Chapter 10
Bailey
I wait in the school’s main office for Hazel to come down. She’s going to be so excited when I tell her that I took a half day and we’re going to surprise Shawn at work. He has a date night planned for us, but I wanted to do something to surprise him for once. He’s always doing nice things for Hazel and me.
The past few weeks have been absolute bliss. I didn’t know I could be this happy. Shawn fills something inside of me that I didn’t even know I’d been missing. Not only that, but he adores Hazel and she loves him. He has slipped so easily into our lives and now he practically lives with us. Every day after work he’s there to have dinner with us, help us take care of the animals and then settle in for a night of watching movies before bed.
My heart flutters thinking about bed. The things he does to my body. I didn’t know pleasure like that even existed, but he reminds me every night. I feel closer to him than I have ever felt to anyone. It’s crazy how fast this happened, but I don’t care. I love him and he loves me. I’m all in for this and I want to show him how much we adore him, too.
“Are we leaving early?” I turn to see Hazel standing behind me.
“I thought we could go surprise Shawn at work,” I tell her and watch her face light up. She’ll only be missing a few hours of school and she’s been super curious about where Shawn goes when he’s not at our grocery store.
“Yes!” she says excitedly.
“Why don’t we pick him up some lunch to take with us? You choose.” I grab her hand as we walk out of the school heading for the car.
“I want fries.” She taps her finger on her lips, thinking. “Annie’s. Then we can get fried pickles, too.”
“Alright, I’ll call ahead.” I pull out my cell phone, thinking that works perfect. It’s right by the pharmacy and I need to pick up Hazel’s medication. After I place the order I send Shawn a text. He hasn’t given me an insurance card for Hazel yet, but he told me everything is taken care of. Maybe I can just give them my card and they can look her up.
He responds instantly.
Shawn: It’s already handled, babe. I actually picked up her prescriptions this morning on the way to the office.
Me: Could you be more perfect?
Shawn: I’ll be anything you want.
My heart flutters and I believe him. I mentioned this morning that I needed to pick up her refills and just like Shawn always does, he went ahead and did it for me. He’s always trying to take things off my plate.
Like the other day when I had to talk him out of hiring someone to come and tend to all the animals. They can be a lot of work at times, but with the three of us doing it together it felt like family time. He agreed when I told him that but said if we get anymore that we should look into it. That we could all still help out together, but it might be nice to have someone who can lend a hand with them. He might be right, but for now things are good.
“When you and Shawn get married will he be my brother?” Hazel asks me as she shakes me from my thoughts.
“Yes, but he’ll have to ask me first.”
My mind goes back to the day he told the cop I was his fiancée. The simple word had stolen my breath, and I wanted it to be true so badly. We haven’t talked about it since then, but I know it’s too soon. He just said it in protective mode over Hazel and me.
“Hmm,” is all Hazel says. I glance over at her and can see she’s thinking.
“What would you think about it if it did happen? Would you want Shawn to live with us and be a part of our family?”
“We’d be like the Three Musketeers.” She looks over at me, still smiling. “I think it would be perfect. I told you a boy would help with Sugar.” She reminds me of the comment she made weeks ago when she asked me about dating and if I thought boys were gross. “He saved our Sugar.”
God, that day was what sealed the deal for Hazel and me. He won us over and showed he’d do anything for us.
“He did,” I agree. He saved us, too.
It doesn’t take long to pick up the food and make it to Shawn’s office at the corporate headquarters. I walk to the front desk and smile at the receptionist.
“We’re here to see Shawn Reed,” I tell her, and she looks up at us over her glasses.