Forever In Love (5 page)

The next day there were more people than Emily expected for the tour of Morgan’s extensive herb and flower gardens. Some of the visitors were there for the history, some for the opportunity to tour a space that managed to be beautifully wild in spite of its careful cultivation, and a few were there simply because it was where TV star Morgan Walker had just gotten married.

Emily did her best to cater to all of them. “When our great-grandfather started growing berries, this is where he first started. He lived here, too, right next to the site of those first fields. We’ll go see the place in a few minutes.”

“He didn’t live up at the Walker house in town?” one of the tourists asked.

Emily shook her head. “That came a little later, once his business took off and the town started to grow and more berry pickers and ferry workers settled on the island.”

“Will we get a chance to see that house?”

“I’m sorry, it’s a private home now.” But even as she said it, she couldn’t help but think that it was going to be a different kind of home now with just her and Grams living there.

“If you'll follow me to the far end of the field,” Emily said, “we can talk about some of the varieties of berries grown on the island and the role my grandfather played in hybridizing some of them.”

She caught sight of Michael as she led the group to the far end of the north field. He was trimming back plants as he worked to keep the berry brambles in check. He waved when he saw Emily, and she waved back. She noticed a couple of the female members of the group waved to him, as well. Quite hopefully, it seemed, given that they’d probably also noticed how good he looked in his plaid shirt, jeans, and work boots.

“Who’s that?” one of them asked.

“That’s Michael.” Emily smiled as she said his name. “He often helps our family out with things.”

“So he’s your handyman?”

“No. He’s…”

What
was
Michael, exactly? A close friend to her family? Their surrogate brother? Grams’ foster grandson? The Walkers’ regular gatecrasher at mealtimes? The man who kept their house from falling down around them?

Or was he more than that?

So much more...

“We shouldn’t distract him,” Emily said, pressing on. “He’s got a lot to get through here, and so do we.”

That was when she spotted the dog. It wasn’t a big dog, maybe the size of a small Spaniel, although its breed seemed a lot less clear. It was one of those dogs that seemed to have a bit of everything crammed into its small frame. It had shaggy hair that had probably been white once, but was currently various shades of beige and brown. The poor thing was scruffy and tangled from being outside.

The dog was standing in the middle of a row of roses, looking at Emily with obvious interest, as though wondering what she was going to do next. When she took a step toward it, it disappeared back into the bushes, only to reappear farther along, still looking at her.

The dog was clearly a stray. Just one look was enough to tell Emily that it had been out in the open awhile, without anyone to take care of it. Emily loved dogs, but she had never gotten to spend much time around them given Paige’s allergies.

She wanted to go over to make sure it was all right, but she couldn’t leave the visitors to Morgan’s farm hanging. Fortunately, Emily could see Michael was now watching the dog, too, and had moved to work fairly close to it.

“So over here, we have…”

The script she’d come up with for the tour came out automatically, which was just as well as she was busy trying to keep an eye on the dog. Emily watched as it made its way around the garden, sniffing at the growing herbs and flowers, occasionally glancing back in her direction as if to say,
I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to wait for you.

“And that concludes our tour for today,” Emily said at last, sighing inwardly with relief as the tourists made their way back to their cars.

Morgan’s idea of opening up the old family homestead as an attraction might have been a good one from the point of view of preserving their family’s history on the island, but today it had meant not being able to do the one thing Emily had wanted to do for the better part of an hour.

“Hello, boy. You must be lost.” Emily made her way toward the dog, holding out her hand. This time, it didn’t dart away, but moved forward cautiously instead.

“I was wondering how long it would take you to come over here once the tour was finished,” Michael said, stepping beside her. The dog looked at him, but kept closer to Emily.

“You could have gone over to him,” she pointed out.

“No,” he said with a shake of his head, “I could tell he liked you more than me. Are you thinking about adopting him?”

“Adopting him?” Emily honestly hadn’t gone there. Even as a little girl she’d known they couldn’t have a dog without making Paige’s eyes and nose run. “No, I can’t. Paige is allergic to dogs, remember?”

Michael reached out, putting a hand on her arm. “Paige doesn’t live there anymore. And she can put up with a dog when she and Christian come back to the island to visit and drop by the house. Besides, everyone knows how much you’ve always wanted a dog.”

“Everyone?”

“Well,” he said, his dark eyes holding hers, “
I’ve
always known. Why don’t you just take him in? He’s obviously in need of a good home, and I couldn’t think of a better one than with you. I’m sure Ava will be fine with it. After everything else that has been in that house, do you think one little dog is going to make a difference?”

He had a point there. Her grandmother had put up with children, parties, and all kinds of chaos over the years. One small dog probably wasn’t going to make any difference to her.

