“That’s why, Grandpa.” Angelica pointed to Xavier. He’d knelt down beside the fence, letting the dogs lick him through it. On his face was an expression of the purest ecstasy Troy had ever seen.
All three adults looked at each other. They were three people at odds. But in that moment, in complete silence, a pact arose between them: whatever it takes, we’ll put this child first and help him be happy.
Angelica watched her son reach thin, bluish fingers in to touch the dogs. Listened to Troy lecture them all about the rules for safety: don’t enter the pens without a trained person there, don’t let the dogs out, don’t feed one dog in the presence of others. Her half-broken heart sang with gratitude.
Thanks to God, and Troy, Xavier would have his heartfelt wish. He’d have dogs—multiple dogs—to spend his days with. He’d have a place to call home. He’d have everything she could provide for him to make his time on this earth happy.
And if Xavier was happy, she could handle anything: Troy’s intensity, the questions in his eyes, the leap in her own heart that came from being near this too-handsome man who had never been far from her thoughts in all these years.
“Do you want to see the inside of the barn?” Troy asked Xavier.
“Sure!” He sounded livelier than he had in weeks.
Troy led the way, his shoulders working the crutches. He was such a big man; he’d probably had to get the extra-tall size.
Gramps patted her back, stopping her. “I don’t like it,” he said, “but I understand what you’re doing.”
She draped an arm around his shoulders. “Thanks. That means a lot.”
“Think I’ll wait in the truck, though,” he said. “Being around a Hinton sticks in my craw.”
“Okay, sure.” Truthfully, she was glad to see Gramps go. She doubted that he and Troy could be civil much longer.
She held Xavier’s hand as they walked into the barn and over to the dog pens. The place was pretty clean, considering. Troy must have been wearing himself out to keep it that way.
As Xavier and Troy played with the dogs, she looked around, trying to get a clue into the man. She wandered over to a desk in the corner, obviously a place where he did the kennel business, or some of it.
And there, among a jumble of nails and paper clips, was a leather-studded bracelet she hadn’t seen in seven years. She sucked in a breath as her heart dove down, down, down.
She closed her eyes hard, trying to shut out the memories, but a slide show of them raced through her mind. First date, whirlwind courtship and the most romantic marriage proposal a girl from her background could have imagined. For a few months, she’d felt like a princess in a fairy tale.
Back then, as an engaged couple, they’d helped with the youth group and had gotten the kids True Love Waits bracelets—leather and studs for the guys, more delicate chains for the girls. There had been a couple of extra ones, and one night when the waiting had been difficult, she and Troy had decided to each wear one as a reminder.
Carefully, she picked up the leather band. Her eyes filled with tears as she remembered stroking it on his arm, sometimes jokingly tugging at it when their kisses had gotten too passionate. Back in those innocent, happy days.
She’d ripped hers off and thrown it away on the most awful night of her life. The night she’d turned twenty-one and stupidly gone out with a bunch of friends to celebrate. The night she’d had too much to drink, realized it and accepted the offer of an older acquaintance to walk her home.
The night her purity and innocence and dreams of waiting for marriage had been torn forcibly away.
The next day, when Troy had noticed her bracelet was missing, she’d lied to him, telling him it must have fallen off.
But he’d continued to wear his, joking that he probably needed the reminder more than she did.
“Hey.” He came up behind her now. When he noticed what she was holding, his eyebrows shot up and he took a step back.
She dropped it as if it were made of hot metal. “I’m sorry. That’s not my business. I just happened to see it and...got carried away with the memories.”
He nodded, pressed his lips together. Turned away.
That set face had to be judging her, didn’t it? Feeling disgust at her lack of purity.
She’d been right to leave him. He could never have accepted her after what happened, although knowing him, he’d have tried to pretend. He’d have felt obligated to marry her anyway.
“Mom! Come see!” Xavier cried.
“Xavier!” He’d gone into a section of the barn Troy had warned them was off-limits. “I’m sorry,” she said to Troy, and hurried over to her son. “You have to follow the rules! You could get hurt!”
“But look, Mama!” He knelt in front of a small heap of puppies, mostly gray and white, all squirming around a mother who lay on her side. Her head was lifted, her teeth bared.
“Careful of a mama dog,” Troy said behind her. “Pull him back a foot or two, will you, Angelica? These little guys are only two weeks old, and the mom’s still pretty protective.”
She did, hating the crestfallen expression on Xavier’s face. This ideal situation might have its own risks.
And then Troy reached down, patted the mother dog and carefully lifted a tiny, squirming puppy into Xavier’s lap.
Xavier froze, then put his face down to nuzzle the puppy’s pink-and-white snout. It nudged and licked him back, and then two more puppies crawled into his lap, tumbling over each other. Yips and squeals came from the mass of warm puppy bodies.
“Mom,” Xavier said reverently. “This is so cool.”
Angelica’s heart did a funny little twist. She reached out and squeezed Troy’s arm before she could stop herself.
“Do we really get to live here? Can we sleep in the barn with the puppies?”
Troy laughed. “No, son. You’ll stay in a bunkhouse. Kind of like an Old West cowboy. Want to see?”
“Sure!” His eyes were on Troy with something like hero worship, and worry pricked at Angelica’s chest. Was Xavier going to get too attached to Troy?
Then again, if it would make him happy... Angelica swallowed hard and shut out thoughts of the future. “Let’s go!” she said with a voice that was only slightly shaky.
When they reached the bunkhouse and walked inside, Angelica felt her face break out into a smile. “It’s wonderful, Troy! When did you do all this work on it?” She remembered the place as an old, run-down outbuilding, but now modern paneling and new windows made it bright with sunshine on wood. It needed curtains, maybe blue-and-white gingham. The rough-hewn pine furniture was sparse, but with a few throw pillows and afghans, the place would be downright homey.
A home. She’d wanted one forever, and even more after she’d become a mom.
Troy’s watchful eyes snapped her out of her happy fantasies. “You like it?”
“It’s fantastic.” She realized he’d never answered her question about when he’d done the work.
“You’re easy to please.” His voice was gruff.
She smiled and squatted down beside Xavier. “We both are. Pretty near perfect, isn’t it, Zavey Davey?”
“Yes. Sure, Mama.”
Her