Beating Heart: A Small Town, Single Dad Romance (Magnolia Falls Series Book 4)

Why does one think it’s okay to move into a home on a Saturday morning when the sun is barely even up yet?

Romeo

Early bird gets the worm?

King

Hey, I’m a morning guy. I like to start the day out right. I always like to please my lady before the sun comes up.

Hayes

Are you fucking kidding me right now, you dicksausage? I will beat your ass if you talk about pleasing your lady on this group text.

I barked out a laugh. Kingston was dating and now living with Hayes’s sister, Saylor. They had hit some bumps in the road when it initially happened, but everyone was happy about it now. But Kingston loved to push the envelope with his comments, and Hayes wasn’t having it.

King

Relax, you overbearing grump. I made her pancakes in bed. <eyeroll emoji>

King

Well, after I pleased her, of course. <winky face emoji>

Romeo

Do you have a death wish, King? <laughing face emoji>

River

It’s the new doctor moving in next door, right? It might be nice having her there if anything comes up.

Yeah. The doctor who is staying for six months and then we’ll get another doctor. It’s bullshit. I cannot believe Doc is okay with this.

River

Maybe the next one will stay long term. Or who knows, maybe this one will change her mind.

She’s a big-city doctor. She probably gets some sort of extra credit for doing some time in a small town. It pisses me off.

King

I don’t think they do extra credit once you’re out of school. She’s a goddamn doctor. She clearly just wanted to come here for a while.

Why? Who moves for six months?

River

Someone running from the law.

Romeo

Maybe she murdered someone and needs to lie low for a few months. <laughing face emoji>

King

Oh, like secret witness protection type of shit. Or maybe her family is in the mob and she’s hiding from them. You know, she woke up with a horse head in the bed and ran to Magnolia Falls.

Hayes

Are you eating more gummies, King? You get crazier every day.

King

It’s called being in love and happy, brother.

Well, this has been zero help. I came on here to bitch, and you all took it to crazy town. So, fuck you very much.

River

Maybe go offer to help her with the move. It might be a good thing to be friendly with the doctor. For Beefcake’s sake.

Not looking for new friends. If Cutler has an issue, I can go to Doc Dolby’s. Retired or not, he’s our doctor.

King

Very mature.

Romeo

Demi said the new doctor came into the coffee shop yesterday, and she likes her, so maybe don’t be a dick and give her a chance.

That means nothing. Beans likes everyone.

Beans was the nickname that we called Romeo’s wife, Demi.

There was a knock on my door, and I startled before setting my phone down and climbing out of bed. It was a miracle that Cutler was still sleeping with the loud moving truck out front, and I was pissed that I wasn’t doing the same.

I pulled on a pair of joggers and made my way to the front door, ready to rip someone a new one for knocking on a man’s door this early in the morning on a Saturday.

But standing before me was Emerson Chadwick, wearing a pair of jean cut-off shorts and a white tank top. Her long brown waves fell down her back and over her shoulders, and she held her hands up in apology.

“I’m so sorry. I know it’s early,” she said, as her eyes raked down my bare chest before they snapped back up to meet my gaze. “We have a little situation.”

“And that requires you knocking on my door this early in the morning?”

“Ummm, yes. When that someone has their truck parked in the street in front of my house, so the moving truck can’t get close enough.”

“Fuck,” I said under my breath, remembering that I’d left the truck on the street because I was planning to stain the concrete on the driveway today. “I’m guessing that’s why the asshole honked his horn a few times. Let me get my keys.”

As I turned to move to the kitchen, a giant ball of fur sprinted right past my new neighbor and into my house. It was large, with black, white, and brown fur.

“Oh, my God! No. Winnie, get back here,” she whisper-hissed.

“What the fuck is that?”

“That’s my dog, Winnie.” Emerson was now chasing after the dog, who was currently running down the hallway.

Happy fucking Saturday to me.

My eyes trailed over her perfect ass and long tan legs as she jogged down my hallway like she owned the place.

