Page 49 of Puppy Love

“Oh?” their mother asked, her intense gaze shifting to Dawn. “So youhadmet the man before yesterday?”

“Of course. He stopped by that first day to apologize after Sophie yelled at him.”

“Sophie Josephine! You yelled at a client?” Her mother’s surprise lasted all of two seconds before it took a sharp turn. “Why? What did he do?”

“I didn’t yell at him,” Sophie protested, her cheeks flushed at the memory. “It was more like a strongly worded conversation. Harrison is…difficult.”

“Difficult?” her mom echoed. She gave Dawn a questioning look. “What does that mean?”

“Don’t ask me. I’m not the one working with him. But he didn’t check off any of my serial killer boxes, so I’m sure Sophie will come out of this with all her skin intact.”

“I’m not sure I trust your serial killer checklist, my love. I’ve met some of the men you’ve dated.”

“It means exactly what you already wrangled out of Oscar and Paulette, Mom,” Sophie said with what she considered admirable patience. “He’s a large man, yes, and it takes him a while to warm up to people. But it’s not a big deal, I promise. I can handle him.”

Her mother clucked in a way that could denote either sympathy or disbelief but was most likely a combination of the two. “Maybe you should hand this off to one of your sisters, sweetie. I know you mean well, but you don’t have Dawn’s experience when it comes to this sort of thing. Or Lila’s firm hand.”

“He’s not a problem,” Sophie said, this time through her teeth. Sheknewshe wasn’t as competent as her sisters. Sheknewshe never would be. But she still deserved a life of her own, no matter how small.

Ironically enough, Harrison would have been the first to back her up on that. He was so used to seeing her assert herself, watching as her self-confidence unfurled, that he probably wouldn’t recognize the woman she was when her family was around. He might not evenlikeher when her family was around.

To be perfectly honest, she wasn’t sure she liked herself that way.

“You know what?” Sophie said, feeling a sudden urge to push back. “I like him. He works hard and he’s good with the puppy. He’s also a really good kisser, in case you were wondering.”

This time, her mother’s clucking sound was closer to a growl. Sophie recognized that growl—knew it down to her bones. It was the sound of a mama bear awakening from hibernation. In a few seconds, the bear would be fully awake, prepared to throw herself on anyone who dared to evenlookat her precious cub the wrong way.

Which was why Sophie decided to take matters into her own hands. Too many people—herself included—had been suffocated by that bear. All she wanted was a chance tobreathe.

Throwing caution and common sense to the wind, she added, “Besides, it doesn’t matter if he’d be better off with Dawn or Lila. It’s too late. We’ve already started the more specialized training. To back off now would only compromise the relationship between Harrison and Bubbles, which the puppy’s fear of fire has already strained.”

“But—” her mother began.

She was on a roll now and doubted whether she could stop even if she wanted to. “In fact, we’ve decided the best thing to do to help Bubbles get over it is for me to live in for the duration of the training.”

Both women swiveled to stare at her.

“Live in?” her sister echoed.

“You can’t!” her mother cried.

Sophie held up a hand to stop them both. She was proud to note that it didn’t waver in the slightest. “Stop, you guys. Lila did it last year with that nervous bichon, and no one said anything. You know it’s our standard operating procedure. If the puppy or the owner has difficulty adjusting, the trainer should be there as much as possible, even if that means around the clock.”

Both women opened their mouths to protest, but Sophie didn’t let them speak. Shecouldn’t. She knew exactly what would happen if she did. They’d talk her back from the ledge, pull her into their arms, and stuff her with cookies and rainbows and promises that everything would be okay.

She liked cookies, and rainbows were pretty, but things weren’t always okay. Life was hard and messy and, where Harrison was concerned, a bit of a battleground.

And that, to be perfectly honest, was just fine with her.

“Well, I’m finally going to admit it,” she announced. “This puppy has difficulties. A lot of them, actually, and I’m still not a hundred percent sure she’s going to work out. If Bubbles is going to battle forest fires someday, she’ll need lots of extra attention and lots of extra time. And I’ll have to do a few nights for the scent training anyway. It makes sense for me to stay there.”

“But he’s practically a stranger,” her mom said. “And Paulette said she’d never heard such language before.” She looked to Dawn for support. “Honey, she can’t do this. Tell her.”

Dawn appeared to struggle with herself. She was by far the most forgiving and fun-loving of all Sophie’s family members, but old habits died hard. She looked back and forth between them for a few seconds before shrugging and giving in. “How bad can he be? I mean, he’s a friend of Oscar’s.”

“Yes, and Lord knows there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for that man, but this is taking things too far. Sophie’s not like you. She’s not—”

Help came from an unexpected source, stopping their mother before she made the mistake of finishing that statement—not that Sophie needed to hear the rest. She already knew all the things she wasn’t: self-sufficient, significant,strong.