Page 64 of Puppy Kisses

“No way, Lil!” she cried. “This place is fantastic.”

Lila blushingly thanked her. Her sister would never be the sort to fall into rhapsodic ecstasies, but her pink flush betrayed her pleasure.

“I can’t believe you bought a house without me knowing about it,” Dawn said. “I mean, Icanbelieve it, but you know what I mean. You guys seem so happy where you are.”

“In the place where we literally live on top of one another and can’t have more than five people over at a time?” Lila asked. She laughed to strip the words of any malice. “It’s silly to be this excited about a house, but what can you do? It took us forever to find one that fits. This one’s still in Emily’s school district, and it’s within walking distance of our old neighborhood, so we won’t lose contact with any of our friends.Andit’s big enough for us to stretch our arms and not hit both walls.”

“It’s not silly.” Dawn handed Sophie her champagne so she could wrap her arms around Lila and give her a hug. She held her long and firmly, making sure her sister knew how happy she was for her. Her own life might be a hot mess of romantic disappointments, but she was genuinely invested in Lila’s happiness. Hers and Sophie’s both. “It’s great. You guys deserve to have everything you want. But I should probably warn you ahead of time that I’m busy the weekend you’re moving in, so don’t count on my muscle or my great trunk space.”

“I didn’t tell you when we’re moving in.”

“I know. I’m busy all the weekends until every last box is unpacked and put away.”

Both Lila and Sophie took this as it was intended, as a complete and utter lie. One of the rules of the Vasquez sisterhood was that all of life’s unpleasant tasks had to be shared. Cleaning toilets, moving to new houses, singing at karaoke bars—none of it was optional and, in the case of that last one, none of it was very good, either.

“There’s more,” Lila said. She clasped Dawn’s hand and started leading her through the white-and-beige glory of the kitchen to a pair of french doors at the back. “And I think you’re going to really like this part.”

“Is it a hot tub?” she asked. “A tiki bar? Oh! How about a giant trampoline? I always wanted one of those when we were kids, but you know how Mom gets about things like severed spinal cords. She’s never been any fun.”

She had every intention of continuing in this vein, running a dialogue of jokes that no one was really listening to, but Lila gave her hand a warm squeeze. That warm squeeze told Dawn everything she needed to know, and none of it was good.

“Ta-da!” Sophie pushed open the doors and waited while Dawn stepped through to the backyard beyond. “It looks small from here, but wait until you get inside. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

The smile felt plastered to Dawn’s face as she followed her sisters down a stone path to the two-story detached garage at the end of a huge, rolling lawn. There were plenty of reasons why Lila and Ford might have chosen a house with all this acreage, including the fact that Lila’s seven-year-old stepdaughter would love being able to run around at liberty with her hearing service dog, a cockapoo named Jeeves von Hinklebottom.

But that, Dawn knew, was a secondary consideration. It wasn’t just Jeeves who would be playing fetch and practicing obedience back here.

“The people who lived here before used to keep goats,” Lila explained. She pulled out a key and opened the door to the garage. A slightly musty scent mingled with the recent use of organic cleansers. “They also turned the upper story into a mother-in-law suite, so we can set it up as an actual office. No more answering the phone in our underwear or having clients tromp through the living room and kitchen to get to the kennel.”

“And no more Dawn having to spend every night home alone with the puppies,” Sophie added as the lights flicked on. “Can you believe this place?”

No, she couldn’t. It was almost too good to be true. After one quick sweep of the main floor of the garage, she could see water hookups, heating and cooling appliances, and plenty of space to set up the individual puppy pens. It was light and bright and airy, and a staircase at the back led up to what she was sure would make an admirable headquarters for this new phase of Puppy Promise.

“Ford and I have talked about it, and we don’t see any reason why we can’t handle most of the off-hours puppy care between the two of us,” Lila said. Her voice had more vibrato than usual, her excitement difficult to subdue. “Since he works from home and I’m around most of the time anyway, we should be able to set it up so you and Soph only have to come when you’re doing actual training for the clients. Or when we want the occasional weekend or evening off, but Sophie promises that won’t be a problem.”

“Are you sure?” Dawn asked. “It’s a lot of work, being the only one around at night, and—”

“And you’ve already done your fair share of it,” Lila finished for her. “I know, Dawn. Sophie and I both do. That’s why this is going to work so well. Ford is weirdly excited about learning the training routines, and Emily has been bouncing off the walls since our offer on the house was accepted. She promises to name any and all of the puppies who haven’t yet been christened. I’m afraid there are a lot of Sir Reginalds and Princess Brandywines in our future.”

“Princess Brandywine is a beautiful name,” Dawn said, hoping to keep things light. “We could do a whole line of alcohol-themed royalty. I call dibs on King Kahlua.”

“Taking care of that many puppies is too much for one person,” Lila said, once again ignoring her. “That was the whole point of the three of us living under one roof, the entire reason we started this company in the first place. To share the workload.”

Dawn opened her mouth and closed it again, searching in vain for the right words. This thing Lila was doing for her—for all of them—was kind and generous and everything that Dawn had asked for.

“If it’s okay with you, we’ll put the old house and kennel up for sale next week,” Lila said. “It’s going to take a little money to get this place in perfect puppy condition, but there should be plenty left over in your share to put a down payment on another house or get a condo or even…”

Lila held her hands out to Dawn as if offering her the world. Which, in a way, was exactly what she was doing. That house was the only thing tying her down. As long as those puppies needed a home and a caretaker, Dawn was bound to it. She had rules and responsibilities, had to spend every night with her head on her own pillow.

“Well?” Lila prodded. “What do you think? Does that timeline work for you?”

There was a look of anxiety in her large brown eyes, a question that Dawn would have been a monster to answer any other way.

“It’s perfect,” she said and meant it. With her usual acumen and efficiency, Lila had found a way to solve all their problems, and in such a way that no one would be asked to put forth any more effort than they were willing—and able—to give. “This place is ideal, the puppies will love it, and I couldn’t ask for anything else. But I’m still busy on moving weekend, so don’t even ask.”

Both Lila and Sophie laughed at that, allowing themselves to be diverted by lighthearted chatter about paint colors and canine running tracks and what licensing paperwork would have to be filed before they could start moving the puppies over. More than anything else, that laughter kept Dawn’s smile pinned in place. Her sisters obviously needed her to be fun, easygoing Dawn Vasquez right now—the fun, easygoing Dawn Vasquez who balked at duty and enjoyed nothing as much as her freedom. In fact, she had the strong suspicion that if she raised one word in protest—one syllable, even—they’d put all their plans on hold until she was ready. Lila would probably even let this house slip through her fingers, asking her whole family to let go of their dream home for the sake of Dawn’s feelings.

She knew exactly how Lila would sell it, too.Dawn doesn’t have anything else. Dawn doesn’t haveanyoneelse. No matter what life throws at us, we’ll always have each other, but she’s all alone.