Chase Our Forever (Sutten Mountain #3)

15. Liv

15

LIV

“Houses in Colorado are way different than houses in Florida,” I mutter as Dean takes us down a long, winding driveway toward his childhood home.

“I’ve been to Florida before. There’s definitely beautiful real estate there,” Dean remarks as he parks his truck right next to another one that almost looks identical to his.

“I wouldn’t know. There was nothing beautiful about where I lived.”

He frowns but doesn’t respond to my comment. I like that he doesn’t ask a lot of questions. I wouldn’t answer him even if he did.

“Sounds like you need to see better parts of Florida.”

I laugh. “I never want to go back to Florida. I’ll stick to different views. Like this one right here.” I lean forward in my seat and rest my elbows on the dashboard.

In front of me is another breathtaking landscape. While Dean’s house is more nestled in a valley between mountains, his family’s home is right on the side of a mountain. There are trees everywhere, but they’re spread out enough that you can still see their neighbors. At Dean’s house, all you can see are trees, mountains, and the little pond behind his house. There isn’t a neighbor in sight.

“What do you think?” Dean asks. I can feel his eyes on me even as I look ahead at the beautiful house in front of us.

Where Dean’s house had modern accents that show it was recently built, his childhood home is the complete opposite. It looks like a house you’d find in Colorado. It’s a cherrywood-colored cabin, but still larger than the typical size I was expecting of cabins. As someone who grew up in Florida, maybe my perceptions of the size of what a cabin should be are just wrong.

“I think that the house is beautiful. I haven’t been inside yet, but I can just feel that you had a good childhood here. That it was a great place to grow up.”

There’s an old tire attached to a huge tree not too far from us. The rope has been weathered by the sun over the years, but it still hangs like someone could use it even today. I try to imagine a small Dean swinging from it. Even though he seems calm and reserved, I get the feeling he was still a daredevil in his younger years.

The thought makes me smile. Clara seems like him in that regard. I’ve spent one full day with her at this point and have quickly learned she has no fear.

I keep looking around, taking in the sights. There are more cars here than I was expecting, making me wonder how many siblings he has.

He hums but he doesn’t take his eyes off me. I don’t know why, but my cheeks heat under his gaze. I both want him to keep looking at me and for him to look away. “It was the best place to grow up. This house, this town, I could never imagine leaving.”

“Pippa said the same thing,” I respond, my eyes catching on a giant yellow dog running along the fence line.

“You’ll see. This place is hard to leave. We do need to get out to Jennings Ranch before it gets too cold. Going on one of their trail rides will guarantee you the best view of all time.”

I finally look at him, finding his brown eyes still on me. I can’t help but smile at the thought of seeing views more beautiful than what I’ve already seen of Sutten. “I’d love that. Although, I’ve never even ridden a horse before…”

This makes him raise a dark eyebrow. “Don’t worry. I’ll show you the ropes.”

The husky tone to his voice sends a shiver down my spine. I can’t explain why. I know his innocent sentence shouldn’t have any kind of effect on me, but I can’t help that it does. I shake my head, trying to get rid of the weird sensation as quickly as it appeared.

Luckily, Dean doesn’t seem to notice my weird reaction. He grabs an old baseball hat from his side of the dash and places it on his head. When he looks over at me, that mischievous tilt of his lip is back. “Let’s see how long it takes my mom to lecture me on wearing a hat at the dinner table.”

A squeak of panic falls from my lips when I look at my outfit. I’m wearing leggings and a hoodie to their family function. “Was I supposed to dress up?”

“No. My mom just has a rule about hats at the table no matter the time of day.”

I chew on my lip for a moment, wondering if this is a good idea. I do want to get to know his family in case something happens and I can’t get ahold of Dean, but I’m wondering if I should’ve waited a little bit longer. I technically haven’t even started the job yet. “Ready?” Dean asks. “I bet Clara has asked when you’d be here five thousand times by now.”

I sigh, trying to calm the nerves racing through me. I don’t know why I’m nervous. All that I know is that I am nervous. Maybe it’s because I’ve never had a family. Nothing about my upbringing is normal. What if I say something wrong and his mom hates me? What if one of them thinks I’m not qualified to be Clara’s nanny?

“Liv?” Dean prods. He reaches across the center console of the truck before he lets his hand drop between us. The sound of it hitting the leather has me looking at him, my heart still racing with nerves.

“I’m nervous your family might hate me and tell you to fire me,” I blurt. The words come from my mouth before I can think better of them. I wish I knew why I was suddenly so nervous. I’m normally a look-on-the-bright-side kind of person. Thinking in worst-case scenarios was something I grew tired of. My life could be sad enough at times. The least I could do for my own mental health was try to be more positive.

But for some reason, as I sit in Dean’s pristine truck, I’m realizing that for the first time in a long time, I have something I want. And the thought of losing it just days after getting it is making me incredibly nervous.

Dean’s silence doesn’t help in the slightest. Neither do the two deep lines between his eyebrows that help make up his deep scowl.

“Here’s where you give me some kind of words of encouragement,” I add, trying to lighten the mood but also trying to have him talk some sense into me.

“There’s no way they’re going to hate you. How could they? Clara loves you, and she’s got every single one of us wrapped around her finger.” He jerks his head toward the door. “Now, let’s go inside so I can prove to you how ridiculous it is for you to think they’d ever hate you.”

I take a deep breath and nod. He understands the cue. Immediately, he opens his door, and before he can even step out of the truck, the giant yellow dog I saw earlier is jumping all over him.

“Hi, Missy,” he says, gently running his hand down her back. His door shuts, and before I can open my own door, he’s pulling it open. The massive golden retriever comes with him, her tail wagging enthusiastically as Dean holds out his hand to help me down.

“I know she’s huge, but she’s like a giant teddy bear. You have to watch out for?—”

“Oh, hi.” I laugh as two massive paws land on my shoulders the moment I step out of the truck. The dog’s tongue swipes along my cheek. Before she can lick me again, Dean reaches out, grabs her collar, and pulls her off me.

“Sorry,” he apologizes, holding tight to her collar even as she tries to jump on me all over again. “She’s still learning her manners.”

“Is she a puppy?” I ask, squatting down to scratch the dog’s ears. She’s adorable. Her tail thrashes in the air excitedly as I move to scratch her chin.

This makes Dean chuckle. It’s a low rumble from deep inside his chest, but I love the sound of it. It’s nice to know that he can laugh and find humor in the world, even after the devastating things that have happened to him. “No, she’s not a puppy. In fact, she’s a mommy of four adorable puppies inside. Mom and Dad have just been soft with her training now that they’re empty nesters. They spoil you, don’t they, Missy?” He uses a slight baby voice when talking to the dog. She revels in it. Her tongue peeks out from the side of her mouth as she basks in the attention from both of us. She rolls over, placing herself right over the toes of his cowboy boots—the same boots I find far too attractive.

“So, there are puppies inside?” I ask, probably more excited than I should be.

Dean picks up a nearby stick and throws it for Missy. She runs after it without any second thought of us. “There are. I know some have homes lined up, but it’ll still be a few weeks until then. Do you love puppies?”

I nod. “Doesn’t everyone love puppies?”

“Fair point. Let’s get you inside then, so you can get your puppy fix in. I’m sure that’s where we’ll find Clara,” he adds.

I follow him, suddenly forgetting I was ever nervous about meeting his family in the first place.