“Winiford Chadwick!” Emerson was still whisper-shouting, but Cutler was all laughter now, because apparently, the big horse-dog had gone right to his bedroom and jumped in bed with him.

Only my kid would have no issue with a strange dog jumping into his bed and waking him up.

I stood in the doorway as Emerson frantically tried to pull her beast off his bed, and Cutler was hugging and loving on the large dog.

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Welcome to the neighborhood, Dr. Chadwick.”

The dog fought her off as it continued to climb all over my son, who was enjoying every minute, and Emerson covered her face with her hands. “I’m so sorry. I did not want to start off this way. I just needed you to move the truck. I thought I’d secured her in the fenced area on the side of the yard.”

“How about this? You stay here for a minute with Cutler and your horse dog, and let me go move my truck.”

She nodded. “Yeah. Of course. Thank you. And just so you know, Winnie is hypoallergenic.”

I chuckled, because that was the least of my concerns at the moment. “Good to know.”

I walked back to the kitchen and grabbed my keys before slipping on my flip-flops and jogging out to my truck. There were two guys with their backs to me, standing there, obviously waiting for me to move out of the way so they could get their truck closer to the house.

“She’s hot as hell, man. Did you see those legs and that ass? I’d like to tap that, if you know what I mean,” one of the dipshits said.

I’d noticed her legs and her ass, but I wouldn’t be standing out here talking about her that way. And it pissed me the hell off at hearing them act like a bunch of assholes.

“Yeah. But she’s got an edge. She glared at me when she caught me staring,” the other dickhead said. “Like she could read my mind about how badly I’d like to bang her. But I get the vibe she’ll cut my balls off if I stare too much more.”

Good girl.

She shouldn’t take that shit for one second.

They barked out a laugh, and I cleared my throat before they both whipped around and startled when they realized I was standing there.

“Do you think it’s appropriate to be sitting out here talking that way about a woman who hired you? I doubt the owner of your company would be okay with that.” I crossed my arms over my chest and shot them a warning look.

“And who the fuck are you?” Dipshit number one said.

I moved closer, towering over the little shit. “I’m your worst fucking nightmare. So I’ll be watching you closely, and you better keep your eyes and hands to yourself. Do you hear me? And if you speak one more fucking word about her, you’re going to find my fist in your throat.”

They both straightened, and the other guy held up a hand nervously. “We didn’t realize you were with her, dude. No disrespect intended.”

This was the kind of shit that pissed me off. “Listen, asshole, she doesn’t need to have a boyfriend for you not to stand out here like two fucking horny assholes talking like that. Show some fucking respect. She’s glaring at you because she can tell you’re looking at her like a bunch of fucking pariahs. But unless you want to eat your teeth for breakfast, you best put your heads down and get the job done without another word.”

They nodded. Dipshit number one looked more irritated than remorseful, but the other guy looked mortified by what had happened.

Still didn’t trust them, so my Saturday had definitely just gone from bad to worse.

Because there was no way I was letting her go back into that house with these two scumbags.

I jumped into my truck and pulled into my driveway before jogging back into the house. There was laughter coming from down the hall, and I stopped in the laundry room and grabbed a tee and pulled it over my head.

I made my way down to Cutler’s room, and my eyes widened at the sight of Emerson Chadwick lying on the floor beside Cutler, while her giant dog climbed all over both of them and licked their faces.

“I love Winnie,” Cutler said over a fit of laughter.

I let out a loud breath, and Emerson shot up, sitting forward. “Oh, hey. Okay, let us get out of your hair. I’m really sorry about messing up your morning.” She pushed to her feet and snapped her fingers, and her dog shockingly decided to listen this time. “Winnie, let’s go.”

“Cutler, get dressed. We’re going to go fix Dr. Chadwick’s fence.”

Cutler was on his feet, excited, as he ran to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

“What? No. I don’t need you to fix my fence,” she said, as she tried to move past me in the doorway and paused when her chest bumped into mine.

