Chapter 24

After taking care of chores in the morning, Shane called Dale to find out more about continuing to work with the CBI. They talked through options for continued contract work and Shane told her she'd think about it. She grabbed a quick lunch and started packing more boxes. Halfway through the afternoon she got a text from Joe. 'A puppy really….' Shane laughed and texted him back. 'You want grandbabies. I thought it might ease him into it.' He texted back. 'I'll babysit any time even if it's a fur baby.' He sent a couple pictures from his hike.

Later that afternoon the doorbell rang. Thinking it was groceries she went to answer. Oliver was standing there with takeout from her favorite Chinese restaurant. "I couldn't wait until tomorrow to see you," he said.

She grinned and kissed him, "I needed a break." The ate on the porch swing and watched the sun set.

When the groceries finally arrived, he helped her take them in. Noticing all the boxes by the front door, "Are you leaving any of your clothes here," he asked?

"Funny O'Toole," Shane said. "They're not all clothes. I started packing some of the garage like holiday decorations."

He finished putting groceries in the fridge and then picked her up and put her on the counter. Oliver moved closer, "You're a little short when you're not wearing your high heels. Although I like seeing you running around in your socks, it's easier to reach you here." She wrapped her arms around his neck as he stepped between her legs and pulled her closer. "I do like being able to reach you." He kissed her slowly before moving his hand into her hair to tilt her head back for a deeper kiss. Thunder rumbled and he could feel her tense up. "Don't think about it. Just think about us," Oliver kissed the space at the base of her neck and slowly made his way back up to her mouth.

Shane pulled back, "You knew it was supposed to storm tonight?"

"It's why my dad came back yesterday instead of today from their trip. I brought dessert, a new word game and Jeff's list. We've got plenty to keep us busy. Although I'd much rather continue what I started a minute ago." Oliver framed her face with his hands and kissed her. When he felt her hand in his hair and her relax, he ran his hands down her legs and back up to her waist. He leaned back slightly, "You ready for dessert?"

"I thought that's what I was having now," Shane smirked.

Oliver laughed. "My dad sent cake. Let me get a fire going in case the power goes out."

"You already got a…" Shane started saying and Oliver interrupted laughing again, "Don't even."

"Come on you set yourself up for that one," Shane said laughing. He lifted her off the counter to set her back on the floor. "Go find forks," he ran his hand down her back and headed out of the kitchen.

They ate cake and played the new game, Quiddler, he had brought. As the storm ramped up, he could tell she was getting tense again. The power went out just as they were finishing a game, he helped her find some candles. When she went to light them, he could see her hand shaking. "Where's you're tablet?"

"It's in the kitchen."

"I'll be right back."

He found it and asked her to pull up her music. Looking over her shoulder he saw she had Billy Joel on her playlist. He hit play, took the tablet from her and placed it on the back of the couch. As 'The Piano Man' filled the room, he pulled her into his arms and started dancing with her. After a couple lines he started singing along with the music. He could feel her relaxing against him. The playlist moved onto 'She's Always a Woman'. Oliver kept singing as he danced with Shane. When the playlist changed to 'And So It goes' he paused for just a moment before moving again. When the song ended, Oliver stopped the music on the tablet.

"The first time we danced to that song I felt something I shouldn't have been feeling when I was married to another woman. It was my wedding anniversary that week, my wife was thousands of miles away and I sat there praying in confusion because all I wanted to do was dance with you."

Shane looked at Oliver knowing how much that would have hurt and confused him. "I didn't know."

"Thank you for waiting when all common sense was telling you to leave."

She wrapped her arms around him. "Oliver, you were worth the wait. I love you so much." He hugged her back. As another burst of thunder clapped, he felt her shudder.

"Shane, I love you." I can't believe I may be doing this he thought, but it would definitely distract her. "I talked to my dad about the puppy idea. I'm not completely on board but maybe we could look at some rescue sites and discuss it."

Shane squealed. "Are you serious?"

"Just a discussion, I'm not agreeing to anything."

Shane grabbed her tablet and pulled him onto the couch. She pulled up the Denver Humane Society and went to the dog section. "Look at this one." Shane pointed to a little fluff ball that couldn't have been more than five to ten pounds.

"Shane that's not a dog it's a chew toy for a hawk or a coyote."

"That's gross even thinking about it."

"Well you couldn't leave it in the backyard for more than a minute before something would take it for lunch."

"What about this one," Shane said pointing to a great dane.

"That's not a dog it's a horse. It would eat more than we would."

"What about that one," Oliver pointed to a grizzled old bulldog.

"Oliver, that dog is eighty if it's a day."

"I know. It probably doesn't have enough teeth left to chew up the furniture. Besides older dogs have a harder time finding a home."

"Look at him," Shane pointed out another dog.

"That breed has a lot of hip problems," Oliver said.

"Oh, this one is cute."

"They have a lot of glaucoma issues as they age."

"Oliver O'Toole are you just making things up. For never having had a dog how do you know about any of this."

"A couple years ago, Hazel dated a dog trainer for about 8-12 weeks. All she could talk about the entire time was dog breeds, dog training and dog health issues. Evidently some of it stuck with me."

They spent the rest of the evening looking through rescue sites and discussing different types of dogs. Eventually the storms died down. Shane fell asleep in Oliver's arms her tablet falling into her lap. He gently took it from her and laid it on the coffee table. He held her for a while listening to her sleep and playing with the ends of her hair. As he shifted them to try to get up, she woke up.

"Will you be ok if I head home?"

"Yes, thank you for tonight." She walked him to the door, kissed him goodnight and locked it behind him.