by Zoe Chant
The thin crowd parted before him as he stalked into the station, instinctively fearing the lion he barely had leashed inside.
Neither of them liked the tenor of the crowd in front of the station. It was late, and this was a rough, unpredictable bunch. Damien could feel the resentment from the other, lesser, alphas nearby. These were people who had everything to prove, and little to lose, and he could feel the turf war that was already simmering in the background.
He snarled to think of Tawny, sweet, innocent Tawny, spending any time here. She didn’t know the first thing about cities after dark. She wouldn’t know to keep her purse close, or her head down. She’d come without her phone, without any protection whatsoever.
His imagination supplied an image of her, cornered, afraid, and he nearly took the final door off its hinges as he strode into the dingy station. If anyone had dared to scare her, or worse, to mug her, or harm a single silver hair on her head, he would tear their limbs off.
A quick glance of the station showed that it was more thinly populated than the sidewalk outside, and Damien spotted Tawny at once. The back of her head was a bright spot, and she was sitting between two people. The leather-clad man next to her had a completely shaved head, covered in dark tattoos. On her other side there appeared to be a bewhiskered scarecrow, leaning disturbing close to her.
Damien closed the distance between them swiftly, fists curling in preparation for conflict, and came around the row of steel chairs to face them.
The biker was flipping through a book that Damien immediately recognized as a cookbook Tawny had been excited about. The homeless man curled up on her other side was reading what appeared to be a knitting magazine.
Damien’s first thought was that they had stolen her books and she was too afraid to move, but Tawny’s smile as she looked up and saw him vanquished the idea in a moment.
“Damien!” she cried cheerfully. “This is Ben, and Leroy.” Ben and Leroy each gave a narrowly suspicious nod as Tawny rose to her feet. “I forgot my phone at your apartment, did you happen to bring it? What happened to your face?! Damien, your beard!”
She did not appear to be in any kind of trouble.
She did, however, seem to be quite dismayed. “What did you do to your beard?”
“I shaved it off. For you,” Damien said crossly.
“But, I loved it,” she said plaintively. “You aren’t you without it.”
“You told me you hated facial hair!”
“You changed my mind!”
“You changed my mind, too,” Damien told her. “Look, I know you aren’t happy here. I’ve put in my two weeks notice. I will live anywhere you want. Please don’t leave me.” He was keenly aware of the attention from Leroy, the biker who had stood up next to Tawny with his arms crossed, and Ben, who still seemed to be trying to hide behind the knitting magazine and avidly watch them at the same time.
Tawny blinked at him. “Leave you? Didn’t you get my text message? Patricia had her baby! A beautiful little sister for Clara. I knew you were going to be busy the next few days, and I wanted to go see her as soon as possible. I was planning to pack up some boxes to bring back with me, and talk to Patricia’s husband about what it would cost to fix up the house to sell.”
“I didn’t get a text,” Damien said, pulling both his phone out of his jacket pocket and hers.
“I’ll show you,” Tawny promised, taking her phone and unlocking it with her fingerprint. There was an open text conversation, with her message typed out... and not sent. “Oh, good grief.”
A chuckle escaped before Damien could stuff it back down.
“Don’t laugh!” Tawny protested. “I told you this phone was above my technology level.”
“I’m not laughing at you,” Damien told her. “I’m just... relieved you’re alright.” He politely did not glance at her questionable companions. “Wait, sell your house?”
“You hate Green Valley,” Tawny said, not quite meeting his eyes.
“I don’t hate Green Valley!” Damien protested.
“You told Shelley it has no culture and smells like cows!”
“It does sometimes smell like cows! But... I don’t find that... exactly objectionable. Tawny, I want to be where you are. I want to be where you’re happy.”
“But you’re not happy in my house.”
Leroy, who had been watching the exchange with growing perplexity. “So get a new house,” he suggested.
There was a moment of silence.
“I don’t hate Green Valley,” Damien said, thoughtfully this time.
Tawny said hesitantly, “Madison has some culture. It’s not too far away to go out for dinner or theater sometimes.”
“There are some nice houses up in the hills in Patricia and Lee’s neighborhood,” Damien suggested.
The hope in Tawny’s eyes was a beautiful thing. “Green Valley does have a vastly superior book club,” she pointed out.
“Tawny, will you buy a house with me? Something we’ll both like, near Green Valley, where the cats can be inside-outside cats and the kitchen isn’t too big and shiny. Something with a garden.”
Tawny threw her arms around him at last. “Yes. Yes, please. Oh, can we?”
Damien kissed her soundly and set her back on her feet. “Let me drive you to Green Valley to see the new baby, and we’ll start looking at listings this week.”
“I already paid for a bus ticket...” Tawny started to say, but her eyes were twinkling.
“I am not letting you take the night bus...”
She slipped her hand into his. “I’d rather go with you, Damien.”
Leroy tried to hand her back the cookbook. “No, you keep that, Leroy,” she told him. “The ladies love a man who can cook.”
Ben made no attempt to hand back her magazine, folding it into himself defensively. He did shake Tawny’s hand, though, and mumble his thanks.
