We put our coats on and I put on my toboggan and we headed out in the snow.

"Do you want to follow me or ride with me?"

"I can ride with you. It's not far away right?" He asked.

"No just right up the road," I said unlocking my doors.

It was quiet on the ride and I looked over at Madden a few times and even in the dark with just the glow of the moon, he was handsome.

We pulled into the driveway and mom must still be up because the lights were on.

"You weren't kidding when you said you didn't live far." He laughed.

"Nope, this is where I grew up. Come on let's go get a muffin." I said walking through the snow.

Made it to the steps and they were slick and I fell backward but Madden caught me.

"Whoa! Good thing I was behind you." He laughed.

"Thanks for catching me." I laughed.

We walked in and I didn't see mom. It was only a little after 8 pm so she should still be awake.

"Mom where are you?"

"In the kitchen honey!"

"I brought a guest," I said taking my shoes, jacket, and toboggan off.

Madden took his stuff off as well and followed me to the kitchen. "God it smells so good in here."

"Hey, mom! This is Madden and Madden this is my mom Libby."

"It's so good to meet you Madden! I've heard a lot about you from my late husband."

"I heard about your cooking too and I just want to say I'm sorry about Russ he is missed and also thank you for your donation."

"Oh, it's no problem. My Russ was sneaky and we weren't broke so anything I can do to help I will." She smiled.

"Did you make muffins mom?"

"You know I did and I also made some dog treats."

"Oh, that's so nice of you Mrs. Granger."

"Please Madden call me Libby but it's my pleasure. I hope they like them."

We sit down and I couldn't help but watch Madden as he bit into that muffin to see what he thought.

He rolled his eyes in the back of his head and moaned out. "Oh my god! I've never eaten anything like this and I love it and I hate sweet potatoes."

"I'm glad you like it Madden." Mom laughed walking over to the table to show us the bones she made.

"Those look, fabulous mom. Can we eat them too?"

"Oh yeah you can its mostly pumpkin because dogs love that." She said.

"Interesting." Madden laughed.

"I'm going leave you two alone and head upstairs to take a shower." Mom said winking at me behind Maddens back.

I couldn't help but laugh as she walked upstairs. "She's something else."

"She made me want to cuss with how good this is."

"Must have been since you moaned."

"I did not!"

"Madden yes you did but don't worry it didn't sound too sexual." I giggle.

"You know how to make me blush Reyah."

"That's what I was aiming for." I smiled taking another bite of my muffin.

"Thanks for letting me come over and enjoy a muffin."

"Your welcome Madden. Maybe on adoption days, I can get my best friend and her fiancée to come help. Brynn and Joey have been my friends since grade school."

"Sure the more the merrier." He smiled.

"I'm going to grab us some hot cocoa and take you to Mom's sunroom even though there is no sun it's relaxing to sit in."

"Sure let me help you." He said grabbing a mug.

We walk in and I sit my mug down and he follows.

"Wow, what a view. I love this room." He said looking around.

"We come out here a lot. It was my dad's favorite room." I said clearing my throat.

"I'm sorry Reyah it's still just too fresh and I know it's hard."

"It's something I've never experienced before and I was a daddy's girl and it's been weird coming here and not seeing him but still smell him or look at his stuff," I said.

Madden put his arm around the back of the love seat we were sitting in and squeezed my shoulder.

"Your dad was a wonderful man Reyah and I'm sure he was very proud of you."

"For what reason? I didn't go to college and I didn't have a normal job. Just helping mom is not really my passion." I said.

"What is your passion Reyah?"

"I'm not really sure Madden. I feel even more at a loss now without my dad."

"My grandparents had a farm growing up with a bunch of farm animals and I loved being there so I knew at an early age that I wanted to do something with animals." He said.

"Why not a vet then?"

"Hell, I hated school so no way I could go that many years to be a vet." He laughed.

"Well, I get that. I hated school too that's why I didn't go to college and I feel like I'm a failure."

"Hey now your not a failure Reyah. Did you see the smile on your mom's face when she sees you? You are helping her through a really hard time when you are grieving yourself."

"Thanks! I try to hide it from her because I don't want things worse for her so I usually cry myself to sleep."

"I could always hold you in bed and you could cry on my shoulder." He smirked.

"Really Madden?"

"I was just trying to make you laugh. We have good banter together Reyah."

"Yeah, I feel like you are a long-lost friend of mine that I am just catching up with." I smile over at him.

"Do you think you could take me home? I don't live far from here."

"Sure let me check in on mom and we can leave."

"I'll be grabbing one more of those muffins for the road." He laughed.