Susan Mallery - Meant To Be Yours

From Jasper’s point of view, Koda was pretty easy company. He slept on his dog bed in Jasper’s bedroom at night. Once, Jasper had awakened from a familiar nightmare, to find the dog on the bed, pressed hard against him, as if offering comfort. As Jasper got his bearings and was able to slow his breathing, Koda hopped down and returned to his own bed where he quickly went to sleep.

Jasper had installed an electronic doggie door so Koda could come and go as he wanted without Jasper having to worry that local wildlife could also wander into the house. Koda had figured out how to work the doggie door in about ten minutes. They had a vet appointment later in the week and Jasper had downloaded a book on having a dog as a pet to make sure he had it all covered.

He still didn’t know why he’d brought the old guy home—nor did it matter. Koda was here now and Jasper would take care of him. He had to admit, the quiet company was nice.

“I’m going into town,” he told Koda as he set out the bowl of kibble mixed with canned food. “It’s Monday night and I like to hang out at The Boardroom. It’s a bar that caters to locals. On Mondays they have board game tournaments. Most of my friends go.”

He had no idea why he was explaining any of this to the dog—it wasn’t as if Koda could understand him. Still, he couldn’t help going on.

“I won’t be that late,” he continued. “You have water and your bed. I’ll leave the radio on that classical station you like. There’s the doggie door if you need to go out.” He paused, not sure what else to say.

Koda finished his dinner, then looked at Jasper, as if processing the information. After a couple of seconds, the dog retreated to his bed in the family room and lay down.

“All right.” Jasper put his food bowl in the sink. “I’ll see you when I get back.”

He got in his truck and started down the mountain. The road was familiar and when compared with the RV he’d been driving, the 4X4 truck was practically sporty.

The thought made him smile. The long book tour had been good for him. The RV had given him a home base. Although his publisher had offered to rent a fancy bus with pop-outs and an onboard washer and dryer, Jasper had decided to buy an old, used RV instead. He’d thought he might want to use it again, for a tour and maybe a trip of his own. He’d liked being on the road.

As he headed into town he wondered if Koda would enjoy another trip or if he’d been too traumatized by what had happened to him in San Antonio. He supposed he could take an overnight trip and see how it went. Although any time away would have to wait. He was getting back into his book and had a deadline looming. For the next few months, his primary focus would be getting the story right, then getting it down on paper. Well, not paper, exactly. He used a computer, but the concept was the same.

He reached the main part of town and turned into The Boardroom’s parking lot. He saw plenty of familiar cars and smiled. His friends would be there, as would other local residents. He would kick a little ass on the board game front, have a beer and a burger, talk to his buddies, then head home. A perfect evening.

Four years ago, if someone had told him he would settle in this quirky wedding-based town, he would have said that person was crazier than him, but here he was—doing better than anyone could have expected. Forward progress, he thought as he made his way inside. It beat getting left behind.

“Jasper! You’re back.”

“Hey, stranger. How was the book tour?”

“When’d you get home?”

The calls came from every corner of the bar. Jasper nodded at his buddies, waved at a few people he knew by sight and scanned the room, looking for an open spot at the tables set up for four.

Mathias Mitchell, an artist who worked with glass, walked past him, a beer in one hand and a glass of wine in the other.

“Hey, man, you made it. Good to see you.” Mathias nodded toward a table. “Come sit with us. Carol’s friend, Renee, is hanging out with us, so you’d make a fourth.”

“Will do.”

Jasper walked around for a few minutes, greeting his friends and giving a brief account of his three-month book tour. When a gong sounded, giving the ten-minute warning before the game started, he walked to the bar and ordered himself a beer. He figured he would get the burger later.

As he took his drink, he glanced around the room and caught sight of a petite redhead talking to Carol, Mathias’s wife. Renee Something, he thought. The woman Mathias had mentioned. She was maybe five-one. Despite her slight stature, there was something powerful about her. As if she would do whatever was necessary to get what she wanted.

He held in a grin. Right. Because he was just that good at assessing women. The truth was he knew nothing about her, which was fine. Even though it had been nearly a year since he and Wynn had ended their not-quite relationship, he wasn’t looking for anything else right now. Still, there was something about a woman with long hair. Especially long, red hair.

As if aware of his scrutiny, Renee turned toward him. For a brief second, their eyes met. Jasper was about to offer a wave when Renee surprised him by flushing slightly and looking away. As if she’d been caught doing something she shouldn’t.

He glanced around, trying to figure out what could have caused her discomfort. When nothing obvious showed itself, he figured he’d simply misinterpreted the situation. Hardly a surprise—he wasn’t just a guy, he was a guy who knew diddly about women. A fact proven by his inability to create a love interest for the hero of his latest novel. He knew the guy needed a woman in his life—it was a great way to wrap up the series—but he had yet to figure out who she was and how she fit into the story. Or how to write her. So far the only sentence he’d managed to write and then not delete was: She was tall, with short, blond hair. Oh, yeah, the royalty checks were going to roll in on that one.

He was still chuckling when he approached the table. Carol rose and hugged him.

“You made it back! Welcome home. Did you miss us?”

“I did.”

Mathias held out his hand. “Good to see you. How was the tour?”

“Good. Long. Plenty of stops.”

“And adoring fans?” Carol asked, her voice teasing.

“There were some.” Jasper turned to Renee. “Mind if I join you?”

She smiled and waved to the empty chair. “Please. Your reputation precedes you, so I’m happy to be on the same team.”

Whatever weirdness had existed before—or hadn’t existed—was obviously gone.

He raised a shoulder. “I haven’t played board games in a few months. I’m probably rusty.”

“I doubt that,” Carol said as she sat down. “Speaking of rusty, I want to warn everyone that this is my first night away from Devon. I’ve been away during the day, but never at night.”

Jasper wanted to ask how one was different from the other, but knew there was no point. Her reasoning might be based on the fact that her baby was maybe five months old, or it might be a female thing, or it could be something everyone else understood intuitively.

Mathias reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “You know she’s fine, right? And it’s not like she’s with someone we don’t know.”

Renee smiled and leaned toward Jasper. “Pallas and Carol share a nanny. With their kids only ten days apart in age, it makes sense. The woman is terrific and does a great job, but they’re both uncomfortable being away from their babies.” Her tone softened. “You know what new moms are like.”

He nodded rather than say something along the lines of “not really.” He knew even less about young mothers than women in general. His stint in the army had given him a range of skills that could be useful in a wartime situation but they hadn’t been much on training him for life with regular people. As for that small town where he’d grown up...well, that was eight lifetimes ago.