Chapter Sixteen
“I can’t get a read on her.” Sam sighed and glanced at Joel. “One minute, I think she’s interested, and the next, I think she can’t run away fast enough.”
“Maybe that’s why you’re so interested in her.” Joel grinned “Finally a woman who doesn’t fall down at your feet and worship you.”
Sam laughed and shook his head. “I’m not into that.”
“Really,” Joel said flatly.
Sam ignored his brother and glanced in his grandmother’s direction. She was dressed as a skeleton. Even though Sam knew it was Halloween, it was always startling to see people wandering around town with their costumes on, and Grandma Martha was no exception. She was busy training a new high school student how to run the cash register for the bakery and, thankfully, was plenty occupied.
“The worst part of this whole thing is that I swear to God every time I see Dina, she gets more beautiful than the last.”
“You’re falling for her harder than I thought.” Joel took a bite of pecan pie and made a satisfied grunt.
“I think I need a dog,” Sam grumbled. “One like Oscar.”
“Well, Oscar’s one of a kind so that might be kind of difficult.”
“That he is,” Sam agreed. “But I do need a companion like that who is loyal and puts up with me. I don’t think I’m going to find it anywhere else.”
“You always said you couldn’t get a dog because—”
Sam’s glare stopped his brother in his tracks. “I know what I said, but people change. I’m ready for that kind of responsibility.”
Joel let out a sigh and sat back in the chair. “Are you though? Are you really ready to get up several times in the middle of the night to teach your puppy to go potty outside?”
“Do I have to use the word potty?” Sam laughed.
“It’s better than tinkle.”
“Not by much.” Sam shook his head.
“What about when you want to take off on one of your weekend trips? Who’s going to watch your puppy then?”
“If you’ve noticed, I haven’t been taking them.”
“You’re in a phase right now.”
“A phase?”
“I think you got a taste of something you liked, and for the first time ever, you can’t have more.”
Sam thought back to the kiss last week with Dina. It was sweet, delicious, and drove him to want so much more.
Again.
But she pulled away, and he knew he couldn’t rush things with her. He had to prove that he could be what she wanted and that would take time.
Lots of it.
He also didn’t want his brother to be right.
“It’s true I want more, but it’s not because I can’t have her. It’s because I really like her, and the more I find out about her, the more I want to uncover. And I don’t see how getting a dog is going to change that one way or another.”
“That’s a step in the right direction.” Joel finished off his pie.
Sam understood why his brother was skeptical of his motives, but he didn’t think Joel would be quite this hard on him. All he wanted to do was get a puppy. He’d even found one online at a local shelter. And it really had nothing to do with Dina.
He was just tired of going back to his empty house night after night.
“What kind of dog are you thinking about?” Joel asked, trying to cut his brother some slack.
“There’s a Pomeranian-poodle mix at one of the local shelters.”
Joel’s brows shot up and he laughed. “How in God’s name is that anything like Oscar? You do realize you could step on that and it would be all over, right?”
Sam sat up straighter in his chair. “It’s not about what the dog looks like, it’s what I see in the eyes, and this particular puppy has very caring eyes.”
Joel took his hat off and ran his fingers through his hair, whistling. “I expected you to get a Lab or something.”
Sam bristled at his brother’s reaction. “This way I can take it everywhere without a problem.”
“Are you gonna put it in your purse?” Joel teased.
“For your information, it takes a real man to spoil a Pomapoo.”
Joel burst into laughter and his grandma glanced over in their direction and smiled. She always liked to see her grandsons happy.
“At least you’re making it obvious who the real mature person is.” Sam pinched his nose and let out a sigh. “It’s not that big of a deal.”
“I’m sorry.” Joel tried to catch his breath. “I’m trying to be supportive but—”
He started laughing again, and Sam rolled his eyes.
“You know you’ve just made me more determined to get my Pomapoo.”
“Whatever you say. Just make sure you don’t sit on it.” His brother could barely get the words out before he started laughing all over again.
“I’m actually offended on the Pomapoo’s behalf,” Sam grumbled and looked at his phone. “In fact, I think adoptions open in thirty minutes.”
Sam stood up from the table and took one last sip from his coffee.
“I really would have thought you would have been more supportive.”
Joel wiped the smile off his face. “I’m sorry. You’re right. It’s not very nice of me. Autumn and I will do whatever we can to welcome the little Pomapoo into our family. I’ll have to explain to Oscar that it’s not a rat to be chased for mealtime.”
Sam couldn’t help but smile. “I’d appreciate that.”
“Good luck.” Joel called after his brother as Sam walked out of the bakery.
This was the right thing to do. He could feel it in his bones. He needed to save the little fluff ball he saw online.
By the time he pulled up to the animal shelter, he was like a kid on Christmas morning. He just hoped the little Pomapoo was still available. It was hard to tell in the pictures exactly how big it was, but the little boy pup was eight weeks old, which seemed like the perfect age to bring him home.
“Good afternoon,” one of the volunteers called out as he walked into the front lobby.
