“This is nice,” I said softly.
“Downy has three kids,” he said. “They’re not at home anymore, all of them off at college or beyond, and they’re considering downsizing. He said he wants to find a place on the lake, so this may not be theirs much longer.”
That was a shame.
It was beautiful.
“Are you close to your brother?” I questioned.
Jonah grunted out an ‘I guess’ and got out of the car.
My lips twitched as I followed behind him, making my own way out onto the road and staring nervously at the number of cars that were in the driveway.
I wasn’t sure what I expected when I walked up the path to Downy’s house with Jonah.
But I hadn’t expected to see a dog that looked to be older than dirt to growl at us from its position on the pathway.
When Jonah continued to walk toward the dog without a care in the world, I squeezed his hand.
“Umm,” I said. “That dog isn’t going to bite you, is he?”
“She,” Jonah muttered. “And Mocha is so old that I highly doubt she could even muster the strength to bite. At this point, she’s almost decoration. She gets up to pee. Walks to this spot right here, and then lays down for most of the day. If it gets hot, she walks to the shade and lays down.”
“She looks very old,” I admitted.
“She is,” he confirmed. “Downy probably should’ve put her to sleep a long time ago. At this point, he’s feeding her soft dog food out of a can because she has barely any teeth. But the vet says she’s healthy, so he doesn’t do what I recommend every time I see her.”
The door opened and an older red-headed man that had quite a bit of gray rolling through his beard and hair opened the door.
The dog turned her head and growled at him, too.
“So, the dog isn’t picky about who she growls at,” I said, sounding amused.
“Nope,” Downy confirmed. “Who are you?”
Jonah, who I assumed would say ‘Piper Mackenzie,’ said exactly the opposite of what I expected him to.
“This is my wife, Piper Crew,” Jonah rumbled as he pushed past Downy into the house.
That left me standing there, Mocha in between Downy and me, staring at Downy with a look of shock on my face.
His eyes moved down my body to where I was wringing my hands, and his gaze settled on the scabbing tattoo on my finger.
His eyes flared and he blinked rapidly at me.
“Did you just say your wife, Piper Crew?” he asked his brother.
His brother who was already gone.
His brother who was somewhere deeper inside of the house, leaving me outside with his brother staring at me.
Mocha got up, and I heard her claws clicking on the concrete as she walked toward me.
Desperate for a subject change, I looked down at the dog who was now staring up at me with something in her eyes that I couldn’t quite process.
Then she walked up to me, gently grabbed me by the hand with her mouth, and started walking in the other direction toward the house.
My mouth fell open when she stopped directly in front of Downy.
When Downy didn’t move, she let my hand go, then barked ferociously at Downy.
Downy, startled—and I didn’t know if it was due to the fact that he was startled at her barking at him, or startled that she’d actually moved—backed up.
Mocha nudged me with her nose and kept doing so until I squeaked and made my way into the house.
The first thing I saw was the younger version of Downy standing in the entryway, staring at me in shock.
“You’re married to Jonah?” he rumbled.
I looked back at Downy, who was a sexy older version of his son, then back to the younger version of him.
“Yes,” I said, holding out my hand. “I’m Piper.”
The younger version held out his hand and said, “I’m Lock. Jonah’s my uncle, and I’m this one’s son.”
I looked over at ‘this one’ who was shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose.
I felt my lips tip up at the corner.
“If it makes you feel better,” I said with a grin. “It was just as much of a surprise to us as it is to you.”
Lock chuckled and wrapped his arms around my shoulder as he guided me into the living room where Jonah was.
Jonah had his arm wrapped around a very beautiful red-head with long, wavy hair. She was laughing at something that Jonah said, and she was squeezing him tight, her head resting on Jonah’s chest.
Rationally, I knew that the woman was likely also part of the family. But irrationally, I didn’t like that Jonah was hugging some other woman. Some other woman he’d left me outside for.
My presence made itself known when a much younger German Shepherd came up to me and barked.