Colters' Lady (Colters' Legacy #2)(51)

There was a chorus of hugs and goodbyes, and Seth smiled as Callie and his mom both fussed over Lily. The women joked and laughed about their afternoon together, and then Holly recruited the dads to help bring all of Lily’s packages out to the Jeep.

“Are you sure there’s going to be room for all of us?” Dillon joked as he and Seth stood back watching all the bags being stuffed in the back. “How much of our money did Mom spend today, anyway?”

“You don’t want to know,” Callie said cheekily. Then in a lower voice, “Don’t give Lily a hard time about it. It was like pulling teeth to get her to agree to all the stuff, and she needed everything.”

Dillon pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead. “Thanks for doing it for her. You’re the best.”

“I like her, Dillon,” Callie said in a low voice. “So do Mom and the dads. Don’t f**k this up.”

Seth chuckled next to Dillon. “Leave it to Callie to take us all to task.”

Michael bundled Lily into the front seat and then motioned for Seth and Dillon. “Come on you two, before Lily freezes to death.”

Seth and Dillon brushed the snow from their shoulders and heads and climbed into the Jeep.

“Did you have fun today?” Seth asked as Michael pulled out of the drive onto the snow-covered road.

Lily turned and smiled. “I did. Your mom and sister are so great.”

“How did it go at the doctor?” Dillon asked. “Did you get everything you need?”

Lily ducked her head and Seth shot Dillon a glare for embarrassing her.

“I did,” she said in a low voice. “It’s good timing actually. I start the pills the first Sunday after my last period. That’s day after tomorrow.”

Seth reached up and squeezed Lily’s shoulder. “As long as you feel like you have what you need, honey.”

It took longer than normal to make the drive through town and up to Dillon’s place. When they stomped onto the porch to shake the snow from their boots, Dillon opened the front door to let them all in.

“Give me a minute to get a fire built,” Dillon said.

“I’ll make some hot chocolate,” Seth said.

“That leaves you and me to snuggle on the couch,” Michael said to Lily.

She smiled and kicked her shoes off and piled them with the others by the door. Then she padded across the floor and curled into the plump cushions of Dillon’s sectional.

Seth heated milk and then added the chocolate mix to the cups. He wasn’t sure whether Michael or Dillon would want a cup, but he made enough for the four of them. He arranged the mugs on a tray and carried it into the living room where a hearty fire already blazed in the hearth.

Dillon and Michael were sitting on either side of Lily, and she looked adorable all but lost between the two men and the fluffy cushions.

Seth set the tray down on the coffee table and handed around the mugs. Then he leaned back on the couch and propped his feet up.

“You get everything ironed out, Seth?” Dillon asked.

Seth nodded. “Yeah, I’m going to go back to Denver tomorrow and tie up all my loose ends there. Shouldn’t take me more than a few days.”

Michael turned to Lily. “Want to come hang out with me at the office while Seth does his thing? Lots of critters to see.”

Lily’s face lit up. “That sounds fun. I love animals.”

As Seth settled back to sip at his hot chocolate, he looked around at a new family in the making, and despite his initial reservations, hope and anticipation, and most of all, satisfaction gripped him.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Three days later, Lily held a pitifully mewling cat in her arms while she waited for Michael to complete his assessment. She stroked her fingers over her ears and murmured nonsense words in an effort to soothe her.

The poor thing was bedraggled, cold and hungry to boot.

“What will happen to her?” Lily asked anxiously.

The cat had been dumped at the door of the clinic in a box a few minutes after Michael had closed the clinic. By the time they heard her plaintive wails, the cat had been half dead from the cold.

Michael grimaced. “We’ll feed her, make sure she’s healthy and no serious problems and then we’ll try to find a home for her. But I’ll be honest. I get a lot of castoffs here, and I simply don’t have the room to board them all. I usually have to call the shelter over in Gunnison.”

“But don’t they put animals to sleep if they can’t find homes?”

She tried to keep the stress from her voice because she knew Michael wasn’t any happier about this than she was, and he was right, he couldn’t take in every stray that came across his doorstep.

Michael’s eyes softened. “They’ll try to find a home for her first. Euthanization is a last resort.”

Lily looked down at the bundle of fur and felt tears crowding the edges of her eyes. She stroked the cat and felt the answering vibration of purring.

Then she looked back up at Michael, her expression pleading. “Couldn’t we take her? I mean home? I don’t want her to die just because someone didn’t want her anymore.”

Michael blew out his breath and then looked between her and the cat. Then he lifted his gaze to hers again, his eyes troubled. He touched her cheek and softly caressed.

“Is that how you felt, Lily? Like no one wanted you anymore?”