Page 59 of Puppy Love

“Really?” In Sophie’s experience, kindergarten teachers were much more likely to wear chunky sweaters and velvet jumpers. “Then what are you doing out here?”

“There are quite a few teachers on the volunteer crew, actually.” Jessica started rummaging around her pockets until she extracted a spool of clear fishing line. She handed it to Sophie, who could only hold it awkwardly and wonder what else Jessica was hiding in those pants. “We have summers off, which makes it easy for us to drop everything and come running when there’s a forest fire.”

“Oh,” Sophie said. Her response felt inadequate, but then, so did she. It wasn’t a new sensation for her, since the majority of her life had been spent trying to catch up to the rest of the world, but she still resented it.

She’d done her time, paid her dues. What would it take for her to finally feel like a competent member of the human race?

“Don’t worry so much.” Jessica bumped Sophie with her hip. “I was just as out of place as you once upon a time. You get used to it. I never would have discovered this stuff on my own, but my ex-boyfriend roped me into volunteering one year, and I’ve never looked back.”

“Your ex-boyfriend?” Sophie thought of the friendly greeting between Jessica and Harrison and had to ask. “Was it…?”

“Harrison?” Jessica fell into a hearty burst of laughter. “No way. He’s scary.”

A flush that was equal parts relief and indignation rose to the surface of Sophie’s skin. “He’s not bad—not really. All those grizzled, gruff bits are mostly for show.”

Jessica just blinked at her.

“It’s true,” Sophie insisted. “He’s really very sweet.”

“Sweet? Are we sure we’re talking about the same man?”

Sophie’s hand clenched so firmly around the spool of fishing line, it started cutting into her palm. Okay, so he took a little while to warm up, but he was a sight better than most of the people she knew. At least he was up-front about who he was, honest about what he had to offer. Even his response to her health history was on par with what she expected of him. Grunting silence and a steady emotional retreat were his favorite states of being.

She didn’t get a chance to voice her indignation, however, because Jessica stopped her with a strange look.

“Didn’t you notice how no one said anything about the fact that there’s a puppy strapped to Harrison’s chest like a baby?”

“Well, yes.” Sophie shifted from one foot to the other, unsure if she cared for the intensity of Jessica’s gaze. “But it’s not as if he has any other choice. He has to get her used to it—the puppy, that is. Bubbles will be heading out with him during the fire season for hours at a time, so they both have to be comfortable with the pouch. It’s good practice.”

“So…it was your idea?”

“Yeah. I read a few case studies. It’s the best way for someone as active as Harrison.” And a puppy as skittish as Bubbles, but she didn’t say that part out loud.

“You just handed him a baby sling, and he put it on?”

“I mean, he wasn’texcitedabout it, but I hardly expected him to be.” Sophie smiled, remembering his expression. “He came around in the end. I knew he would. He’ll do anything for that puppy.”

Jessica release a long, low whistle and shook her head. “You’re a stronger woman than I, that’s for sure. I doubt I’d have made it through Harrison’s training if my ex hadn’t been so determined that we do this together. I cried three times the first day.”

“He made you cry?” Sophie asked, incredulous. This woman looked like she drank tears for breakfast.

“He makeseveryonecry.” Jessica heaved a sigh. “Well, he didn’t make my ex cry, but I learned that was only because the jerk doesn’t have a heart. We broke up not too much later, but Harrison fought to make sure I got the wildfire crew in the split, so it wasn’t all bad. He saved me in a way. Volunteering was one of the only things that got me through that mess. You’ll like it—you pick stuff up much quicker than you realize.”

Sophie raised her hands and took a step back. “Oh, I’m not part of the team. I’m just here to—”

She bumped into a warm male body. Two hands dropped to her waist to steady her, lingering long enough for her heart to leap in her chest. She turned, trying to temper her reaction to one that was more appropriate to the time and place, but there was no need. It wasn’t Harrison coming to see how she was faring; it was Derek.

Like Jessica, Harrison, and pretty much everyone besides Sophie, he looked fearfully capable of handling any and all feats of outdoor athleticism. His shorn head and fatigue-style camouflage spoke to a military past, but his wide smile made him highly approachable.

“I came to see how you were holding up,” he said. “She’s terrifying, right?”

“Oh, no, Jessica’s been lovely—” Sophie began, but Derek laughed and turned his attention to the other woman.

“I haven’t asked her yet how she managed to get Harrison to wear a puppy, but I like to think it involved blackmail or witchcraft. Possibly both.”

“Witchcraft is my guess,” Jessica said with a warm, crooked smile that robbed her words of any cruelty. “Sophie doesn’t seem like the blackmail type, but I could totally see her chanting curses over a lock of Harrison’s hair.”

“I’m really not…” she tried again, but there was no point. These two had obviously already made their own highly inaccurate assessment of her relationship with Harrison. If Sophie could get him to bend with a few muttered hexes, she’d have done so long before now.