Page 8 of Puppy Love

Oscar rolled his shoulders in a gesture of capitulation. With that one small move, Sophie knew she was getting another chance.

Her life was filled with second chances. She sometimes wondered what she’d done to deserve so much.

“He’s rough, but he’s not that rough. I doubt he’ll yell at you for the whole six weeks.” Oscar grinned and added, “Four at the very most.”

Chapter 3

Oscar must have worked fast.

Sophie arrived home from Deer Park to find a house full of people. In addition to her two sisters, who were holding court over a pot of tea in the kitchen, Harrison sat hulking in one corner, looking like a man undergoing extreme torture.

“You know it’s going to be a good date when the guy leads with something like that.” Dawn winked at Sophie as she stepped into the room. “We broke at least three laws that night. Four if you count some of the really prudish ones in Kentucky. Speaking of, look who’s finally returned to the fold. Hello, Soph. You have a visitor.”

At the mention of her name, Harrison sprang to his feet, almost knocking over the wooden chair in the process. He was surprisingly swift for a man of his size, but that might have been because she’d never seen anyone look so delighted to see her.

“Oh, thank God,” he said. “I’ve been here for forty-five minutes already.”

Right.That wasn’t delight so much as it was a deep, profound relief. And who could blame him? Dawn and Lila together in one room were a lot for any man to handle, let alone one who clearly didn’t enjoy the social niceties.

“Forty-five minutes?” Sophie asked with a quick check at the clock. “Oscar couldn’t have possibly had time to call you. I was still with him at that point.”

“What the hell does this have to do with Oscar?” Harrison demanded. Then, as if aware that he was addressing a room of three women rather than a firing squad, he took a deep breath and added, “I, uh, came to apologize. For earlier. About the puppy.”

Sophie hadn’t had a chance to apprise Dawn of the day’s events, but one look at her sister’s face and it was obvious she was up to speed. With that kind of giddy glee lighting her from within, Dawn obviously thought this whole thing was hilarious. Lila mostly looked worried.

Neither of those reactions was surprising. Lila had always carried herself with a serene grace that matched her status as the eldest in the family. It also matched her tailored clothes and the topknot she wound her almost waist-length hair into. Dawn wore her own dark locks—a gift, along with the sisters’ deep-brown eyes and light-brown skin, from the Vasquez side of their family—in a tousled bob that made the most of her natural waves. Her wide, sunny face was sprinkled with freckles and a smile to match. Lila’s demeanor was one men could admire; Dawn’s one they couldn’t help but be charmed by.

It was only Sophie who lagged behind. She’d done the best she could to distinguish herself from her sisters, her short, boyish figure offset by a pixie cut that made the most of her delicate features, but it was no use. When the three of them stood side by side, she inevitably faded into the background.

Or, rather, sheusedto fade into the background. From the way Harrison was looking at her, like she was his walking savior, she couldn’t help but feel a warm glow start to take over.

“There’s nothing to apologize for,” she said with what she hoped was breezy unconcern. “It was a slight misunderstanding, that’s all. I should have warned you ahead of time that your animal had already been selected for you.”

“About that…” Lila began, but Sophie turned to her with an imploring look. Lila might technically be the one in charge of Puppy Promise, the service-dog training organization that provided the Vasquez sisters with their life’s purpose, but Sophie needed this.Bubblesneeded this.

Lila had been uncomfortable with the idea of using a puppy mill dog from the start, since the poor thing had obviously been subjected to more than one cruelty in her short life, but Sophie had no doubts on that score. Five minutes in that animal’s company had been more than enough to convince her that she was worth taking on.

With some animals—some people—you justknew.

“I realize Bubbles isn’t much to look at, but she’s smart and eager to learn. All she needs is a chance to prove herself.”

Harrison didn’t say anything. He kept watching her in that intense, panicked way, as if he couldn’t make up his mind whether to sit down again or run screaming from the room.

Please don’t run screaming from the room, she wanted to beg him.Please don’t run screaming fromme.

“What do you say we make ourselves scarce, Lil?” Dawn asked, a deep dimple appearing in her right cheek. “Scott has that new litter of blue heelers he wanted us to come take a look at.”

“But we don’t need any—”

“They’re very promising. I bet they’ll get snatched up quickly. We’ll need to act fast if we want to make an offer.”

“But—”

Dawn took one glance at Sophie’s face and put on her sternest expression. “Now, Lila.”

It took Lila a good ten seconds to pick up on the subtext and agree to give Sophie and Harrison some space. Harrison was much quicker on the uptake.

“A blue heeler?” he asked. “Are they good at—what did you call it—scent detection?”