Even so, Emily knew that things had to be done properly. “I can’t just take the dog and make him mine, Michael. He might have an owner somewhere looking for him. There might be people trying to find him.”

The dog whined, coming close enough now to brush up against her legs. Michael looked from him to Emily. “He doesn’t look much like he has just run off from someone, does he? He has obviously been out here awhile.”

Emily took another long look at the dog. He truly did look scrawny and ill-fed, as if he’d been living out in the open for a while. Fortunately, though, he was friendly enough to let Emily stroke his back.

“Come on, Emily,” Michael coaxed her. “You know you want to take him home.”

He was right, she did. Very much. But she couldn’t let herself get attached to the hope that this dog might become hers until she made sure it was actually possible. “We need to take him to the vet to check out his health and to see if he has a chip. If he does, the vet will probably be able to locate his owner.”

Each time she said the word
vet
, the dog growled softly.

“I don’t think he likes that word very much,” Michael said.

“Well, tough.” She knelt by the dog and continued stroking his fur gently. “Sometimes we have to do things we’re afraid of because they’re good for us. But I won’t let anything bad happen to you. I promise.”

Between them, they managed to coax the dog into Emily’s car. They drove to the island’s veterinary office, where they were quickly shown to Cameron Bainton’s office. They both knew him from school, but neither had seen much of him over the years.

He smiled as Emily and Michael came in. “Emily, Michael, it’s good to see you again. I saw the pictures of you and your family at the wedding, Emily. Everyone looked so happy. Now,” he said with a look at the dog, “who’s this little guy?”

“That’s what we were hoping you could tell us, Cameron,” Emily said. “We found him in Morgan’s garden.”

Cameron examined the dog with the thorough attention Emily remembered of him. He’d always paid attention in class and gotten good grades.

“Is it busy for you here as the only vet on the island?” Michael asked as Cameron continued his examination.

“Some days are busier than others, but we do get a lot of emergencies.”

“Weren’t you tempted to leave the island after finishing school to work in a bigger city?” Michael asked.

“Why would anyone want to leave the island?”

Emily smiled. She felt exactly the same way.

Cameron went back to examining the dog, who was squirming and trying to get off the examination table. Emily decided it would be best if she helped out by holding him in place. Fortunately, when she began to scratch his ears, he looked up at her with pure joy and relaxed.

“You stayed on at the school, didn’t you, Emily?” Cameron asked while he worked.

“Yes, as a guidance counselor. I really enjoy working with the kids.”

“It’s good to have a job where you’re making a difference. Something you love doing.” From the way he smiled at her as he said it, Emily got the feeling that if she and Cameron had been alone, he might have said more than that. Maybe even asked her out.

“So,” Michael interrupted, his voice a little gruffer than usual, “what’s the verdict? Is the little guy okay?”

“He’s not doing badly, considering that he’s obviously been living rough. There aren’t any major problems that I can see, and a few minor tests will tell us if there's anything we need to worry about. He’s just a bit dirty and underfed. He needs care and love, but then, we could all do with that.”

When he smiled at Emily again, this time she was
positive
that he was interested in her as more than a new client who had brought in a stray dog.

Interestingly, she was also positive that Michael’s ruff was up a bit. As if he was jealous.

Turning her focus back to the dog, she asked, “Is he chipped so that we can find out who he belongs to?”

“There’s no chip. My guess is that he’s a stray who came over on one of the boats from Seattle. We have a real problem with that here on the island. The animals stow away or people bring them over and lose them. I could check with the local animal shelter and some vets on the mainland, but in the meantime, our little friend here has to go somewhere. I could call the animal shelter if you can’t take him in.”

“No,” Michael said. “He’d be happier with you, Emily. We can all see that. He already adores you.”

“Can we really just take him?” Emily asked as the hope she’d been trying to hold at bay blossomed.

“We?” He was looking from her to Michael as if trying to work out what sort of relationship they had.

Emily focused on the dog, ruffling his ears. “He’ll go to the house with me,” she clarified. “Plus, Grams will be there later this week.” She looked into the dog’s scruffy face. “How about it? Would you like to come home with me?”

The dog barked, and Emily took that to be a
yes
. She wasn’t about to let a dog like this end up in a rescue shelter when she was in a position to help him—even if he might have an owner who would soon take him away from her.

“I’ll let you know if I find out anything about a possible former owner,” Cameron said. “It’s probably best if you leave me your number, Emily, so that I can call you if I find out anything.”

Emily stroked the dog’s head. “We’ll soon have you home, little guy. I hope you’re going to like living with me for a while.”

