging it around, teasing Bentley.
My heart swells as I watch Kayden play with our new rambunctious puppy. I was nervous the entire time waiting for Kayden to get home from the office last night. I wasn’t sure what he’d think of Bentley.
He walked through the door, and instantly his eyes fell onto me lying on the sectional, snuggled up with Bentley and watching Ghost Adventures. He had to work late, finalizing his wind energy project, so he didn’t get home until after nine.
I instantly sucked in a deep breath and held it as I waited for his reaction. Kayden shut the front door, tossed his dress coat over the arm of the couch and a small smile stretched across his face. “So, we have a dog now?” He asks with amusement in his voice, crouching down in front of me and petting Bentley’s head.
I let out the breath I’d been holding and relaxed seeing the smile on Kayden’s face as Bentley barked playfully. “Yeah, Brooklyn went to get a puppy today and after playing with them, I couldn’t leave without getting one. I hope you don’t mind?” I sit up, crossing my legs and settling Bentley on my lap.
Kayden laughed and plopped down on the sofa beside me, lifting Bentley off of my lap and holding him against his chest. “Of course I don’t mind. Whatever you want darlin’, I’ll give you, always. I love dogs! I had a beagle growing up named Copper.” He gives me a sideways glance, and chuckling at my expression, says “I know, so cliché, but hey, I loved The Fox and The Hound.”
“I think it’s cute actually.” I say, running my hand over his broad shoulder. He takes my breath away as I drink him in; his white button up dress shirt looks like it will tear in two if he flexed his bicep. He even makes a suit look sexy.
Rubbing Bentley’s chin, Kayden gazes down at the name tag, and thumbs the bandana, “Bentley…I like it, and he has good taste in football I see.” Kayden’s husky drawl sends shivers down my spine. I swear, I could listen to him recite the alphabet and I’d find it the sexiest thing in the world.
“I thought you’d like the bandana, he hated it at first. He tried for over an hour to tear it off, but now he doesn’t seem fazed by it. I think my next purchase is a Jersey, but I’ll wait until the season starts because who knows how big he’ll be by then.”
Loosening his tie, Kayden turns towards me and leaning over the puppy lying on his lap, he gives me a short sweet kiss. Pulling away, he smiles at me, instantly making me melt right there, “He’s adorable. I think a dog will be fun. I can teach him to duck hunt, too.”
After snuggling on the couch with Kayden and Bentley for a few hours watching TV, we put him in his kennel for the night and went to sleep. I was silly to think Kayden wouldn’t love him. He has the biggest heart when it comes to animals, and at least he didn’t object to the name.
I awoke this morning to a text from Brooklyn saying Dixon is okay with the dog, but was none too pleased when she made him walk the puppy at five thirty in the morning, because she wouldn’t stop howling in her kennel. I couldn’t help but laugh, because Kayden did the same thing around six this morning.
I shake away my thoughts from last night, and walk over to Kayden. “Here ya go.” Handing him his beer, I sit down on his lap and bask in the warm sun and cool ocean breeze.
“Thanks, babe.” Kayden murmurs against my skin, before pressing scorching hot kisses against my neck and taking a swig of his beer.
My skin prickles with excitement from his lips being on my body. Ever since we came back from Vegas it’s as if we can’t get enough of each other.
Pushing my naughty thoughts i
nto the back of my mind, I decide to focus on our plans for the day, “Brooklyn and Dixon should be here soon. I thought we could all have lunch and bring the puppies down to the water to play.” I snuggle against Kayden’s chest and laugh as I watch Bentley chase his tail.
Kayden rakes his fingers through my hair; which I decided to style in loose curls today, as he stares out at the water, watching the wave’s crash onto the shore. The water is slightly choppy today, with small white caps.
“Sounds like a plan. I can’t wait to talk to Dixon and see what he thinks about Brooklyn getting a dog. He has never been a big fan of pets.”
“Well, she texted me this morning and said so far he’s okay with having a dog. He wasn’t too thrilled having to walk her at the ass crack of dawn though. It’s like having a baby when you think about it. So now they actually have to be responsible.”
“That poor dog, having Brooklyn and Dixon as parents; that’s terrifying!” Kayden laughs. “I still can’t believe those two are married, even after a month it still sounds weird saying it.”
“I know. I just hope she doesn’t drive them to the brink of insanity. At least we lucked out and Bentley has been good so far. Almost twenty-four hours and he hasn’t had an accident or eaten any of my shoes.” I say matter-of-factly.
“Don’t jinx us!” Kayden yells with laughter in his voice. “Are we allowed to hire nannies for dogs?” He asks, before taking another pull from his beer.
I cock an eyebrow up at his question, “I don’t know, I suppose ya can? Why? You wanna get a dog nanny.” I can’t help but giggle, because the words sound ridiculous coming out of my mouth.
Setting his beer down, Kayden with one quick move has me straddling him on the outdoor lounger. “Well, I’m thinking about you and I getting away next weekend and I made the plans before we got a dog.”
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