Page 27 of Always My Love

ChapterNine

She felt like a fool. Every time she thought of what she and Hailey had been through, her stomach turned. Maybe it was the fact that she was, for the first time in her life, opening up to an outsider. Or maybe it was the fact that Nick was a cop? Either way, she’d lost it when she realized she was about to tell him too much.

She figured it was her body’s way of stopping her from going too far. Whatever the reason, for the rest of the meal, they chatted about the dogs and what they wanted to do for the rest of the day.

Nick suggested a long walk on the beach to wear the puppies out so they could maybe drive into Edgeview for some shopping and a movie.

She wanted to tell him that she’d never been to a movie theater before, but she didn’t want to sound pathetic.

Instead, she eagerly got ready for the walk on the beach.

She’d taken Lucy on a few walks but not on the beach since they were miles away, further up in the hills that surrounded Pride.

Their hikes had been through trees and the fields that surrounded the cabin.

Her dog took to the beach like she was born for it. When Harper said so, Nick pointed out that the Stevens most likely used to take the puppies to the beach, since they lived as close to the water as he did.

While they walked almost a full mile down the beach, Nick talked about the town. He filled her in on each house that they passed, as if he knew she needed to keep her mind off what had happened earlier. She was thankful for that.

When she’d taken Lucy on walks in the past, it had only taken a few moments to clean the dirt off her paws. But when they returned to Nick’s house, both dogs were completely covered in wet sand, and packed snow stuck to their fur.

Nick hosed each dog down, and she dried them off with towels that he provided. When the two of them were dry, they climbed into the kennel and fell fast asleep.

“I think they like being together,” she pointed out.

“Yeah, it’s nice for now. I’ve scheduled a vet appointment for Blue to have his baby-making parts removed.” He sighed. “It’s best that he does not reproduce, especially since it appears he’ll be spending a lot of time with his sister and other siblings. Reece got one of Blue’s brothers and is getting him fixed. He named him Muhammad Ali. Ali for short.” He smiled. “Anyway, he mentioned it the other day so I set an appointment for Blue as well. He goes in to get neutered when he’s old enough.”

“Poor boy,” Harper said, looking down at the dog. “I suppose I should look into getting Lucy fixed too. I am not ready to be a grandmom,” she said with a chuckle.

“How about I go up and change and then we can head to Edgeview?” he suggested.

“I’d like that.” She tried not to sound too eager.

While he went upstairs to change out of the sweats, she took a moment to freshen up in the downstairs bathroom. Thankfully, she always carried a little makeup and a hairbrush with her in her bag.

After applying the basics of makeup, she decided her hair was too tangled from the wind on the beach, so she pulled it to one side and braided it in a loose braid. Then she pulled on the beanie she kept in her bag. She looked presentable.

Nick came back downstairs in a pair of worn jeans and a sweater. He was carrying both of their shoes from the day before.

“Thanks.” She took her shoes from him and sat down to put them on.

“What movie would you like to see?” he asked as he tied his shoes.

She shrugged and asked, “What’s playing?”

He pulled out his phone when he was done tying his shoes and then rattled off a few titles. She hadn’t heard of any of them so suggested he pick the movie. She was okay with whatever.

She was trying desperately to hide the fact that she was just thrilled to be going to an actual theater.

“The new Mission Impossible sounds good,” he suggested.

“Sounds good to me.”

“It’s still snowing. We’ll take the Jeep if that’s okay?” he said as they pulled on their coats.

“Sure,” she said, following him through the light snow.

Once again, he opened her car door for her. She’d never had anyone do that before but had seen the move in a few movies she’d watched at home.