Chris’s face beamed with excitement and I was honestly happy for him that he had found his passion. But doggy daycare? I was not letting that shit go.
“Doggy. Daycare? What in the hell is that?”
“You’ve never heard of doggy daycare? What is wrong with you? You need a dog, dude.”
Laughing, I shook my head and said, “Um, no I don’t. Again though, what is doggy daycare?”
Leaning back, Chris took a swig of beer. “It’s what it sounds like. People drop their dogs off for the day while they go to work. It’s daycare for dogs.”
I sat there stunned. Did people really love their dogs that much? Why didn’t they just keep them in the back yard? Or in a crate? “People pay for that? Seriously?”
Chuckling, Chris nodded his head. “Yep.”
Leaning back in my chair, I said, “Wow. I’ve got nothing. Jesus, the day I pay to put a dog in doggy daycare is the day someone better take me to an open field and shoot me.”
My phone went off and I saw it was Ryn letting me know she was done for the day. I quickly responded back to her text.
Chris laughed as he finished off his beer. “So, back to the party. You think she’ll be surprised and not expecting what you’re going to do?”
Grinning, I said, “Yeah, she’s not gonna expect a surprise party at all.”
“I agree. Do you think you should tell her though, you know at least give her a heads up?”
Shaking my head, I said, “I don’t know, I really wanted it to be a surprise.”
Standing up, Chris slapped me on the back. “Okay, well I hope you know what you’re doing.”
Smiling, I nodded my head. Ryn hated any attention on her. When I had asked Azurdee about throwing Ryn a surprise welcome party to introduce her to all my parents’ friends and friends of mine, she told me I needed to give Ryn a heads up. I was hell bent on surprising her though. I wanted to show her how happy I was she was picking up her life and moving here to be with me. Who doesn’t love a surprise party? I started having second thoughts. The last thing I wanted to do was start our new life and have her be upset with me.
Standing with Chris I was doubting my decision on the whole surprise aspect of this party. “Yeah, maybe I should talk to Ryn first about this.”
MY HANDS BEGAN SHAKING THE moment I pulled up to the house. I wasn’t sure why—new life, new home, new adventures? There was still a very small part of me that was scared to death Tristan would get spooked again, but it was slowly fading away as the days passed.
I had dinner with Dodge, Azurdee, and Lark last night. Azurdee and Lark filled me in on everything happening in their world. I was so happy for them both. They had gone through so much and to come out in the end so head over heels in love was just heartwarming.
Closing my eyes, I thought back to my phone conversation with my mother.
“What do you mean you’re moving to South Texas? Do you mean south Austin?”
Rolling my eyes I said, “No, Mom, I mean I’m moving to be with Tristan on his family’s ranch. His father had a heart attack and Tristan is now going to run his family’s ranch. It’s something he has been dreaming of doing for a while now.”
“And tell me why, Kathryn, we paid good money for you to get a college degree so you could go be a farmer’s wife?”
Wife?
Pushing that thought from my mind, I took in a sharp breath and blew it out. “Mom, it’s a ranch. Not a farm. I still have my business that is growing more and more. I’ve just landed a huge company that is really going to change things for me.”
“The only thing that needs changing is your way of thinking. Home is where you need to be.”
Inhaling a deep breath in, I shook my hands a few times and got ready to start my new life. Opening the door, I stepped out and smiled when I looked at Peter and Joyce’s house.
Home. This was now my home.
My heart filled with hope. Hope for a future that was going to be more amazing than I had ever dreamed.
Tristan didn’t think I was heading back until next week. I had moved up a few business meetings that I had to be present for and got those out of the way yesterday. It had been one hell of a day yesterday, but it was worth it. Knowing I would be in Tristan’s arms four days earlier than we thought had my libido jumping with excitement.
Reaching into the back seat of my car, I pulled out my day bag and decided to leave my other stuff for later. I had my back seat and trunk full of stuff. I must have mailed twenty-five huge boxes over the last two weeks down here of just business stuff.
