Page 42 of I Hate You More

This last protest was uttered by Max, the youngest of the lot. At just two years of age, he was the one Ruby was most concerned about keeping alive, but he seemed to be composed of a combination of bulletproof glass and hard rubber. Nothing slowed him down.

When it came to slowingherdown, however…

She rolled onto her back and closed her eyes. Thanks to the long hours spent on her feet at work, she was in good physical condition, but that didn’t mean anything when compared to the energy levels and capabilities of Eva’s kids. This was going to be a long weekend.

“Have they killed you already?”

Ruby’s eyes flew open. It took a moment for her pupils to adjust, so all she saw at first was a dark shadow looming overhead. She felt no fear at that shadow, suffered no nervous qualms. As she took in the outline of Spencer’s familiar shape and absorbed the soothing tones of his voice, all she could feel was the pitter-patter of her heart.

“I’m not dead,” she said. “I’m resting my eyes.”

By this time, Eva’s brood had noticed the new arrival and launched themselves at him full speed. Amid shrieks of joy and Wheezy’s whining excitement, Spencer allowed himself to be embraced from every side. The boys clung to his legs like they were preparing to climb a tree, all three talking at once.

“What have you done to these poor kids?” Spencer asked with a quirk of his brow. “They’re never this happy to see me.”

“Uncle Spencer, we’re training to be show dogs,” Julio informed him.

“Dogs!” chimed in Max.

Xavier, who was the quietest of the three and therefore Ruby’s favorite, merely nodded his solemn agreement.

“Want to see?” Julio asked. “Ruby’s been making us practice all day. We can’t have a treat until Wheezy does five things in a row, but he’s not very good yet. He can only do three. Well, two and a half. Ruby promised us ice cream.”

“Ice cream!” echoed Max.

Xavier’s stomach growled its agreement.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Ruby said as Spencer’s brow went even higher. “I have a low-calorie frozen yogurt cup for Wheezy. He won’t know the difference.”

She’d had time to stand up and brush herself off by now, but it wasn’t doing her any favors. Five hours of babysitting might not sound like a lot to someone who’d never met Eva and Maury’s children, but Ruby felt as though she’d been run over by a car, hosed off with napalm, and hung up to dry. Spencer, however, looked as impeccably cool as always.

“Low-calorie frozen yogurt sounds delicious,” he said.

“And the boys are getting sugar-free Popsicles laced with sedatives.”

He chuckled. “I’m going to assume you’re kidding about that one. Can I see?”

She was still so rattled by Spencer’s sudden appearance that it took her a moment to realize what he was asking. Her initial thought, that he wanted to see and approve Wheezy’s snack,was quashed only when the golden retriever gave an expectant whine.

“Can I do it?” Julio asked. Without waiting for an answer, he took the phone from Ruby’s hand and pressed a button on the screen.

“Sit,” Spencer’s voice said through the speaker. Wheezy seemed a little alarmed to find Spencer’s voice coming from a source that wasn’t his face, but these past few hours hadn’t been spent in vain. He obligingly set his butt onto the grass.

So did the children.

“Speak,” Spencer’s recorded voice said. As this was another favorite command of all three boys, a loud cacophony of human and canine barks filled the air.

“That’s good,” Ruby said, hoping to forestall the next step. “Let’s put that away and—”

“Roll over,” came the next command. There was no stopping the boys after that. All three boys started rolling and giggling anew, but Wheezy, who had reached his two-and-a-half limit, found a patch of shade and stretched himself out in it.

“We’re still working on a few things,” Ruby said, feeling defensive. “He’s made considerable progress the past few days.”

“He’ll be a show dog in no time,” Spencer agreed blandly.

“We still have three weeks to go,” she added. “There’s no saying what could happen between now and then.”

“You two will be the stars of the event.”