MEL FOUND JASON waiting on her porch, sitting on the top step, with a chocolate-brown Lab puppy asleep in his lap. “Hey,” she said, feeling all soft and mushy at just the sight of him.

“Hey, yourself.” Despite the clear tension in his long, rangy, beautiful body, his smile was slow and lazy and just for her.

“What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you.” Picking up the puppy and tucking it against his chest, he rose. “I’ve been waiting for you all my life, Mel.”

“Jason—”

“No, let me say this. I have to say this. Ever since my accident I’ve taken a what-the-hell attitude about life. Casual. Cavalier, even. Mostly because I knew exactly how short life could be, but also because nothing was worth stressing over if I could die any second.”

“Oh, Jason. I understand. I—”

“I was wrong, Melissa. I took it all wrong, and everything in my life, including my writing, suffered. Hell, I couldn’t even figure out that my hero’s problem was my problem. I couldn’t find my way home, and that didn’t make any sense because I was living in a house I’d known all my life. But it wasn’t about the damn house, it was about me, and what I did with my heart. Yeah, life’s short, but I need to live it, I need to live it every single day, even if it means getting hurt. Are you following me?”

“Yes. I agree with you. I…I went to Los Angeles to get the most out of my life.”

He looked grim. And, if she wasn’t mistaken, just a little vulnerable. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

She nodded, and his body tensed even further, but he let out a long breath and a smile that didn’t quite meet his eyes. “I’m glad,” he said, then shook his head. “No, scratch that, I’m not glad, I’m—”

She put her fingers over his mouth, and stepped closer so that their bodies brushed together. The puppy mewled a little but stayed asleep. “I found that I don’t belong there anymore,” she said. “I belong here. With Rose trying to boss me around, with crazy patients coming in and out of my clinic, and…”

He tugged her hand loose from his mouth but kept her fingers tight in his. “And…?”

“And you.” She cupped his lean jaw and kissed him. Kissed both sides of his mouth before pulling back. “I belong here with the man who wanted me so badly he kept coming in with animals just to see me.”

He winced. “I’m so sorry—”

She kissed him. “I know,” she whispered against his mouth. “I get it now. You care. You all care. And God help me, but I care back. I missed you when I was gone, even though it was only one day. I missed you so much. And I came to understand something, Jason. I came to understand what I’ve been missing all these years.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“Love.”

With his one available hand, he squeezed her so close the puppy mewled again and lifted its sleepy head.

“She’s adorable,” Melissa whispered. “Another of Rose’s?”

“No.” He tipped her chin up to see into her eyes. “Back to that love thing. Are you—”

“Yes.” She swallowed hard. “I’m saying that I’ve fallen in love with you. I know it’s silly, it’s such a short time, but I’m figuring we have lots more time to figure it all out.”

“Yeah.” He looked down. “I came here with a shameless bribe thinking I’d have to talk you into letting me see you. I said it before, and I meant it. I love you, Mel.”

Her eyes filled. “Oh, Jason.” They kissed, sweet at first, but quickly heat and need jockeyed for position, until the puppy let out a surprisingly loud bark for such a little thing, right in their faces.

Jason grinned. “Melissa, meet your bribe. Sissy.”

“Sissy?”

The little puppy blinked and yawned wide, her eyes a dark, dark brown and filled with adoration.

“She’s a big sissy. She cried all last night. Please say you’ll take her.” He kissed her again. “I think a vet should have her very own pet, don’t you?”

She’d never had a pet before, never. She’d never had time, she’d never had space, she’d never—

She’d never wanted to open her heart. She took Sissy into her arms and melted when the puppy set her head on her chest and sighed as if she’d found home.

They’d all found home.