Page 15 of Puppy Kisses

“Dawn,” he groaned. And since it seemed important to make the distinction, he added, “The cow, that is.”

“I gathered as much, thank you,” Dawn the human said. “Let me guess—she’s going where she’s not wanted and creating all kinds of problems?”

Adam was about to nod when Phoebe interrupted. “Worse. She’s on Mrs. Benson’s property.”

He swore under his breath. “Like hell she is.”

“I came as fast as I could, but there’s no telling what kind of damage she’s done by now. I would have gone straight there, only you said—”

Adam nodded his understanding. They needed to tread warily where their erratic neighbor was concerned. There was far too much at stake to send Phoebe in there alone.

“Good call,” he said. “You’d better bring the truck around. Grab ropes, the bottle of molasses, and, Lord help us, a tranquilizer. Where’s Zeke?”

Although he hadn’t directed the question at anyone in particular, Dawn was the one who answered. “Heading out to do laps at the community center, I think. At least that’s where he said he was going when I woke him up. Where can I put Uncle?”

It took Adam a moment to work out her meaning. “Out of the question. You’re not coming with us.”

As usual, Dawn ignored him. “The ropes and tranquilizer I can understand, but what’s the molasses for?”

“Dawn has a sweet tooth,” Phoebe explained. “She’ll do just about anything once she gets a whiff of it. Sometimes, she’ll even come when she’s called, if you’d believe it.”

“Wait—so the cow isreallynamed Dawn? Adam didn’t make that up to annoy me?”

“Oh, we’ve been calling her Dawn forever.” Phoebe giggled. Like Zeke, she had a joie de vivre that made her seem younger than her twenty-eight years. “But it’s not an insult, I promise. She’s always been Adam’s favorite cow.”

“I don’t have favorite cows, and Dawn can only be described as a plague.” He didn’t enlighten the two as to which Dawn he referred to this time. They needed to get moving if he was going to salvage this disaster. Rolling a shoulder in the direction of the house, he said, “You’d better take Uncle inside. He can keep Methuselah company so she doesn’t think she’s been abandoned. She howls if she’s left alone for longer than two minutes. It’s heartbreaking.”

“Good thinking,” Dawn replied.

He wasn’t prepared for so much conciliation from a woman who lived to thwart him, so his voice was a little gruff as he added, “I hope you’re dressed for getting dirty. This isn’t going to be pretty.”

Since he knew damn well that she didn’t have enough clothes on to protect herself from a mosquito bite, he didn’t wait for an answer. Nor was it necessary to. Dawn suggested that Phoebe go for the supplies while she pulled the truck around—an idea to which his sister readily agreed. Adam accepted the leash Dawn put in his hand and did his best to remain unmoved when she said, “I’ll be right back. Will you be a dear and introduce the two puppies? This’ll be a great chance for you and Uncle to get to know each other.”

She didn’t wait for an answer. The crunch of her footsteps as she jogged toward the garage was all that was left to him. Well, that and the Great Dane.

He waited until he was sure Dawn was out of earshot before lowering himself into a squat. “I’m sorry about that,” he said as he ran a hand over the dog’s neck. The animal’s hair was short but soft, the thick, healthy texture of it at direct odds with the undernourished puppy he’d left convalescing inside the house. “You seem like a good boy, and I have no doubt that you’ll make some other blind schmuck very happy someday. Just not this one.”

The puppy licked his face in reply.

“I know. It’s juvenile of me, and I should know better than to let her get under my skin, but it’s harder than it looks. She slides in there and then latches on like some kind of parasite.”

He planted a kiss on top of the animal’s head and rose to his feet. If nothing else, this puppy was an exceptional listener. But… “You understand, don’t you?” he asked. “I’ve got nothing against you—I really don’t—but she gave me Methuselah, so Methuselah is who I’m keeping. She doesn’t get to flit around doing whatever she wants, whenever she wants it. I have some pride left.”

He gave the leash a light tug, thinking to lead the Great Dane along the well-worn and familiar path to the house, but the puppy took up a position at Adam’s side and waited for him to start walking first. Half an hour in, and Uncle already knew his job better than Adam did.

And so, it seemed, did Dawn.

“I didn’t say I hada lotof pride left, mind you,” he added. “But goddammit, there’s enough.”

Chapter 4

There was no doubt about it—Dawn was aseriousbitch.

“I swear on everything you love and hold dear, you’ll listen to what I’m saying or pay the consequences.” Dawn held out her hand, which was smeared in a mixture of mud, molasses, and what she was pretty sure was cow poop. It had neither an attractive color nor an attractive scent. “Get out of the pen right now, or I’ll come over and make you get out.”

“That’s the ticket,” Adam yelled from the other side of the fence. Thecleanside of the fence, where the only thing that ruffled his exquisite exterior was a sole lock of hair out of place. The brown swoop fell across his forehead at a perfectly jaunty angle. “Talk to her like a rational human being. That always works. Cows understand every word you’re saying.”

Dawn relieved the worst of her temper by flipping him the bird with her outstretched hand. Phoebe informed her brother of it with a laugh.