Greg got up early Christmas morning to get Carly’s gift ready for her to open. He had to hide it in the garage so she wouldn’t stumble upon it. He put it in a big beautiful box. It had holes at the sides and a magnificent bow on top. He was actually looking forward to seeing Carly’s face when she saw her gift.
He brought it into the lavishly decorated living room and put the gift under the Christmas tree. The Christmas lights were blinking brightly and lighting up the surrounding walls.
Greg decided it was time for Carly to come and get her gift. He went up to her room and opened the door slowly. He saw Carly sleeping soundly in her bed and almost felt guilty about waking her up. The old Carly would have been royally pissed. He had no idea what the new Carly would do. This little stunt had better tell me something.
He strode over to her bed and shook her by the shoulder gently.
“Carly, wake up. It’s Christmas,” he said.
“Five more minutes…please,” she muttered; bringing the covers over her head.
“Come on Carly. I’ve got a big surprise for you and it can’t wait.”
Greg pulled the covers off of her and watched as she curled up into a ball. He laughed to himself, watching her feel for the missing covers that provided comforting warmth to her body. Greg was surprised to see that she wore baggy flannel pajamas to bed. She usually wore slinky nightgowns, but he needed to remember that Carly wasn’t her usual self.
He grabbed Carly by her arms and sat her up on the edge of the bed. He found her slippers on the floor beside the bed and put them on her feet.
“Greg, can’t this wait until later? Why are you so persistent?” asked Carly.
“This gift can’t wait. Come on, I think you’re going to like it,” he said.
Carly could hear the subtle excitement in Greg’s voice. This must be good, she thought. She always looked forward to the anticipation of opening her Christmas presents ever since she was a little girl. She got out of bed and stretched her arms up into the air with a grunt. Sunlight beamed into the bedroom, but didn’t help the shiver in her body. She looked at her bed, longing to get back in, but slipped on her robe over her pajamas instead.
She followed Greg down the stairs and into the living room where the Christmas tree stood. The gifts were scattered underneath, but there was one huge box she hadn’t seen before.
“Is that big box for me?” she asked with a childlike smile on her face.
“Yep. I couldn’t wait any longer. I have to see the look on your face when you open it,” he said. Yeah, see if your true colors come out.
“Oh Greg, thank you. I’m sure I’ll love it,” she said as she sat down in front of the box.
Carly was just about to open it, when she looked at Greg with a smile. She then went under the tree to grab one of the gifts she got for him.
“It’s really hard to buy a gift for someone you really don’t know, but I gave it a try. I hope you like it,” she said.
“Thank you Carly,” he said as he took the small decorated box from her hand.
As he opened his gift, Greg heard her squeal in delight as she dove into the box and took out a sleeping dog.
“Oh my goodness, I’ve always wanted a dog,” she said as she laid the sleeping puppy in her lap.
“YOU HAVE?” he asked in disbelief.
“Uh yeah, who wouldn’t want such an adorable dog,” she cooed, mesmerized by the little chocolate brown, wirehaired Dachshund that was beginning to stir from the commotion.
“You really like the dog?” Greg asked surprised.
Her pure joy was not the reaction he expected. Carly hated dogs, at least she strongly voiced that during their marriage. She always said they were too much trouble and she didn’t want to get hair all over the furniture and rugs.
“Well, go on and open up your gift. It’s one of the couple of things that I got you,” she stated.
Greg finished taking the gift wrap of his gift and was surprised to see what lay beneath the paper. It was a bottle of Fahrenheit, the scent emitted from the plastic storage box under Carly’s bed.
“Is it okay? Do you like it?” she asked as she cuddled the puppy.
“Yes, I do, very much,” said Greg practically speechless.
Did Carly realize what a sentimental gift she just gave him? When they first met, Fahrenheit was the cologne he wore and she always loved it. As things changed, she didn’t want him to wear it. She said it wasn’t what people in their social circles wore. He changed it just to please her and to keep the peace. It pleased him to hold a new bottle in his hands.