Dogs’ playful barks echoed through the shelter, and a wave of nerves suddenly flooded through Sam as the same volunteer came over to speak to him. She was cute, probably in her early twenties, and dressed in a pair of jeans and blue polo with the shelter logo printed on it.
“Can I help you?” she asked.
“I saw a photo of the Pomapoo online and was interested in adopting him.”
Her gaze traveled along his body as if she were doing a military inspection, and Sam suddenly felt completely inadequate to be adopting a puppy.
“Okay. I’ll need you to fill out some paperwork.” She handed him a clipboard. “We like to do a home visit to make sure everything checks out before finalizing the adoption.”
Sam’s expression fell. “I was really hoping to bring him home tonight. Get him out of the cage.”
She bit her lip and glanced back at the other volunteers. “Where do you live?”
“Up at Silver Ridge.”
Her brow arched. “I go through there to get home. I live just off of Rusty Lake Road. Let me go check on something.”
Sam nodded and continued to fill out the paperwork.
She returned several minutes later with a much warmer smile as she took the clipboard back.
“I checked with my supervisor, and she said you could take him home today, providing that you don’t mind if I stop by after work for the home check.”
“Not a problem at all. That would be great.” He smiled. “And your name?”
“Beth Turner.”
“Well, it’s a pleasure, Beth.”
She smiled and reviewed his paperwork, making a few notes before she disappeared again.
He found himself pacing in the lobby and his step quickened when a mother and daughter came in. They looked like the exact kind of people who would snatch a Pomapoo away from him in the adoption process. After all, the woman brought in her daughter to sweeten the deal.
What did he have to offer? He was just some bachelor.
“You ready to meet the Pomapoo?” Beth returned without the clipboard and motioned for Sam to follow her.
“Mommy, we wanted the Pomapoo. We wanted the Pomapoo,” the little girl’s voice sent a chill through the air as Sam quickened his pace toward his furry son.
“Does this happen often?” Sam whispered to Beth as she led him down the hall.
“It always seems to.” Beth smiled. “There’s something in the universe.”
They walked into the room full of dogs, and Sam’s gaze went right to the little brown Pomapoo.
“But I’m sure they’ll find a different one they want.”
Sam grimaced and glanced around the room. There were certainly a lot of dogs that needed homes.
“I hope so. I don’t want to be the creep who rips away a puppy from a little girl.” He laughed. “I’m not saying I wouldn’t. I just don’t want to be that guy.”
They made their way over to the little chocolate Pomapoo, and the little guy was bouncing all around the cage as Beth unfastened the lock.
The moment Sam held the little man in his arms he knew he’d found the one.
His mind immediately flashed back to the same feeling when he held Dina and his chest tightened. At least he might get one out of two.
“How much does he weigh?” he asked.
It felt like ounces.
She turned over the card. “At the checkup last weekend, he was three pounds.”
“Wow.” Sam nuzzled the puppy’s nose and brought him into his chest just as the mother and daughter entered the room.
The little girl shot him a dirty look, and the mother flashed an apologetic smile as her daughter quickly began pointing at a different puppy closer to her.
“I want this one, mommy.”
“The other one was a boy,” the mom whispered. “And this one is a girl. Are you sure you want a girl puppy?”
“Boys are dumb. I want this one.” She was pointing at a white fluff ball of some sort, and Sam breathed a sigh of relief.
As Sam followed Beth out of the room, he bent over to the little girl. “You’re right. Boys are dumb.”
The little girl giggled as a different volunteer brought out their puppy for the little girl to hold as he wandered away to finish his adoption.
Sam went up to the counter and paid all the fees, signed some more paperwork, and looked over the vet records for upcoming shots all while holding the puppy in his one arm.
“You’re all set,” Beth said, giving him a folder to put everything away in. “I’ll probably get there around six o’clock or so.”
“Great. I’ll see you then.” Sam nodded and walked out of the animal rescue, feeling like a new man.
“Okay,” Sam said, climbing into his SUV. “What are we going to call you?”
He glanced at the paperwork again. “You don’t look like a Barry.”
He placed his lightweight companion in the passenger seat and stared at him for a few seconds.
“How about Romeo?”
The puppy tilted his head and Sam gave him a scratch under the chin.
“Definitely a Romeo.” Sam turned on the ignition and headed back to Silver Ridge. “We’ve got to stop off at the pet store and get supplies. You probably want to eat and you might want some toys.”
He glanced at the fur ball and Romeo was already curled up on the seat, sleeping soundly as only puppies did.
Within twenty minutes, Sam pulled into the parking lot of the pet store and found a place right out front. He gently nudged Romeo awake and cuddled him in his arms as he walked inside. Grabbing a basket, he started wandering the aisles and filling up his cart with all kinds of food, treats, toys, dog blankets and beds. By the time he reached the checkout line, he felt delirious and slapped a pumpkin costume for Romeo on top. He spotted a turkey costume and put that in the basket too.
“Being a dog daddy isn’t so hard.”