“I’m honored.”
“You should be. Thanks for making it worth it.”
He grinned. “Glad to be of service.” After another soft kiss, he said, “Should I go?”
“Only if you want to.”
“I don’t, but feel free to kick me out.”
Sierra curled her arms and legs around him, trapping him in her soft sweetness. “Just relax and get some rest.” She ran her fingers through his hair, making his scalp tingle as he exhaled the horror of the last few months and turned himself over to her care.
For now, anyway.
What tomorrow would bring was anyone’s guess.
* * *
“I can’t believe it’s over.” Hours after finishing her last exam and turning in her final assignment, Janey Cantrell still couldn’t process that she’d finally completed veterinary school. She’d celebrated with her husband, Joe, and their kids, PJ and Vi, at dinner and had cake at home afterward, and now that the kids were asleep, she was in bed with Joe and trying to process this moment. School was really over. Forever.
“I’m so, so proud of you, Dr. Cantrell.”
“I’m proud of us, because none of this happens without you.” She turned on her side to face him. “For the rest of my life, I’ll never have the words to thank you for everything you did to make this happen.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Janey. Seeing you achieve this goal is as thrilling for me as it is for you.”
“I honestly thought it was never going to happen until you showed me the way forward.” She had tears in her eyes as she looked at the man who’d made all her dreams come true, not just the professional one. To think, for the many years she’d been with David, Joe had been right there waiting for her to realize they were meant to be.
“We also got Seamus out of this adventure,” Joe said.
“I remember a time when you weren’t sure that was a good thing,” Janey said, smiling. “I was afraid you might kill him.”
“That seems like a long time ago. Now it’s like he’s always been there, making my mom happier than she’s ever been.”
“It’s crazy to think how everything happened. If David hadn’t gotten in the way of me going to vet school after college—and if he hadn’t cheated on me—I might’ve been somewhere else and missed this with you, and your mom never would’ve met Seamus.”
“I guess things work out the way they’re meant to, even if it’s not as smooth as we’d like it to be.” He turned to face her and put his arm around her. “Did you tell Doc you finished?”
“I texted him, and he sent me the hourly countdown until my arrival and his retirement.”
“He’s as excited as we are.”
“I can’t wait to be home to stay.”
“Me, too. It’s been fun to live here in Ohio for a while, but Gansett is where we belong.”
“We’ll have four new nephews waiting for us, along with Dylan and Adrian and the ones soon to be born. Lots of excitement to look forward to.”
“PJ was saying today that he can’t wait to play with his cousins every day.”
“I’m glad we’re getting them home when they’re young enough to grow up together.”
“Me, too.” He kissed her as he ran his hand down her back to cup her ass. “You know what I’ve never gotten to do?”
“Whatever it is, you should do it because of everything you did to make my dream come true.”
“That works out well, because the thing I’ve never done is make love to a veterinarian.”
She laughed. “Wow, I walked right into that trap, didn’t I?”