They opened up the rest of their gifts. He could tell that Jackie helped her since the gifts reflected things he needed or wanted for himself at the office.
She picked out a new Blackberry with new features he could play with, a couple of shirts and sweaters and, of course, ties.
“Carly, this is too much. You didn’t have to get the Blackberry, I was planning on getting it when I had some time,” he said.
“Well, now you don’t have to. Don’t worry; it seems I have a lot of money. I got a bank statement in the mail the other day. Jackie took me to the bank to make sure that it was really mind. I’ve never had so many numbers attached to my name before. All I had to do was show my driver’s license and they gave me some money. Jackie and I had a lot of fun that day,” she laughed.
“Carly, you’re a broker. You make a lot of money. Well, thanks anyway,” he said as he leaned back against the sofa. “So, what are you going to call him?”
“Hmmm,” she pondered lifting the dog up to get a better look at him. “I think I’ll call him…Buddy.”
“Buddy?”
“Yeah, doesn’t he look like a Buddy to you?” she said. Greg just shrugged his shoulders.
Carly put Buddy down and he started to walk around sniffing the floor around the tree. Buddy sniffed around Carly’s other gifts and came across the gift that Nathan left for Carly.
“Why don’t you open that one Carly?” Greg motioned over to Buddy and the gift.
“Oh, let’s see what’s inside this one Buddy,” Carly said. Greg couldn’t help but be curious to see what Nathan left for Carly.
Carly picked up the gift and opened it. Greg couldn’t see what was inside as she stared into the box.
“What is it?”
Carly lifted the gift out of the box. It was a snow globe mounted on a short wooden pedestal. Greg moved closer to Carly to see the little city inside. The snow fell on the ground and revealed mountains covered in snow with trees and little skiers going down the slopes. There was a red flag with a white cross on it.
“Wow, it’s beautiful,” she said shaking the snow globe.
“Hhmm, what an interesting gift?” he said looking over her shoulder.
Carly stood and took the snow globe to the mantle in the living room. She looked down and saw Buddy looking up at her with his big brown eyes. Greg looked at the two of them and shook his head. He was amazed at how things changed since the accident. He never thought he would be looking at his wife in their living room on Christmas morning with a dog at her heels.
“What do you think?” she asked. Buddy gave her a loud bark giving his approval.
“Not you,” she laughed.
“Its fine right there,” Greg stood and walked over to Carly.
Greg wondered why Nathan would give Carly such a gift. What was the meaning behind it?
“So where did you get him?” he heard Carly ask.
“Uh, the SPCA. He’s neutered and house broken. I have his dog food and bed in the kitchen pantry so he is ready to go.”
“Thank you so much Greg.”
“Merry Christmas Carly.”
“Merry Christmas to you too Greg,” she said and then she wrapped her arms around his neck in a warm embrace. Greg returned in kind and wrapped his arms around her waist. They held each other until they heard the whimpering of their new dog.
“Jealous are we,” she said looking at him.
“I think he’s hungry.”
Greg picked up Buddy and they headed to the kitchen. Greg showed Carly where he put the dog food and poured Buddy his breakfast in a plastic bowl. Carly got a bowl and filled it with water then set it on the floor next to his food. Carly watched in fascination as Buddy ate. She couldn’t help smile at her cute little friend. She was happy to have him.
Since Greg fed Buddy, Carly decided to feed Greg and herself and made them breakfast. Greg and Buddy were in the kitchen keeping Carly company as she made egg and bacon with toast.
“I never knew you always wanted a dog,” Greg said as he munched on some toast.
“Well, I really wanted a monkey, but dad said one monkey, that being muwah, was more than enough for the family. My mom didn’t want to be bothered with one since she grew up with a dog in the house and it would be too much trouble,” she explained.
Carly finished making their breakfast and sat down to eat while Buddy would play with the chew toy Greg got him at the grocery store with the dog food. She couldn’t believe Greg got her such a wonderful gift. In her heart, she thought he must really love her, but there was something nagging in her head. There was something definitely missing, something he wasn’t telling her.
