Colt held up his hands, stopping us from walking any farther. Delilah glanced at the house. “Where’s Tucker?”
“I’m sorry,” he said and Delilah froze in place, her entire body becoming stiff. I grabbed her hand and rubbed reassuring circles with my thumb.
“Where’s Tucker?” she repeated and moved forward. Colt stopped her.
“He’s fine. He’s inside. But, I’m sorry, D. I’m so sorry.”
“For what?”
The front door opened and Tucker came running outside, crashing into his mom. “Did it work? Did he convince you? Are we getting a puppy?”
I widened my eyes and Colt looked away as Delilah sucked in a breath. “A puppy?”
“Yeah! Uncle Colt promised that he’d convince you to get me a dog if I won. Can we go now? I’ll go get my stuff.”
He ran back inside and Delilah glared at Colt. “A puppy?” she repeated. There was a small part of me that wanted to laugh, and I had no idea how she would say no to Tucker. He was a hard kid to deny anything to, and I had to admit it would be nice to see a dog while I was home.
Colt scrubbed a hand down his face and placed a fist on his hip. “Okay, look. We were playing basketball and the winner was getting all kinds of stuff. He said he wanted a dog, so I made up an incredibly hard shot. Like, so-hard-it-should’ve-been-physically-impossible type shot. I thought I was outsmarting the kid. Only thing was, I had made up a rule about using props, and he kind of used it against me. And well…here we are. I mean, would a dog really be so bad?”
“Are you going to potty train a puppy?”
“I can help,” I said.
Delilah’s glare turned to me.
“Or not,” I said.
Colt snorted. “She’s already got you wrapped around her finger, I see.”
I shrugged. I wouldn’t deny it.
“You could find a dog that’s already potty trained. It doesn’t have to be a puppy puppy,” Colt suggested.
“You’re lucky I don’t like disappointing Tucker and that I’m in a really, really good mood,” Delilah said, and Colt made a face as he looked from her to me.
“I don’t want to know that shit.”
“I’m going to get you back for this. I don’t know how,” Delilah said, releasing my hand and taking a step toward Colt. “I don’t know when.” She took another step and he swallowed, glancing at me. I laughed. I wasn’t helping him. No way. I wasn’t stepping into Delilah’s wrath.
“But I guarantee you, I will. Get. You. Back.”
Tucker came running out of the house. “So? Are we getting a dog?”
Delilah sent one last glare Colt’s way. “Yes, but we have another stop to make first.”
Chapter 28
Delilah
The echoes of barking dogs bounced off the walls of the adoption shelter. I couldn’t believe I was actually doing this. I pinched the bridge of my nose. I knew how much work dogs were, but Colt and Tucker’s epically failed game had caught me on a really good day.
Jenna looped her arm through mine. I turned my face toward hers. She was glowing, had been since Gunner broke the news about the Rattlers. We hadn’t said anything about it to Tuck on the way to Jenna’s house. So when we sat at the table, drinking sweet tea and having a slice of the pie I’d made for her, and Gunner dropped the bomb, the whole house shook with the excited screams of Jenna and Tucker. Gunner dropped his arm to the back of my chair and kissed my temple. He’d had a grin on his face since this morning, and I didn’t think it was coming off anytime soon. His smile grew even larger when we made a quick stop at Earl’s and the old man danced a jig. Earl still didn’t spare a smile for me though.
When we’d arrived, his mom had looked a little tired, but okay. Now there wasn’t a hint that the cancer was wearing her down. She was radiant.
“It won’t be so bad. Tuck’s a good boy, he’ll help.” Jenna patted my hand.
“I love dogs and have wanted one since we lost ours when I was a teen, but I didn’t know how old Tucker should be when we got one. And it was just Tuck and me. It seemed like too much work.”
Tucker and Gunner were crouched down in front of a yellow lab. The pup’s tail was thwacking back and forth. He stood on his back paws and pushed himself on the metal gate to get closer to the two in front of him.
“This one, Mom!”
I squeezed Jenna’s arm and knelt next to the two guys at the center of my world. I stuck my fingers through the gate, and the puppy trotted over to me to greet the newcomer. He licked my fingers, and that was all it took to become fully convinced of this crazy puppy idea.
“He’s perfect,” I said.
“Can we name him Rattler?” Tucker asked, but he wasn’t facing me; he was facing Gunner. Gunner ran his hand over Tucker’s head and messed with the top of his hair.
Gunner snorted. “What else would we name him?”
“I’ll go grab one of the employees,” Jenna said and walked away. We stayed bent down in front of the kennel playing with Rattler through the gate.
He wasn’t a puppy puppy, but he looked about a year old. He was definitely still growing. I snatched the information guide off the gate and read what the kennel had written about him.
“Yes,” I said and raised my fist in the air. “He’s housebroken! But, Tucker, that doesn’t mean that you get off your duties with him. Walks, food for Rattler, and maybe some other things will be added to your chores.”
“Okay, Mom,” Tucker said, but he barely paid me any mind as he continued to tickle the dog through the gate. Gunner slid around Tucker and stood next to me, reading the information over my shoulder.
“Seems like a good dog,” he said and pointed at the paper I was holding. “He’s good with kids and babies.”
“As long as he’s good with Tucker, I’ll be happy.”
“I think it’s good that he likes babies.”
I turned toward Gunner. His face was so close to mine, I could’ve easily closed the distance between us and planted a kiss on his cheek or his lips. His gaze held so much fire I felt it down to my bones. I shivered and my arms broke out in goosebumps, even under the sweater I was wearing.
“Yeah, it’s good he likes babies.”
A slow, sultry grin spread across Gunner’s face, and I was lost in his eyes until his mom cleared her throat behind us. She had a cat-who-ate-the-canary grin as her gaze bounced between Gunner and me like we were a tennis match.
I stood. “Hi, we’re interested in adopting this pup.” I pointed over my shoulder at the little guy we’d already named.
“He’s a great choice.” According to the name badge on her lime-green polo, her name was Linette. “We’re going to miss him around here. Some of the girls take him up front sometimes. I thought for sure he’d be adopted within a day, but I guess he was waiting for the perfect family.”
“That’s us,” Tuck said. He stood and stepped back from the gate so Linette could grab Rattler. She hooked a temporary collar and leash on him and led him out of the kennel. Tuck took the leash and leaned down to scoop him up into his arms. Rattler bathed his face in kisses while Tucker laughed.