Finally Found (Doms of Destiny, Colorado 10)

“Me either. Reminds me of you and I when we were boys having our water fights at Mom and Dad’s house.”

Jacob laughed. “Guns. Balloons. Buckets. But the best was the time we used the hose, remember?”

“How could I forget? I meant to drown you but ended up soaking Mom.”

Jacob smiled. “I was sure you and I were in big trouble. But when she grabbed the hose and turned it on us laughing, the game was on. And when Uncle Hiro drove up, she shot him full on. What a day that was. One of the best.”

“Yes, it was.” Josh scanned the group of kids and saw Jaris and Chance headed his way from the parking lot. Chance had his service dog Annie on a lead.

“Thanks, fellas, for filling in for us last night,” Jaris said. “We really appreciate it.”

“Of course,” Jacob said. “You needed to be with Sugar. How many puppies did she have?”

“Eight,” Chance said. “Four males and four females. Kaylyn says if you guys want a German shepherd of your own to come out when the puppies are ready to leave their mother and pick one. About two months from now.”

“Aren’t they all supposed to become service dogs, like Sugar and Annie?” Josh reached down and petted Chance’s dog.

“We have other dogs that will be delivering soon,” Jaris said. “We can spare one dog. Besides, if it hadn’t been for you two, Chance and I wouldn’t have even been there. What do you say? Are you ready to become dog owners?”

He looked over at Jacob. “Our house does have a backyard.”

“And we know Carrie loves animals.”

“Carrie?” Chance grinned. “The three of you are the talk of the town.”

“Are we hearing wedding bells?” Jaris teased.

“Let’s do it, Josh.”

“Damn, you’re getting married? Really?” Jaris smiled.

“Maybe, but we haven’t asked her yet,” Jacob said. “But what I meant by ‘let’s do it’ was let’s get the puppy.”

“Agreed.” Josh shook Jaris’s hand. “Thanks, buddy.”

“No. Thank you,” Jaris said.

“I’m sure you’re exhausted.” Chance smiled. “Jaris and I will take over here.”

“We really want to finish watching this meet, then we’ll head home,” Jacob said. “Plus we need to reorganize all the supplies before we go.”

Jaris shook his head. “Watch the meet. We’ll take care of the supplies.”

Jaris and Chance walked to the tent where all the buckets of colored water and shelves of extra pistols were.

He and Jacob continued watching the children, running around, squirting each other, and laughing.

“They are playing so well with each other, Jacob. So far today only one scraped knee.”

“I wonder if Carrie has any bruises,” Jacob said.

“Probably. You don’t come in fourth place in a round without getting a few bumps along the way.” He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Carrie since their date last night. He and Jacob had told her they loved her. Luckily, she’d told them she loved them, too. “Jacob, I really want to marry her. In fact, I want to marry her and have a bunch of kids of our own. Do you feel the same way?”

Jacob placed his hand on Josh’s shoulder. “You know I do. I’m ready to start a family with Carrie. She’s the only one for me.”

“For us, you mean.”

“Yes,” Jacob said. “For us. We need to figure out when and where we want to propose to her.”