Carly and Greg had a quiet morning with Buddy, chasing him around the house. He got into everything. They actually had a good time with their new family member. Buddy was excited and relieved when they let him out to take care of his business in the yard. Greg watched as Carly and Buddy settled in for the day.
After they showered and changed into jeans, t-shirts and socks, they decided to stay and spend Christmas together- just the two of them, with Buddy of course. It meant a lot to Carly to spend some alone time with Greg. She still had some reservations about his mother and didn’t want to give his mother a chance to ruin her holiday with Greg.
Family and friends called to wish them a Merry Christmas and to see how Carly was doing. She spoke to her friend Alicia for a couple of hours. Alicia told her about the wonderful earrings her husband, Jeff, got her. Her friend informed her that on the following day, they were going to Baton Rouge to visit Jeff’s family and won’t be back until after the New Year.
Carly told her parents about Greg’s wonderful gift, which left them with a sigh of relief. Her parents told Greg that they would have been happy to have the two of them over for Christmas, but Greg wanted to see if Carly would remember anything and Carly didn’t disappoint.
After dinner, Carly and Greg let Buddy out one more time and then relaxed in the family room’s comfortable couch. They watched Buddy play around with his toys and get familiar with his new environment. Greg messed around with his new Blackberry as Carly threw Buddy a plastic ball and waited for him to come back with it.
“He’s perfect. What made you pick him?” she asked.
Buddy brought back the plastic ball with enthusiasm. He was anxious for her to throw the ball again so he could please his new mistress. She bent down and ran her hand over the smooth soft brown hair on the top of his head.
“I don’t know. He just looked up at me with those big brown eyes. He looked pretty pitiful and I guess I felt sorry for him and he’s just small enough for you to handle.”
She nodded her agreement and sat back in content silence. She smiled at Buddy who was patiently waiting for her to resume their play. Carly threw it a little harder than she intended. It rolled out of the room and Buddy ran after it.
“Your mother had a dog,” Carly stated.
Greg looked up slowly from his Blackberry and met Carly’s brown eyes.
“What?”
“Your mother. Didn’t she have a dog?” she asked. Greg didn’t know how to answer her. He wanted her to tell him what she knew.
“What do you know Carly?”
Greg sat their patiently, waiting for Carly to respond. Carly had a distant look on her face. She wanted to remember and it was on the tip of her brain. She was digging deep and finally visions of memories past resurfaced.
“The dog’s name was…Penny! It was a puddle. I white puddle.”
“Was?”
“Yeah, she died. Well, killed. I drove to your parent’s house to finally meet them and when I was pulling into the driveway; your brother was pulling out of the garage in a Jeep.”
“Yeah, keep going,” he said slowly. He was practically at the edge of his seat.
“Your brother ran over the dog. He was so upset. He thought your mother wouldn’t let him go to Cancun on Spring Break so I told him to tell her I ran over the dog by accident.”
Greg narrowed his eyes as he looked at Carly in disbelief. He didn’t know that and she never said anything at the time. He remembered that day as if it was yesterday. His mother LOVED that dog. It was her little baby since she had an empty nest. Greg and Kyle were in college and their father was at court all day. Their mother spoiled that dog rotten.
Carly came into the house through the garage followed by Kyle and she admitted to be the responsible party. She paid for the dog’s burial and Kyle and Carly never said a word. From that day forward, his mother HATED Carly.
“Are you sure that’s right Carly?” he asked tentatively.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure. What’s the matter? Did I say something wrong?” Carly seemed worried by the look on his face.
“Hold on a second. I’ll be right back.” Greg went into the kitchen and picked up the phone to call his brother. He wanted to know what really happened.
“Hello you asshole,” Greg said in greeting.
“Well, Merry Christmas to you too, bro,” Kyle said. “How is your Christmas with Carly?”
“Very enlightening. I want you to come over to my house. NOW!”
“Why? What did I do?”