Michael smiled. “Something tells me that if you give this dog half the attention you’ve given everyone else in your life, he’s going to be a very happy dog indeed.”

“Thanks, Cameron,” Michael said as they prepared to leave the clinic. “It was good seeing you again.”

“You, too,” Cameron said, although his comment seemed more directed at Emily than Michael. He had no doubt the other man would have asked her out if he weren’t there. The only thing in question was—would she have said yes?

Michael had to work to push his jealous thoughts aside as Emily led the dog out to her car, a look of obvious happiness on her face. She couldn’t stop smiling at the dog. He knew exactly how much she’d always wanted one of her own, and it was good to see her finally get her wish.

“You’re going to a good home,” Michael said, bending to scratch the dog’s ears. It woofed softly in response.

“Well, just until we can find his owners,” Emily reminded him, but she didn’t say it with much enthusiasm.

Even though Cameron had just told them that the odds of finding any owners weren’t great, she was clearly working to keep her emotions in check, rather than letting herself truly believe that she now had a dog.

Michael had come over to the house yesterday morning to set into motion the next step in his plan to woo her, but then he’d seen her standing there in the kitchen looking so lost. So sad. There had been so many changes for her already, with all of her sisters moving out in the past year. And just as he’d told Grams at the wedding, he couldn’t stand the thought of doing anything to hurt Emily. So he’d deliberately held back again when he’d asked her to breakfast, all the while planning to begin wooing her in earnest today, after they both finished with their chores at the garden. But then they’d found the dog.

Clearly, trying to prove to Emily that he loved her—and that she loved him—was going to take a lot of time and patience. But he figured he could at least help things along a little for the dog.

“Have you thought of a name?”

“I don’t know if I should give him one,” she replied. “I mean, if his owners show up, he’ll just end up confused by having two names.” She gave the dog a long look. “But if no one shows up, I don’t think it’s fair to call him Boy forever.”

Michael swore the dog shook his head just then, as if he could understand every word she was saying. He wondered if Emily saw it, too, because she smiled and said, “I think he looks like a Gus.” The dog sat up straighter, as if he was already responding to his new name. And liked it. “There are so many things we need to do. We need to get a bowl, and a leash, and some dog food. We’ll need to get some of the tangles out of your fur and give you a bath—”

Gus barked again. Did he understand the word bath the way he seemed to understand so many other things?

Michael reached out to put a hand on Emily’s shoulder. “You’ll be fine. You managed to bring up a whole house full of sisters. I’m pretty sure looking after one dog is going to be a piece of cake.”

They went to the local pet store, with Michael driving because Gus insisted on sitting with Emily, curling up on her lap so that she was quickly covered in mud. But she clearly didn’t mind.

Once they arrived at the store, Gus was well behaved enough to let the staff fuss over him while Emily picked out everything he’d need. “Let’s see, we need a leash, a doggy bed, dog food, treats…”

It was a long list, and Michael was sure that if he’d pointed that out to Emily, she would have been shocked at the idea of getting so much stuff when there was still a chance that Gus might have an owner out there somewhere.

He didn’t point it out, of course. Not when it was so good to see her so happy. Gus looked happy, too, wagging his tail like crazy, seeming to know just how lucky he was.

“He’s going to take some cleaning up,” one of the store clerks said. “You should make sure you’ve got lots of towels,” the woman advised. “And you might want to get some of this special dog shampoo.”

With the backseat of Emily’s car loaded up with supplies, the two of them took Gus back to the Walker house and straight upstairs to the bathroom. The little dog definitely seemed to understand what was coming next, because he squirmed quite a bit as Emily lifted him into the bath.

“This doesn’t look like it’s going to be easy,” Michael said with a laugh.

“How hard can it be?” Emily insisted. “Gus isn’t that big.”

It turned out, however, that size bore no relation to the amount of chaos—and mess—that could be created when a dirty dog met a tub full of warm water. In less than ten seconds, there was water everywhere. It spilled over the edge of the tub and splashed the walls.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like the water. The problem seemed to be that he thought it was a game. A really fun game in which he would splash in the water, shaking himself out in a way that only served to get Emily and Michael as wet as he was. He barked at the soap bubbles, creating a huge splash every time he tried to bite one.

In a matter of minutes, Michael, Gus, and Emily were all more or less equally soaked. Michael’s clothes were plastered to him, and it was impossible not to notice the way that Emily’s clung to her.

They were pressed so close together on the side of the tub, trying to wrestle the dog into something approaching cleanliness, that Michael was aware of Emily’s every movement. The small brush of her hand against his as she tried to comb out one of the tangles in Gus’ fur. The way she was breathing faster thanks to the effort of fighting Gus at every turn. How she was mere inches from him as Michael held Gus in place. And how sweetly she was taking care of the dog who had come so unexpectedly into her life.

