It Had to Be Him(72)

Pam nodded as she popped another nacho in her mouth. “Yeah, and didn’t you say he wants to work with troubled kids? Not enough of those around here to keep him busy with that. You may have a point.”

Aunt Gloria shook her head. “I see the way that man looks at you. And the way you look at him when you think no one is watching. You’re already in, whether you want to admit it or not.”

Was she? While she pondered that, Meg’s phone vibrated in her back pocket. “Maybe this is Josh.”

Meg tapped the text icon. Got delayed with some paperwork, but we’re back now. Have a few surprises for you. Maybe you can ask the ladies if anyone wants a puppy?

Josh had already mentioned the little boy at the ranch needing to find homes for the dogs. But paperwork? Something was up. What kind of surprises? Don’t tell me you brought a puppy home!

Okay, I won’t tell you. Gotta go. Haley’s hungry.

Dammit.

She looked up at all the women, who were waiting patiently to see what was up. “He brought a puppy home. I’m going to kill him.”

Tara, a tall, thin, beautiful blonde, laughed. “That’s the sign of a committed man, if you ask me. I saw the picture he posted at the diner. Those are some pretty cute pups. I’ve been thinking of taking one now that I’m all settled in my house.”

Sarah, always so quiet and sweet, smiled. “They really are adorable. I asked, but Ed won’t let me have one. It just melted my heart when Haley told me at the fund-raiser how badly she wants a dog, Meg. You have all that room now.”

Aunt Gloria nodded and took another slug of wine. “Dogs are good for kids. Teaches them responsibility.”

Pam stood and grabbed another bottle of wine, then went around topping off everyone’s glasses. “You always had a dog growing up, Meg, so why shouldn’t Haley?”

Casey nodded and opened her mouth to add her opinion, but Meg held up a hand to cut her off. “Okay. Fine. She can keep the dog. But Josh is going to have to do the housebreaking.” Relieved that Josh and Haley, and a new puppy, were back and safely tucked into the guesthouse, Meg drained her wineglass, ready to have some fun.



Just before midnight, Meg reached for the handle on the guesthouse door. Josh hadn’t locked it like she’d expected. Which was a good thing because she didn’t have her keys with her. Hopefully he’d waited up. He’d been right earlier—a hot roll in the hay would be the perfect ending to a pretty great day.

As she quietly swung the door open, three little balls of fur slipped past her feet. A bigger version walked out slowly behind.

What the . . . ? She’d wrapped her head around one dog, but not four! Josh was so not getting lucky now.

She waited while they all did their business, then shooed them back inside. There was an overturned box by the door that must’ve been where the pups were supposed to be sleeping. She righted the box and then wrestled the dogs back inside while the momma dog laid down to watch over the whole affair. One pup who looked like a little pirate with a patch over one eye tried to make a run for it, but Meg snagged him. When she lifted him to eye level to scold him, a rough little pink tongue slipped out and licked her cheek. Instead of chastising him, she kissed him on the top of the head, then plopped him into the box with the others.

She reinforced the box with extra weight at the bottom, then turned and pulled up short. A boy with a bruised face was sound asleep on the love seat and Josh and Haley were both asleep on the couch. An open book lay facedown next to Haley’s head on Josh’s chest. They must’ve fallen asleep reading.

It melted her heart.

But not for long, because the house was a disaster. There were books, toys, and torn-up stuffed animals all over the floor. The puppies must’ve gotten ahold of them after they’d busted themselves out.

Josh was usually a light sleeper, but it looked like he’d slept right through the stuffed-animal murders. Two kids and four dogs must have worn him out. Served him right.

Josh had some serious ’splaining to do in the morning.

After getting ready for bed, Meg switched off the light and crawled under the sheets. Just as she was about to drift off, soft whining accompanied by scratching on her door made her throw the covers back. At this rate, she was never going to get any sleep.

Whipping the door open, ready to scold the momma dog, she looked down. A lone escaped pup looked up at her and wagged his stub tail. It was pirate face.

Resigned, she huffed out a breath and lifted the pooch up. After creating a makeshift bed out of towels and a laundry basket, she settled the pup in and laid the basket next to her bed. “I’m right up here, see? Now go to sleep.”