“Just get here,” Greg said and then hung up the phone.
Greg came back into the family room and gave Carly a reassuring smile.
“Is everything okay?”
“It will be. I called my brother to come over here so he can help us. You see, I wasn’t there. I was inside waiting for you. So I wouldn’t know what exactly happened.”
Carly seemed to buy it. Buddy just cocked his head to the side and looked at Greg. Greg sat down on the couch next to Carly in anticipation for his brother to arrive. Buddy walked over to Carly to give her the object in his mouth. Instead of the ball, she found plastic leaves attached to a red velvet ribbon and a bell.
“What do you have there Buddy?” Greg asked.
“Mistletoe.” Carly took the mistletoe out of Buddy’s mouth. “He must have gotten it from the gift wrapping.” Buddy barked once and trotted off to play with his chew toy.
Carly looked at the mistletoe in her hand. This would certainly give her an opportunity to make a move on Greg. Why am I so nervous? I shouldn’t be so reluctant. He is my husband isn’t he? I’m sure we kissed a lot before I lost my memory.
“Well, you know what this means?” she said with a grin on her face.
Greg looked at the mistletoe and then at Carly. He noticed her slight hesitance, but wanted her to make the first move. Does she really want to kiss me? Did he? Of course! I actually have my wife back. So why am I so nervous?
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to?” he said softly.
Carly moved closer and lifted the mistletoe over Greg’s head. They looked into each other’s eyes for an instant before Carly kissed him gently on the lips. She smiled as she pulled away just a little bit. Her heart was racing a mile a minute. She couldn’t believe she was bold enough to kiss him.
Greg smiled back at her, pleased with her assertiveness. It told him a lot. It told him that she wanted to try. That Carly wanted to be with him and that she cared. He hadn’t felt such care from his wife in such a long time. At first, it felt awkward, but then he wanted more. He didn’t want her to stop.
He was surprised when she kissed him again and this time she lingered. Her lips were soft and supple. She gentle caught his lower lip between her teeth and pulled, coaxing him to open up to him. He thought that was cute. He came closer to her and kissed her. Carly came willingly as Greg wrapped his arms around her. He took things slowly at first, but could hardly contain himself.
Soon, they were sharing a passion filled kiss. She loved the way his mouth felt against hers. His mouth was warm and velvety. He tasted so good. Carly was excited and wasn’t afraid. She became more comfortable and wanted more of Greg. She wanted more from her husband.
The mistletoe long forgotten on the back of the couch, she ran her fingers through his hair. He leaned forward and pushed Carly back against the couch. He lay on top of her and continued to explore her mouth and her body. Her hand ran down his chest and around to his back. This was the first time she had the chance to take consideration of his muscular body. He was so much bigger than Carly. Harder. His muscles flexed with each movement he made. Damn, he feels like a brick wall.
Greg lifted Carly’s t-shirt and marveled at the heat radiating from her skin. She flinched slightly at the touch of his fingers across her abdomen. His gaze met the white satin bra, so he released her left breast from its confines and licked at her black nipple. She sighed in content when he engulfed her nipple in his warm, wet mouth. Her hands came up to the sides of his head to keep him in place. He felt so good to her where he was and she didn’t want him to move away ever.
He didn’t realize how much he missed her until all his memories of her came back. The way her chocolate skin was soft and silky to his touch. The way she smelled so good. The way she writhed underneath him that made him more aroused. The way she moaned and got excited. All of these things and more was what made him fall in love with her. Carly always made him feel a certain way.
Greg and Carly were too involved in each other to hear the doorbell ring. The next thing they knew was a loud banging coming from the door. Carly suddenly came out of her euphoria as Greg stopped to lift his head away from Carly. It finally dawned on him that it was his brother.
“It’s Kyle. I think I better get that,” he said getting up. Carly sat up pulling her shirt back down.
He got up from the couch and walked over to the door. The banging was still coming from the other side. Buddy came out of nowhere to investigate the noise.
“It’s about damn time.” Kyle strolled in to get in from the cold.