It took them a half hour to get the dog clean and dry. Thirty minutes in which they were tangled together next to the tub, trying to get Gus to stay still long enough to get him cleaned properly. A half hour in which the chemistry between them started to simmer in a
serious
way. One that Michael could tell even Emily was hard-pressed to try to ignore.

It would have been so easy to reach out and touch her just then, and Michael was almost,
almost
, certain that touch would spark into more. But he’d promised himself that he would wait until the time was right—that he wouldn’t risk letting her push him away again—so he forced himself to hold back.

Finally, they were done, and Gus looked like a completely different dog. “Thank you for helping me with him,” Emily said, water clinging to her face and arms. “I didn’t think we’d get this wet.”

“I needed to clean up after working in the garden anyway,” he joked.

“Could I make you dinner as a thank-you?”

“You don’t need to do anything to thank me, Emily. I was happy to help.” He grinned. “But you know I’m always up for dinner.”

She was laughing as she headed to her bedroom to change into something dry after giving him one of her father’s shirts to put on while she put his into the washing machine. By the time Michael got both himself and the bathroom cleaned up, Emily was almost done making dinner. She’d made salmon and pasta for the two of them, and Gus got a dish of dog food on the floor close to the kitchen table.

“Gus was really nice about the bath,” she said as she looked fondly at the dog wolfing down his dinner. “It went better than I thought it would.”

“Fortunately, some things work out better than you think they will,” Michael agreed. “I’m starting to think that sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith and go for what you want.”

She stared at him for a long moment—long enough that he wondered if she was finally thinking about taking a leap of faith with
him.
But when the dog came over to let her scratch him on the head, giving a sigh of extreme pleasure at her touch, all she ended up saying was, “Gus was a very good boy. Do you want to take him for a walk with me now?”

Michael got up to take their plates to the sink. “Sure, I’ll go get his leash.”

With his new collar and leash and freshly cleaned fur, Gus looked really cute as they headed into town. He occasionally darted off to investigate an interesting smell, but he always came back to be as close to Emily as possible.

Michael knew exactly how Gus felt.

This moment was so nearly everything Michael had ever dreamed of. A simple life for the two of them, with their own dog, their own house. But he didn’t want to be just Emily’s friend who dreamed of something more with her. He wanted to actually
have
more with her. He wanted to go beyond friends. Way beyond, not only to becoming lovers, but to the point where they both knew that they were each other’s
forever.

They walked back up to the Walker house, stopping on the porch, and Emily laughed as Gus rolled onto his back, silently demanding that she scratch his tummy. “It seems that my new dog is good at asking for what he wants, isn’t he?”

Yes, Michael thought, he sure was. And because Gus was good at asking, he was getting his tummy tickled. Briefly, just briefly, Michael thought about heading home—this had been a perfect day with Emily, and he didn’t want to do anything to spoil it. But he couldn’t leave.

Not until he took a page out of the dog's lesson book and finally asked for what he wanted, too.

“Emily?”

“Hmm?”

“I want to kiss you.”

That got her attention, and he guessed that she was probably about to say something about how they couldn’t, or shouldn’t, kiss. But Michael couldn’t bear to hear that.

And he couldn’t keep his distance from her for one more second, either.

So he took another step closer, took one of her hands in his to draw her to her feet, and kissed her. Kissed her with all the love in his heart. Kissed her with all the passion that had been simmering between them all day...and for years before that.

For the first moment or two after their lips met, she went perfectly still, as if in complete shock. But then—
thank God
—she began to kiss him back. With an intensity that stunned him.

Michael could taste her mouth against his, sweet and soft and
perfect.
And as he held her close to him, they were two people who needed one another completely.

He had often dreamed about what it might be like to kiss Emily. But the reality was far more than anything he had imagined. More beautiful. More intense. Just
more
.

No other kiss he’d ever had even came close to it. And when they finally pulled back from one another, he found himself trying to catch his breath, and he could see Emily was doing the same.

He thought about kissing her again, even more passionately this time and telling her once more about everything he felt for her. Yet Michael knew Emily too well for that. If he pushed any further, she would just push back, and probably push him away altogether. Or he could force himself to take a step back and have faith that she would face the truth of her emotions in time.

She’d always been the person he trusted most. With everything...especially his heart. So he would trust her yet again.

Which was why he simply gently pressed his lips to hers one more time before saying, “I had a great day with you, and I’m happy you found Gus,” then making himself leave, while hoping that Emily would think about their kiss for the rest of the night. Just the way he knew he would.

All night long.