Page 72 of The One

He hoped she parked in there last night and he wondered why that never occurred to him.

He got out of his SUV, grabbed his bag and opened the door to the house. He could hear Gillian saying, “Daddy is home. Daddy is home.”

Those words just melted his heart. “I am,” he said, turning the corner and stepping over the gate.

George came rushing over and jumping up and down on his legs, his feet slipping and sliding all over the place until the puppy—who no longer looked like a puppy—fell on his butt.

“Welcome back,” she said, moving into his arms for a hug.

“I missed you,” he said. “How is it I missed you so much when I normally go a few days not seeing you? We talked the same amount of time too.”

“I don’t know,” she said. “But it seems weird that I was sleeping in your bed without you so that is part of what made it harder for me.”

“I’m home now,” he said. “Damn, it smells good in here too.”

“Dinner,” she said. “I made roast beef and mashed potatoes. I know you love it and we don’t eat beef much. Figured it’d be a nice treat.”

“It is a nice treat,” he said.

“Then go put your stuff away and I’ll set the table.”

He grabbed his bag and went to his room, decided to take a quick shower after sitting in the car for three hours and then came back down.

The dinner was on the island ready for them to fill their plates. “Did you feed George?” he asked.

“I did. He’s all set. It’s just about us,” she said.

He filled his dish and then sat down to eat. The home-cooked food tasted so much better than the restaurant food he’d had for two days.

“This is great. It’s so much harder to eat healthy when you’re on the road.”

“I’m sure you did fine,” she said. “It wasn’t even two full days either. How was it?”

“It was good. Great. I know I made the right decision taking the job. Moving here too,” he said, reaching his hand over and laying it on hers.

“I’m happy for you. Did you notice your bed not made?”

“I did,” he asked. “What happened?”

“George decided to sleep on your pillow last night. I woke up and found him under the comforter on the sheets. I’m pretty sure that isn’t allowed.”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “Guess he missed me even though you were there. He was good?”

“He was fine.”

They ate their dinner, talking about their day. He told her about the conversation he had with Nick, Zach and Caleb before he left. “I’m getting the hang of being a manager now over a developer, but it was nice to hear them say what they did.”

“I’m happy for you,” she said.

When she was finished with dinner she started to get up and clean the table. He stood up and stopped her. “No, let me. You did all this work for me to come home to. I appreciate it.”

“I did it for us,” she said.

“I still appreciate it. I’m going to show you how much later too.”

“No reason to wait until later,” she said once the kitchen was put back in order.

“You’re right,” he said, putting George in his crate. The puppy went in with a treat happily and lay down, the two of them going upstairs.