“Sorry, we were just…” Greg was clearly uncomfortable as he closed the door and followed his brother into the family room. Kyle saw Carly jump up off the couch. She finished straightening herself and smoothed her hair back.
“Hmmm, it’s a good thing I came when I did,” Kyle said jokingly.
“Shut up!” Greg didn’t care too much for his brother’s teasing, especially at their age.
“Well, who’s this?”
Kyle bent down and looked at Buddy. Buddy cocked his head to the side as he looked at the new stranger. Kyle reached out his hand for him to sniff and then he licked them. Kyle then started to scratch Buddy behind the ears.
“His name is Buddy. He’s my Christmas gift from Greg. Isn’t he wonderful?” Carly beamed with pride.
“He sure is cute,” Kyle said as he looked up at his older brother.
“Yeah,” was all Greg could say.
“You know Carly, it was my idea to get him for you,” Kyle chimed in.
“Really, well thank you Kyle. I love him.”
“Well, Kyle. Thanks to your idea, I found out something interesting. Carly remembered something. She remembered Penny.”
“R…really,” he said after a long pause.
“Yeah. You let my soon to be wife take the blame for your careless driving so you could go to Cancun. Carly paid for that stupid dog’s burial for goodness sakes.”
“I was young and stupid man. She saw how upset I was. You know how much mom loved that stupid dog. Mom and dad were paying for my Spring Break and mom would have killed me! Carly was nice enough to help by taking the blame.”
“You let Carly pay for Penny’s funeral.”
“I was a poor college student.”
“So was Carly. I’m your brother. The two of you never bothered to tell me!”
“I begged her not to. I wasn’t going to let you have that information and have it over my head for you to do to me whatever you wanted. Carly understood that.”
Carly looked back and forth between the bantering brothers. Greg paced the room in frustration. Kyle had a way about making excuses. He would make a challenging witness on the stand. Greg didn’t know what to make of it. He finally decided to let it go. It did happen ages ago.
“Would you guys like to have a beer?” Carly asked. The two of them faced Carly. Was she being hospitable and offering to get them something to drink?
“Yes…please,” answered Kyle.
“Yeah, thank you,” Greg said, wrinkling his forehead. Carly gave them one last glance and headed for the kitchen.
As Kyle and Greg took their seats in the family room, Carly went to the kitchen with Buddy at her heels. The brothers were catching up on what’s new and it got her thinking about her past. Carly always wanted a brother or sister. Her mother wasn’t able to have any more children after Carly. Her parents wanted several children, but weren’t able to. Instead, her mother wanted to have many grandchildren. Carly wanted children, but over time with her mother’s pressuring didn’t look forward to bearing children. There was more to her than being a baby machine.
She came back into the family room and handed her husband and brother in law their beers. Carly sat next to Greg on the couch and sat back to listen. When they weren’t arguing, they seemed to get along great. Their physical similarities were uncanny. Kyle was just a younger version of Greg and their father.
Carly wondered what Greg and Kyle were like when they met Carly. Was Kyle a scrawny, pestering little brother? Did he want to be just like his older brother? Was his trip to Cancun worth it? Did he have a lot of fun there?
After a while, Carly started to get tired. She said her goodnights and headed off to bed. She was surprised that Buddy followed her up and was able to get up the stairs with his short legs. He was so cute.
“You wait for me right here Buddy. I’ll be back,” she said to her dog before she went into the bathroom.
Carly took a hot shower. It felt great after playing around all day with Buddy. She thought about her memory of Penny. She felt awful about keeping something like that from Greg. What else could she have kept from Greg? What other secrets did she have?
When she came out of the bathroom and put on her nightgown, she didn’t see Buddy. She looked around her bedroom and into the hallway. She didn’t see him anywhere.
“Buddy,” she said into the hallway. “Where are you boy?”
Carly heard a distant rustle coming from Greg’s room. She wrapped her robe tightly around her and walked across the hallway. She could hear Greg and Kyle still talking downstairs before she entered the room.