I didn’t step back. “Listen, I’d like to fix your fence. Consider it my welcome to the neighborhood gift.”

Her gaze narrowed, and she shook her head in confusion. “You don’t need to do that. I can fix it myself.”

“You got us out of bed way too early on a Saturday morning, and your horse-dog came storming into my house. I’d like to make sure that doesn’t happen again, and maybe I don’t trust you to get the job done.” I smirked, letting her know I was kind of kidding but wasn’t taking no for an answer.

“Fine. Do you think you can move your hulk of a body out of the way so I can get back to my house to let the movers get things unloaded?” The corners of her lips turned up the slightest bit, and I took in that little spackle of freckles over her nose.

I nodded and stepped back. “Hey, Chadwick.”

She turned around, Winnie on her heels. “Yeah?”

“Leave the front door and the back door open while they’re unloading, all right?”

She stared for a long moment before nodding. “You do realize I came here from a big city, and I’m very capable of taking care of myself?”

“Can you just do this without questioning it?”

“Fine.” She huffed. “All the doors will be left open, your majesty.”

I laughed as she stormed out of my house.

“Let’s go, Cutler!” I yelled down the hallway, and I had to cover my mouth with my hand not to laugh when he came walking out of his bedroom.

He wore a pair of jeans, a white tee, and the brown leather tool belt that I’d gotten him for Christmas strapped around his waist. He had on gold aviators, and his hair was slicked back with enough gel to make the top of his head look like a hard hat.

“I like Dr. Emerson, Pops. And Winnie is real funny.”

“Well, they aren’t staying long, so don’t get too attached. She’s just here for a little while.” I handed him a banana and a granola bar. “You can eat this while I work.”

“I’m going to help you because Dr. Emerson is my girl now.”

I chuckled as we stopped at my truck so I could grab my toolbox before walking next door. I pulled out my handsaw and made eye contact with both of the dudes who were coming out of her house and heading back to the moving truck for another load. I used two fingers and pointed them at my eyes and then back at them, all while holding the saw up for them to take notice.

I’ll be watching, assholes.

As we moved toward the backyard, I looked up to see Emerson Chadwick watching me while she stood on the side of the front porch and rolled her eyes. I’d been in this house dozens of times over the years, helping the Halls fix one thing after another.

“You’re a bit of a Neanderthal, huh?” she said, keeping her voice low so only I could hear the comment. Cutler ran out to the yard with her dog.

“I’ve been called worse.”

I moved past her and made my way to the fenced area and set my toolbox down, including the saw that wouldn’t be necessary to fix this, but I’d known it would intimidate the dickhead movers. I chuckled as I took in the portion of the fence that Winnie had easily taken apart. None of these yards were fenced because they led down to the lake, and no one wanted to disrupt the view. But a few of the homes had dog runs on their side yards, which the Halls had put in years ago. It just hadn’t been kept up.

“Thanks for doing this,” she said as she followed behind me.

“It’s the neighborly thing to do,” I said, as I reached for my hammer.

“Well, thanks, neighbor.” She chuckled. “Let me know if you need anything.”

“We’re fine. Just be sure to keep that door open, all right?”

I heard her grumble something about me being a caveman before she said something sweet to Cutler as he made his way over to me.

Emerson disappeared into her house, and her wild dog decided to lie down in between me and the fence like the giant pain in the ass she was proving to be.

Cutler dropped to sit down beside her and eat his banana. “I like having someone live next door to us, don’t you?”

“I prefer the quiet, so I was fine when this house was empty,” I said, as I hammered in some support stakes that I had in my toolbox.

“Haters gonna hate,” my smartass kid said.

“Who told you that?”

“Uncle King,” he said over his laughter.

“Hey, just because I don’t like being woken up first thing in the morning and having a dog barrel through our house does not make me a hater.”

“I think you’re pretending to like it quiet. I think you like having a new neighbor just like I do, Pops.”

I rolled my eyes and kept working.

But he was right. Maybe I liked it a little bit.