Page 45 of I Hate You More

He’d needed this. A weekend with kids and puppies, the comforts of home.Ruby.The only thing that was missing was his brother, but there was no chance of Caleb getting anywhere near this place until his sentence was lifted—and even then, he wouldn’t come willingly.

“It’s about time you came out to see us,” his dad said as the two older Johnson boys ran up the steps and embraced his legs. “There’s nine in this batch. Can you believe it?Nine.Tilly is exhausted. So is your mother, but don’t tell her I said that.”

“I want to see the puppies!” Julio cried. “Ruby, this is where the puppies live.Allthe puppies. Can I take Wheezy to say hello?”

“I think your first stop should be to the restroom,” she reminded him. He looked as though he’d like to argue, but at a nod from Spencer, he took Xavier’s hand and led his brother into the house.

The sight—of such easy brotherly affection and care—caused another of those reminiscent pangs, but there was no time to reflect on it. Before Spencer could introduce the adults to one another, Ruby stepped into the fray. Shifting her position so Max was cradled on her hip, she extended a hand out toward his father and smiled brightly. “There’s no need to tell me whoyouare. I’d have known you for Spencer and Caleb’s father anywhere. They look exactly like you.”

His father chuckled and accepted the handshake. “And you must be Ruby,” he countered. “Spencer’s told us so much about you. He said you were going to be the professional ruin of him, but you don’t look like you’d hurt a fly.”

Spencer did his best not to blush, but he could feel the tips of his ears growing warm. He’d hadoneconversation with his parents about Ruby, and he couldn’t remember saying anything of the sort. He’d mentioned Wheezy and Ruby’s pageant history and how determined she was to get the better of him in literally everything, but…huh. Maybe he hadn’t been as discreet as he thought.

“Don’t tell anyone, but he’s much more likely to be the ruin ofme. I’ve never known anyone who handles dogs the way he does. Or people, come to think of it.” She gave the child on her hip a waggle. “I hate to be rude, but do you mind if I take this little one in and clean him up? It was a bit of a drive.”

“Of course.” His dad stepped aside to allow her to pass. “The other two will be in the guest bathroom, but there’s another one just off Spencer and Caleb’s old room. Down the hall and second door on the right.”

Spencer wanted to utter a protest at this invasion into the privacy of his former bedroom, but there was no chance. Not only did Ruby saunter through the front door as though she’d been born here, but he was still reeling from that casual reference to how well he handled people. Being friendly and approachable had always been Caleb’s thing, not his.

His dad, however, only chuckled. “Well, I like her.”

He gently transferred the puppy to Spencer’s arms. Wheezy took exception to this with a brush of his paw against Spencer’s leg, but his dad hadn’t bred border collies for the past forty years for nothing. With a stern command not to make a nuisance of himself and to come closer so he could take a good look at him, his dad managed to get Wheezy into something approaching docility.

“Don’t show Ruby how good you are with him,” Spencer warned as he watched the pair of them interact. “She’ll recruit you to help train him and then start showing up on your doorstep every single day until the West Coast Canine Classic is over.”

“Thisanimal?” His dad’s chuckle deepened. “Oh dear. She’s got an uphill battle ahead of her.”

It was true. She did. But while Wheezy had to be dragged up that hill, kicking and howling the entire time, Ruby showed no signs of flagging.

Since his dad had a handle on the golden retriever, Spencer turned his attention to the black-and-white bundle of fur in his arms. Gently prodding the puppy’s mouth open and finding that only the top two canine teeth had come in, he estimated his age at around three weeks.

“See if you can get him to take the rest of that, will you?” His dad handed him the feeding bottle and turned to go inside the house. “You always had a way with the reluctant ones.”

Spencer followed his father, gently coaxing the nipple into the puppy’s mouth while he did. The animal’s short, sleek fur and still-rounded head made it difficult to tell what he would look like when he was fully grown, but Spencer didn’t doubt that he’d be something special.Allhis parents’ dogs were. He’d lost track of the number of them that had gone on to work farms, gotten placed in service training positions, and won dog shows.

Nothisdog shows, obviously. All evidence to the contrary, Spencer normally adhered to a strict ethical code when it came to the crossover between his family and his judging duties. He didn’t know how or why or when things had become so murky, but there was no denying that they had.

Or that he didn’t care as much about it as he used to.

As he neared the kitchen with both his father and Wheezy in tow, the first thing he noted was that Julio and Xavier had managed to locate his mother and the canister of freshly baked cookies that always sat waiting for them. The second thing he noted was that his motherdidlook exhausted. She was as short as his father was tall, her hair a carefully toned auburn he remembered from his youth. She’d always worn her years well, but something about the dark circles under her eyes and heavy frown lines seemed new.

The reason for this became apparent the moment he crossed the threshold. Her eyes flicked over his shoulder, and when no one appeared behind him, her expression changed from one of expectancy to deep disappointment.

“He didn’t come with you?”

All the warm feelings that had flooded Spencer on the porch zipped into a tight ball at the base of his stomach. It felt like lead, but he forced his tone to stay light. “You mean, the three small children and total stranger I brought with me aren’t enough?” He leaned in and brushed a kiss on her cheek, careful not to jostle the puppy in his arms. He’d fed enough undersized border collies in his day to have the process perfected. “Caleb sends his love and promises to visit as soon as his schedule opens up.”

“That’s what you said the last time you visited.”

He knew it was. It was the same thing he saideverytime he’d stopped by—not just in the past three months but in the nine-month span preceding it. Caleb wasn’t one for paying his parental dues.

“Dad says you guys lucked out and got a litter of nine this time,” he said as he indicated the bundle in his arms. “That should bring in a pretty penny.”

Since the border collies his parents bred were the only thing his mom loved as much as Caleb, Spencer hoped the distraction would work.

It didn’t.

“The last time I called him, he mentioned that you were keeping him busy with some new training client you referred to him. To earn his keep, he said.” Her frown deepened, but that didn’t stop her from plopping several more cookies in front of the boys. She also reached into a second canister and pulled out a hand-baked dog treat, which she dropped into Wheezy’s waiting jaws. It was a good thing Ruby wasn’t here to see it, because Spencer knew for a fact that the treats were made with duck fat. “If he’s having money trouble, can’t you let him stay with you for free? You know how much he depends on you.”