Mine to Have (Southern Wedding #1)

"Yes," I confirm. "But she didn’t live here."

"That she didn’t," she says. "She barely came here. I think she did once, and then she was going to move in when they got married." She looks down at her hands and then up again. "I didn’t think I’d ever see him happy again." She blinks away the tears that are welling up in her eyes. "Every time I would ask him if he was okay, he would bark at me that he was fine, but I knew he wasn’t."

"I know how that feels. He wasn’t the only one not happy."

"When he told me he was getting married, I knew it was a mistake. God, I felt it in my bones. I tried so hard to be supportive, but then every time the wedding discussion came up, he just said I don’t care, just do whatever. Who does that?" She shakes her head. "I bet you everything that I have if I ask him about your wedding, he’s going to have a list of things that he wants done for you."

I can’t help but smile. "I don’t know Jennifer," I say. "And I don’t ask him any questions about it because well, it’s in the past, but I’m really, really happy that I got that invitation in the mail."

She looks at me, and I see her eyes twinkle. "I’m really, really glad I mailed it to you." She winks at me, and I gasp. "I knew that if he saw you, it would change his mind."

"What if I didn’t come?" I ask her.

"I would have had to fake a heart attack," she says, getting up. "Now I’m going to go home and celebrate having my son back." She stops next to me. "And getting a new daughter."

I hug her, and then she walks out of the house, leaving me all alone. Walking over to the fridge, I open it to put the leftovers in it and spot a new jug of milk. "Oh, well played," I say to the empty room. "Well freaking played."

I finish cleaning the kitchen when I hear his car come back. He walks in with two jugs of milk. "Did everyone leave?" he asks, and I nod my head at him. He pulls open the fridge and then spots the milk. "She played me."

"That she did." I laugh and lean against the counter. "That she did."

"What did she tell you?" he asks when he leans against his side of the counter.

"None of your business," I scoff at him. "I didn’t ask you what happened with my parents."

"I was too busy celebrating the fact I didn’t get shot,” he jokes, then looks at me. "I have to talk to you about something."

"What?" I ask nervously, standing straight up.

"Well, I was talking to my partners today," he starts saying. "And we were discussing bringing another vet in." My eyebrows shoot up.

"Just like that, out of the blue." I fold my arms over my chest, looking at him and seeing that he’s lying.

"I mean, I did mention to them that you were moving in with me after I took back the offer for them to buy me out," he confesses, and I shake my head. "And I did mention that you were way better than me." He comes to me and pulls me to him. "And I also said you would only do it if we would be able to have the same shifts."

"I have no words," I say.

"Good, you start in two weeks." He kisses my lips. "Now, can we go and celebrate you moving in with me?” He picks me up and then stops when he gets to the stairs. "Shit," he says. "We don’t have a bed."

"What do you mean you don’t have a bed?" I ask, shocked.

"I assumed that you were bringing yours," he says, and I wiggle down.

"Why the hell did you assume that?" I shriek at him.

"You." He points at me. "You always said how much you love your bed, so I assumed you would bring it with you."

"Did I once say, hey, I’m bringing my bed?" I yell at him. "Not once."

"Let’s go," he says, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the house. He locks the door, and I don’t even ask him questions. Assuming that we’ll be going to a hotel and I’m suddenly so pissed at him. I sit in the car stewing mad at his idiotness when I see us pull up to the place where we spent his wedding night.

"What the hell are we doing here?" I ask, looking over at him. "Did you even get a reservation?"

"Don’t need one." He opens the door and steps out, and before I have a chance to open my own door, he’s there, pulling it open for me to step out.

"I don’t think you can just show up when you want to," I grumble when I get out of the car, and he fishes keys out of his glove box. I look around, seeing that it’s as dark as it was that night, if not darker, since there are no lights on in the house. "I think we are trespassing."

He closes the box and then the car door. "No trespassing," he says before walking up the steps. "This is my house." I look at him with my mouth hanging open. "Bought it four years ago when I moved back." He unlocks the door. "It reminded me of you."

"You bought this house?" I point at the house. "Because it reminded you of me, and you were going to spend your wedding night in it?" I glare at him.

"That was never going to happen," he tells me. "She didn’t even know about this house. The only ones who knew about it were my sisters and my mother." He pushes open the door.

"I have no words for you, Travis," I say, both shocked and lovestruck.

"I have three words for you," he says. "Welcome home, Harlow."





Chapter 29





Travis

"Would you stop calling me?" I hiss into the phone when I pick it up. Looking over my shoulder, I see if Harlow is there. It’s a bit past noon, and I know she’ll be up any minute now.

"I’m only calling you because we want to let you know that it’s done and to know what time you’ll be coming," Shelby hisses back at me, and I look over my shoulder to see Harlow coming down the stairs dressed in one of my shirts.

"Later," I whisper into the phone. "Just be ready." I hang up, putting the phone facedown on the counter. "Morning," I greet, and she walks to me with one eye still closed.

"I called you," she says with a groggy voice. "Like three times." She wraps her arms around my waist. "Who were you on the phone with?"

"My mom," I lie to her and avoid looking at her. "Do you want coffee?"

"Does a bear shit in the woods?" She puts her head back, and I look down at her face and she gives me a shy smile. "I can’t believe it’s already noon."

"Go sit on the couch. I’ll bring you coffee," I say and she walks into the adjoining living room. She was not kidding when she said that her mother would have things delivered the next day. By the time we got back from the cabin the next morning and started unpacking, the truck showed up. Not only that, Olivia had hired people to come and stage the house along with unpack the boxes. I didn’t even know what to think but in a matter of four hours the house looked like it was out of a magazine, and for the first time it felt like a home.

I make the coffee while she gets on the couch and reaches for one of the throw cushions. It’s been a month that we’ve been living with each other, and it’s better than even I could imagine. She started at the clinic two weeks ago, and I was not wrong. She is way better than I will probably ever be. She goes through two patients while I’m still with one. "How did you sleep?" I grab the cups of coffee and walk toward her.

"Better if I woke up with you beside me and not a cold spot." She extends her hand to grab one of the coffee cups from me. She puts both hands on it, and just like every other time, she smells it before she takes a sip. "So good." She puts her legs on mine when I sit next to her. "It’s our first day off." She puts her elbow on the back of the couch, leaning her head on it. "What do you have planned?"

I swallow down and try to be cool, but the whole time, my mouth is suddenly dry, and I feel that I’m going to have word vomit. "I have to go and see something at the cabin. Then we can do whatever you like."

"I’d love to go to the farmers market," she says. "Someone said that the flowers are amazing."

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