She came into the bedroom and flipped the wall switch to turn the light on. There was Buddy sprawled out on Greg’s bed. Carly laughed as her dog lay comfortably on top of the covers. The bed did look comfortable. A plush down comforter with big plush pillows covered his king size bed.
“Oh no mister. You can’t sleep in that bed,” she commanded.
Carly stood over him beside the bed. Buddy turned his head and looked up at his mistress with his big pitiful brown eyes. She could never say no to him or deny him anything. He was just too cute.
“Well, maybe we can stay for just a little bit, but we have to leave soon.” She climbed in and lay next to Buddy stroking his back. He seemed to like that and lay his head back down enjoying the attention.
As she lay on her back, she looked around the room to see if anything looked familiar. Nothing. The bed was located against the wall across the bedroom door. Soon, after having a hot shower and lying in a heavenly bed, Carly began to get sleepy. She yawned and turned to her side facing Buddy.
“This has got to be the best Christmas I have ever had…I think,” she said to her companion. “I really do hope you like it here Buddy. I’ve come to like it since I’ve been here, especially Greg.”
Carly thought about her time on the couch with Greg. She thought he was amazing and wanted to strangle Kyle for coming to the house when he did. She was actually getting somewhere with that hunk of a man. She couldn’t stop thinking about his hands, lips, and muscles. He seemed to know all of her buttons.
Carly could have sworn she saw Buddy right brow raised when he saw her with a thoughtful smile on her face.
“Do you know what I was thinking about? Oh, I wanted to thank you for the mistletoe. You’re such a smart dog.” Buddy barked and lay his head back down on the bed.
“I can’t believe I’m talking to you like this. I wonder if you even understand me. I can’t wait for Jackie to get back. I miss her and you’ll just love her.”
She yawned and stretched feeling the effects of the long day she had. She curled up into a ball and drifted off to sleep with thoughts of Greg and mistletoe.
After he said goodnight to his brother and saw him out the door, Greg headed up the stairs to go to bed. They talked for a couple of more hours before they realized how late it was. He was glad he as able to spend some time with his brother. Greg has always been grateful for his close relationship with his brother.
When he found out about the true nature of Penny’s death, he was surprised that Carly helped his brother. He was even more surprised that they never told him about it. He didn’t like the fact they kept something like that from him, but it did explain why over the years he has always been nice to her, no matter what his mother or anybody else said about Carly. Now he can see why his brother always had a soft spot for Carly.
Greg remembered what Kyle told him one night at the bar:
“Well, here is your opportunity for a second chance. You did say she is a different Carly. She dresses differently, she lets you eat whatever you want, she doesn’t nag at you about everything under the sun and you know for damn sure that she’s been faithful since the accident…
“Look man, if I were you, I wouldn’t be so reluctant about getting your wife back. She seemed great over Thanksgiving. She had extramarital relations. You had extramarital relations. Case closed. Give it a chance.”
Maybe he should give their relationship another chance, but what about Heather. What is he going to do about her? She hasn’t been too happy about him spending so much time with Carly and he didn’t want to hurt her. As soon as he gets a chance, he wanted to talk to her and explain the situation at home.
When he made it to the top of the stairs, Greg noticed his bedroom door slightly ajar with a dim light coming from inside. He was perplexed. He may have left the door open, but didn’t remember leaving the light on in his room.
Greg walked in quietly and saw an adorable sight in his bed. Carly, curled up in a fetal position with Buddy right next to her. They were both asleep taking the left side of the huge king size bed. He shook his head with a smile on his face and headed for his bathroom.
He finished getting ready for bed and dressed in a comfortable pair of pajama pants. Looking down at the pair, he started to wonder why she decided to come into his bedroom. Their bedroom. Was she ready to move their relationship to the next level? Did she want to continue what they started earlier?
Greg moved to the other side of the bed. He wanted to put Buddy on the floor, so he laid a pillow and a spare blanket on the floor next to the bed. Buddy started to whine as Greg placed his arms under him. Carly stirred when she heard the commotion.