Chapter 36
The trees along the driveway were thick with green leaves and an unruly front lawn was already ankle-deep in grass and clover, with bright dandelions everywhere. An unkempt flower bed bloomed with lilies and irises.
A For Sale sign was hanging from the porch.
Tawny eyes it thoughtfully as Damien led her up to the front door and unlocked it.
The house was unlit, but early sunlight spilled in from uncurtained windows, illuminating a large, empty foyer. An open door gave a glimpse at an enormous open kitchen and dining area, everything in pale wood and chrome.
Tawny expected Damien to take her on a tour of the house. Instead, he drew her back through the foyer to the back door, which opened out onto a garden.
It was a tragedy of neglect, overgrown and tangled with weeds. Beds of perennials were choked with grass and volunteer fruit tree saplings. Top-heavy apple trees bowed low over what must have once been raised vegetable beds. The skeleton of a greenhouse was covered in tattered plastic sheeting. Moles had clearly been at the wild lawn; it was as much clover and dandelions and lumps of dirt as it was grass.
And it took Tawny’s breath away.
She could just imagine what it would look like with a little care.
There was room to plant a winter’s worth of potatoes, and still have rows of peas and beans and carrots. The bones of the greenhouse looked sturdy enough; maybe tomatoes and peppers were possible.
As Tawny stepped out into the space in wonder, she realized that there were rose bushes against the house, sprawling with wicked thorns over the cobblestone paths. The brambles were covered in miniature roses in all colors.
At some point, she had grabbed onto Damien’s arm and she clung to him in wonder and longing as she gazed around.
“What is this?” she finally dared to ask.
“Your garden,” Damien said. “If you want it,” he added.
She wanted it like she had never wanted anything in her life.
Anything before him.
“Mine,” she breathed.
Damien gave her a sideways glance
. “I haven’t signed anything y—”
“Sign it!” Tawny said without thinking twice.
Damien smiled slowly at her. “We wanted a place that was ours. Yours and mine. Something that wasn’t entirely either of our worlds.”
Tawny stopped drinking in the garden and turned to him seriously. “I would live in the city for you,” she said solemnly. “And I don’t need a garden if I have you.” She took his hands in her own.
“And I would live right in Green Valley with you,” Damien told her just as firmly, clasping her fingers in his. “Busybody neighbors, book clubs and all.”
“This is the best of everything,” Tawny said longingly. “It’s just a few miles from town, there’s more space for you here than in my tiny house. You’d be happier in a place like this. And Damien, this garden.”
“There’s just one problem with it,” Damien said, frowning at her. Already, his beard was coming back in, not quite enough to cover his beautiful mouth.
Tawny caught her breath, already in love with the house and its land. Was there a problem with the sale? Another buyer? A haunted graveyard? She would take ghosts if it meant having her dream garden. “What is it?” she asked trepidatiously.
“We’re a ways from town, out here. You’ll... need a car.”
Someone else might have thought he was angry, his face was so serious and firm. But Tawny could see that his eyes were dancing.
She balled up a fist and punched him in the arm. “You can’t just buy me a car,” she teased.
“Can I buy you a house full of books?” Damien teased in return, just the hint of a smile at his handsome mouth.
“No,” Tawny said, unable to keep from laughing. “But I’ll let you buy me a garden... with a few accessories.”
Damien grinned then, and when he leaned towards her, Tawny put her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly. “Marry me,” he said, the moment she released his lips. Like most of what he said, it didn’t sound like a request, but when she smiled at him without answering, he added, “Please?”
Tawny couldn’t speak for a moment, thinking about how much her life had changed in just a handful of weeks. She could not imagine her life without this man at her side, no matter where they ended up.
It was not the retirement she had planned.
It was even better.
“Oh, Damien,” she said, as he began to frown at her thoughtful silence. “Of course I’ll marry you. You need me.”
Then he was catching her up in his arms and capturing her mouth.
Epilogue
The garden cleaned up every bit as well as Tawny had imagined. It wasn’t too late in the season to get new perennials in, and though Tawny had to buy starts, by fall, the vegetable beds were groaning with produce. Lee had his construction company put shining new panels of greenhouse glass over the frame as an early wedding gift, and fat tomatoes and peppers filled the structure.
The lawn was re-rolled and seeded, all of the dandelions tamed and the fruit trees were trimmed back to healthy branches.
Tawny stood alone near the house, looking across the lawn to where Damien stood.
It was not a wedding like Patricia’s had been, with most of Green Valley, mobs of children, and stray goats, but she knew that neither she nor Damien would have enjoyed that much chaos.
It wasn’t quite as spare as Shaun and Andrea’s courthouse elopement, either.
They each had their closest friends and family in attendance, without even bothering with a formal wedding party. Marta and May were dressed exactly as they would for the book club, except that Marta had left her hair loose and May was wearing earrings. Shaun and Andrea stood near Shelley with Trevor. Patricia and Lee were there also, Clara like a little golden angel next to them. Baby Victoria made quiet noises of baby protest in Patricia’s arms.
