Chapter 7

In the morning Shane took the dogs for a run to give Oliver some quiet time to read the bible. They ate breakfast together and then left for work. After being gone for almost two weeks, they were hoping work wasn't too backed up with just Norman and Rita at the DLO.

"We missed you guys!" Rita said hugging Shane when she arrived. "Pictures. I want to see lots of pictures." They wandered off to catch up.

Norman and Oliver headed into Norman's lab knowing Rita and Shane would be catching up for the next while. "So, we're all married Postables now," Norman said. "Who'd a thought."

Oliver grinned, "He who finds a wife finds a good thing, Norman my friend."

"Shakespeare?"

"Proverbs."

Norman caught Oliver up on current events at the Post Office, the DLO and the O'Toole Foundation. Eventually, Oliver heard Shane and Rita wander back into the main office. Shane and Rita got to work on sorting incoming mail while Oliver caught up on reports. When they stopped for lunch, Shane showed Norman pictures of the Da Vinci and car museums they went to in Italy. Norman was fascinated and was off on tangents before Shane could blink. "I missed us," Shane said laughing and hugging him.

They spent the afternoon on the unattached items bin and catching up on what had been happening in other departments of the post office.

The dogs were excited to see them arrive home. They took them for a walk to release some of their energy. While they were walking Shane asked, "Are you ok getting dinner started? I need to set up some of my computer equipment. Dale texted she's needing help again with a CBI case. They caught another money laundering case."

"Art again?" Oliver asked.

Shane grinned widely, "No. Laundry mats and dry cleaners."

"You're making that up," Oliver said laughing.

"That's what I told Dale. She swore it was the truth. They need help setting up some programs to search bank records now their warrants came through."

"No problem. I was going to throw the fish on the grill it shouldn't take long."

"You really like your grill don't you," Shane said teasingly.

Oliver laughed, "I use it a lot in the summer. It gets retired all winter."

Gryffin saw another dog across the street and having never met a stranger tried to dart in front of Raven to go say hello tangling the leashes and tripping Shane. "Are you ok?" Oliver asked trying to catch her and not let go of the leashes.

"Yes, I think you're right we need to get them signed up for a training class. Sooner rather than later."

They let the dogs meet each other and Shane met one of their neighbors for the first time. When he found out they were new dog parents, he filled them in on the local dog parks.

While Oliver cooked dinner, Shane set up her computers in one of the guest bedrooms. When dinner was ready and she still hadn't returned, he went looking for her. "Shane O'Toole why does it look like you're setting up an illegal gambling operation in here?" He was shocked at the amount of computer equipment spread across the makeshift desk and bed.

She rolled her eyes, "What would you know about illegal gambling operations, O'Toole?" She finished hooking up her dual monitors to the Colorado Bureau computer she had from Dale.

"I watch movies on poker night with the guys," Oliver said defensively.

"It's not really that much considering," she said stepping out of the bedroom to head to the kitchen.

"Considering what?" Oliver asked still looking at the bedroom from the doorway.

"Well I used to have a lot more gaming equipment than I currently do. I've only unpacked the work- related equipment so far."

"Gaming…so far?" He said following her.

Shane stopped short putting her hand over her mouth trying not to laugh. "Oliver did you put the food on the table?"

Still confused about what he considered to be a massive amount of hardware, he was just catching up to her, "Yes. Oh no. Bad dogs."

Raven and Gryffin were sitting at the table chowing down on the dinner Oliver had made. The dogs seeing and hearing Oliver jumped down running off to the utility room taking the rest of the fish with them.

"Please tell me the fish was deboned," Shane said. Shane made the mistake of looking at Oliver who kept opening his mouth to say something and nothing was coming out. She could no longer contain it and burst into laughter. Between the computers and the dogs, he didn't even know where to start processing things.

Shane handed him a glass of wine off the table. "Oliver, I'll clean this up and find something else for dinner. Why don't you go sit in your office and read for a while?" He nodded absently walking off with his wine. She moved the dishes from the table to the sink and went to check on the dogs. They had finished with the rest of the fish by this time and she moved them to the back yard to let them run around. After cleaning up the kitchen, she made sandwiches and a fruit salad finding some potato chips to put with the meal.

Leaning against the door to his home office, Shane asked concerned, "How are you?"

Oliver sighed looking at her, "I'm still getting used to all the changes around here."

She came to the chair he was sitting in and ran a hand through his hair. "I know we're both still adjusting. Getting the rest of the boxes unpacked this weekend will help."

He took her hand running his thumb over her wedding ring before placing a kiss on her hand. "Thanks for cleaning up the mess. I needed a moment."

"I could tell. It's not often I find Oliver O'Toole at a loss for words. Why don't you come eat?"

After eating Oliver played with the dogs in the backyard throwing a ball for them while Shane finished setting up her computer equipment. When the dogs were finally worn out, Oliver went to find Shane. "You're sticking to nothing illegal is going on in here?" He looked skeptical as Gryffin and Raven flopped down next to her.

"Theoretically." Shane smirked slightly. "Nothing that isn't sanctioned by the CBI." She was finishing off the program she was working on before sending it to Dale.

He stepped behind her and started rubbing her shoulders. "Are you almost done for the night?"

"Almost. Did you tire out the reprobates?"

He kissed the top of her head. "I tried."

She finished, looked back at him smiling slightly, "Are you done for the night?"

"Let me lock things up and I'll be right behind you."