“What’s wrong?” asked Carly, the grogginess evident in her voice.
“Nothing Carly. Go back to sleep.”
He placed Buddy in his makeshift bed on the floor, went to the other side of the bed and got in. He placed a blanket over Carly and himself and lay next to her. The bed was warm and comfortable. She smelled so good, fresh and clean.
“So, what are you doing in here?”
“Well, I just…I mean we just wanted…,” she stammered out.
“It’s okay Carly. I don’t mind.”
“Actually, when I got out of the shower, I couldn’t find Buddy. I looked out in the hallway and heard him in here. I think he preferred your bed so I said we could stay for a little while. I didn’t mean to doze off. I guess I was just tired.”
He actually welcomed the company. He hadn’t slept in the same bed with Carly in a long time. He missed her. He liked having her warm soft body next to his in the bed.
Carly wanted to use this time with Greg to get to know him intimately and perhaps develop a sexual relationship with her husband. She felt she was ready. More than ready. Carly noticed that Greg was beginning to pull down his defenses and his distance wasn’t so noticeable. She didn’t want him to be afraid of her and treat her like a fragile child anymore. She was just glad to be close to him for now. She wanted to sleep with her husband in their marital bed where she belonged.
“Come here,” he said and stretched out his arms to her.
Carly smiled as she came to him and settled into his strong arms. She felt so safe and secure. Once again, sleep over powered her and slept better than she ever had before.
Greg came out of his unconscious state when he felt wetness spread over his chin and cheek. What the hell? He opened his eyes and saw Buddy panting with his tongue hanging out.
“Hello there Buddy,” he said and scratched Buddy behind his ears.
Buddy stepped back and waited patiently for Greg to get up. Greg looked down and saw Carly was still in his arms from the night before. She looked so peaceful and felt so good that he didn’t want to get out of bed. Buddy saw the reluctance his Greg’s eyes and started to bark at him.
Carly’s eyes opened slowly. At first she didn’t know where she was, but then she saw Greg and Buddy staring at her. Buddy barked at her too.
“Okay, I’m awake,” she said groggily.
“I think we better take him out,” he said.
“I agree before he bites our head off,” she said getting out of the bed. Greg followed and helped Buddy get down from the bed.
“How does he get into the bed? His legs are so short and the bed his high off the floor?” she asked. Greg took her to the other side of the bed and she saw the matching little steps that went with the wooden four poster bed.
They turned when they heard Buddy barking at them from the door. They followed him down the stair and took him outside. She was always grateful to the unexpected warm weather in Houston. One minute it was really cold and then the next minute it was warm enough to wear short. It came in handy at times such as these when Buddy wasn’t going to wait for her to change her clothes. When he was finally done, Buddy trotted back into the house with Greg and Carly following him.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Greg said surprising Carly. He disappeared and went into the garage.
Carly couldn’t help but wonder if it was another gift to her for Christmas. He already did so much for her. She was falling hard for this man, but she wasn’t sure if it was lust or love.
“This belongs to you,” she heard Greg say when he finally came back in with a leather bag in his hand.
“What is it?” she asked.
“It’s your laptop.”
“A laptop? You shouldn’t have Greg, it’s too much.”
“No Carly, this is yours. After the accident, they towed your car to an auto shop. They called me to get your belongings out of the car.”
“Can they fix my car? When can I get it back?” she asked.
“Sorry but your car was totaled. We can look for another car for you after the New Year.”
“Oh I don’t mind. I think it will take awhile before I would want to drive again anyway,” she said.
Greg handed her the computer bag and relieved he was able to look through her belongings before he gave her what she had the day of the accident. He took the divorce papers and stowed them away in a draw in his desk. There was nothing else in her car that would indicate to him to be any problem to her.
“Thanks,” she said. “I’ll just take this up to my room.”
Carly went to take the laptop to her bedroom as Greg took Buddy into the kitchen, not knowing the mistake he made in giving Carly the computer.
…to be continued