Tawny smiled. There weren’t babies in her future with Damien, and she wasn’t sorry for that. They were having an autumn marriage, in the autumn of their lives. And how lucky was she, to have this chance to share the rest of her life with someone like Damien, who made her feel young and beautiful and ready to live.
He turned towards her then, and Tawny drew in a breath of anticipation, took a tighter grip on her bouquet, and marched down the path towards him.
“I understand you have prepared your own vows?” the preacher prompted, when she took her place opposite from the man she was marrying.
Tawny nodded, and took out the notecard she had prepared in case her nerves failed her. But after staring at it sightlessly for a moment, she put it away.
“Damien, when I met you, I thought you were the most arrogant, conceited man I’d ever laid eyes on.”
The little audience gave a ripple of laughter, but Tawny continued to gaze at Damien.
“But I’m really glad that you insisted we have dinner, because underneath that amazing ego was the best thing that has ever happened to me. I am so grateful that you fell into my life, and I have never met anyone as smart and funny and sweet. Every day I’m surprised and glad that you chose me, and every day I choose you all over again. I will love you forever and look forward to spending the rest of my life with you.”
Damien’s face twitched into a smile.
“Tawny, when I met you, I knew at once that you were mine, forever. What I didn’t realize then is how completely I would be yours. You are the wisdom and beauty in my world, and I vow to honor and protect and adore you. I will love you to the end of days and back and I am so grateful that you got past my amazing ego and let me share your life.”
Tawny had to wipe away the tears that overflowed from her heart, smiling foolishly at him, as their friends and family laughed and applauded.
They exchanged simple gold bands, Tawny’s hands trembling only a little.
“By the power vested in me by the State of Wisconsin, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Damien gathered her into his arms, but paused with his mouth just inches away. “Tawny, may I kiss you?”
Tawny answered with her mouth, slipping her arms up around his strong shoulders as she pressed her lips to his. She finally drew back to the cheers of the small audience and Damien took her hand as they walked to accept their congratulations.
“You look so beautiful,” Patricia said, hugging her around the wriggling baby. Lee shook everyone’s hands, and Andrea hugged everyone and cried.
“Come eat,” Shaun invited. “We’ve got cake to cut!”
“Cake!” Clara and Trevor chorused in excitement. They raced for the door.
Tawny lingered as the rest of the party went inside, looking over her perfect garden with a contented sigh.
“Was it everything you hoped for?” Damien asked, suddenly at her elbow.
Tawny looked up at him. His beard was thick again, short and neatly shaped. “Even more,” she said.
“I wanted to get you something amazing for your wedding gift,” he said, smiling down at her. There was a small, slim package in his hands, wrapped in silver paper. “I thought about getting you something big—but you wouldn’t wear extravagant jewelry, and I didn’t figure you’d appreciate a pony or an airplane.”
“I wouldn’t want a pony in my garden,” Tawny agreed.
“It’s a little silly,” Damien warned.
“It’s a book,” Tawny guessed, taking it. “I love books.”
She unwrapped it, turned it over to the front cover, and burst out laughing.
“The Tawny, Scrawny Lion!” she exclaimed, nearly losing her her balance as she opened the children’s book.
“First edition,” Damien showed her. “Signed by the artist!”
“It’s better than my gift for you,” Tawny said abashedly.
“Let’s not make it a competition,” Damien said with a smile.
“I knitted you a sweater,” Tawny said sheepishly.
“You said sweaters were nigh impossible,” Damien said in astonishment. “And that you hadn’t knitted in fifteen years.”
“And you said you wanted one,” Tawny reminded him. “I hope it’s not too ugly. I had to rip out both the sleeves twice.”
“I will wear it every day,” Damien said sincerely. “No matter how ugly it is.”
“It is too heavy to wear in the summer,” she warned.
“I will wear it the whole year anyway,” he said. “Because you made it for me, and because I will love you in every season.”
“In every season,” Tawny echoed.
Then he bent to kiss her, and there they stayed, savoring each other, until a whiny voice interrupted them.
“There’s caaaaaake, Grandpa! Stop kissing and come cut it.”
“Please?” Clara added more politely, but no less impatiently.
Laughing, Tawny and Damien broke apart and followed them into the house, hand in hand.
Note from Zoe Chant
I hope you enjoyed the first three books of Green Valley! It’s a fun little town to visit and tell stories in. Shelley Powell gets her own happy ever after next in BEARLY TOGETHER – keep reading for a sneak preview!
I always love to know what you thought – you can leave a review at Amazon or Goodreads or Bookbub (I read them all, and they help other readers find me, too!) or email me at [email protected].
If you’d like to be emailed when I release my next book, please click here to be added to my mailing list. You can also visit my webpage, or follow me on Facebook or Twitter. You are also invited to join my VIP Readers Group on Facebook, where I show off new covers first, and you can get sneak previews and ask questions.
The cover of Dancing Bearfoot was designed by Layla Lawlor. The covers of The Tiger Next Door and Dandelion Season were designed by Ellen Million
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