“Be nice. He’s the new gym teacher at Junior’s school. He suggested Junior play in the little kids’ basketball league over break and I...uh...might have invited him.” She shrugged even as her cheeks turned pink and her eyes sparkled.
“So this is like a new habit you’ve got going? Accidental dates?” Jacob couldn’t resist a little teasing.
“Maybe.” She gave them both an arch look before crouching in front of the crate. “Let me get my camera ready. I can’t wait to see Junior’s face.”
“I better carry it in.” Jacob scooped the contents of the crate into his arms before following her and Linc into the house.
“Oh, birthday boy!” she called out, causing a pack of kids to come running. “Uncle Jacob and Uncle Linc have a surprise for you.”
Junior made his way to the front of the crowd, and for the rest of his life, Jacob was going to remember the expression on his face. Not to mention Linc’s deeply pleased look as he registered Junior’s excitement.
“It’s a puppy!” Junior shrieked.
“Well, technically, she’s a year old.” Jacob knelt down so Junior could meet the dog, a spaniel mix who was surprisingly gentle and calm despite the unfamiliar surroundings. “Your mom and Grandma wanted us to find you a friend who was already housebroken, so we searched all the rescues in the area until we found just the right one. We’ve had her at Linc’s—our place for about a week now, making sure she knows some rules.”
“And tricks?” Voice hopeful, Junior petted the dog’s silky head.
“She can come. And sit. Sort of.” Linc’s soft smile did all sorts of things to Jacob’s insides. “And you get to name her, okay? So choose well. They called her Lady at the shelter, but you can train her to whatever you’d like.”
Junior’s little face scrunched up as he thought hard. “There’s a YouTuber called—”
“No YouTube!” May laughed, and man, it was so good to see her light and happy. The dog was going to be good for all of them, he could already tell. And he had a further feeling that the quiet guy looking like May was his personal holiday gift was going to be good too.
“Are your guys going to miss having the company?” Jacob’s mom came over to ask. And that was nice too, the way she addressed both of them, not only Linc. Like the dogs were shared now, which he supposed they sort of were, especially if he was officially moving in.
“Yup. She’ll have to come visit. It was fun having her.” Jacob moved away from the herd of kids, toward the kitchen where vats of chili were bubbling away.
“What he actually means is that there was this overgrown terrier at the rescue, and he keeps telling me how easy three were.” Linc’s fond look was almost as nice as the arm he threw around Jacob. And that was good too, him feeling comfortable enough to do that, which hadn’t been the case their first few visits.
“It wouldn’t be that hard. Another dog bed—”
“That will get ignored.” Shaking his head, Linc laughed.
“Is that a yes, we can go look again?” He batted his eyes and tried to look convincing.
“You always do seem to get your way.” Linc tried for a stern voice, but the affection in his eyes gave him away.
“And you like it that way,” he countered. He trusted Linc now when he said that Jacob hadn’t talked him into this, that he wanted it too. He had months of proof built up, each day, even the hard ones, filled with little reminders that Linc cared in a way Jacob had scarcely dreamed possible.
“Help?” Linc looked at Jacob’s mom, who simply shook her head.
“Oh, no. Not me. He’s your problem now.” His mother’s gentle banter might be as close to approval as they were going to get, and Jacob’s chest went warm and tight.
“That he is.” Then Linc stunned him with a fast kiss on the head, right there in his mom’s kitchen, and Jacob was pretty sure every dream he’d ever held came true in that moment. He’d won the heart of Lincoln Reid. And maybe he sometimes wished their path to right there together had been easier, but he wouldn’t change the destination for anything.
* * *
Linc found Jacob out by the firepit, exactly where he’d expected him, draped over one of the lounge chairs, watching the flickering and spitting flames.
“Baby asleep?” Jacob sounded drowsy. He was undoubtedly tired. On top of the extra responsibilities with Junior’s dog, he’d been working long hours doing winter work for the forest service, having lucked into some seasonal employment before the next smoke-jumping season.
“Yeah.” Linc had offered to do bedtime so that May could say goodnight to her gym teacher friend. That and he wasn’t going to turn down time rocking Willow, who was getting bigger by the day now. “She went down easy. Song and a bottle and she was out like a light.”