“It’s all packed up in my attic, gathering dust and maybe cobwebs.”
“Like a horror scene,” he breathed in awe.
She nodded. “Exactly. But I thought, if you’re brave enough, you and I could go up there and check it out.”
Clutching Daisy to his chest, he shot to his knees. “For real?”
Delighted, Ivey said, “For real. There are toys you could look at, most still in the packaging, though, because to collectors, those are worth more. I also have magazines, comics, books, posters. Let’s see, some lunch boxes, holiday props, masks, clothes...” Running out of steam, she wrapped it up with, “All kinds of things. So Sunday? Are we on?”
“Heck, yeah!” He looked back at Corbin, cautious again. “It’s okay?”
Corbin repeated, “Heck, yeah.” He knelt down beside them. “The other thing is that Ivey would like us to visit the dog here whenever we can, so she can get used to you before we take her home. I told her we could fit that into our busy schedules.”
Justin smiled. “We’re not that busy.”
God, how he loved that kid’s smiles. “So we’re all set.” He stood, then took turns hauling each of them to their feet. “We should let Ivey get back to work now.”
As if on cue, Hope stuck her head out the door. “Sorry to interrupt, but the Mathersons are here.”
“I’ll be right there.” To Justin and Corbin, Ivey explained, “Their dog had a pretty serious surgery and this is his first follow-up. I need to run, but it’s been a lot of fun and I’m already looking forward to Sunday.”
As she quickly strode into the clinic, Justin gave his attention back to Daisy, taking the time to cuddle her, to whisper to her, all in all, breaking Corbin’s heart just a little.
He put his hand on Justin’s narrow shoulder. “She has a nice setup here. She’ll be fine.”
“Yeah. She’s got her babies to keep her company, huh?”
“I’m sure she’s a very busy mama.”
Justin looked at the pups as they played. “Think she’ll miss them?”
“Ivey will find good homes for them.”
Nose scrunched, Justin squinted up to Corbin. “Yeah, but will Daisy miss them?”
Without an answer for that, Corbin chose to deflect. “Why don’t we ask Ivey on Sunday?”
“Okay.” After kissing Daisy on the head, he set her down carefully with her puppies. As they left the fenced-in yard, Justin asked, “What are we going to do now?”
“I don’t know. What would you like to do?” Corbin considered the ice cream parlor, maybe a bike ride or a trip to the lake.
Sly, a little hopeful, Justin suggested, “We could look at boats again.”
Damn, hadn’t he just ruled out more purchases? Who was he kidding? If it made Justin happy... “Is that what you want to do?”
“It was fun, right?”
“Sure.” He rested his hand on Justin’s back...and was thrilled when he didn’t pull away. Currently, Justin was all hard angles, bony knees and elbows and shoulder blades, wrapped up in little boy sweetness. Touching him touched Corbin’s heart. “I suppose we have time for that.”
They were just reaching his car when Justin said, “I like her.”
“Daisy?”
“I meant Ivey. She’s pretty cool, huh?”
“Very cool.” He’d moved them to Sunset so Justin could find a new focus. Now it looked like Corbin had found one as well.
* * *
As soon as Ivey and Hope wrapped up with the last patient, Ivey locked the front door, fell back against it and burst out with, “I have a date.”
Equally excited, Hope squealed. “That’s why you were out there talking so long?”
“Yes. Well, I should explain it’s not a date-date.”
One hand on her hip, Hope asked, “So what kind of date is it?”
“The kind where Corbin and his son come to my house to go through the attic with me.” She laughed. “You know what? Maybe it isn’t even a date. But he did say he looked forward to seeing me again, and they plan to stop in every so often so Justin can visit with Daisy before he takes her home.”
Jaw loosening, Hope breathed in shock, “You’re letting him have Daisy?”
Not an unexpected reaction. “Trust me, I’m as surprised as you are. Oh but, Hope, that little boy looked at the puppies, looked at Daisy and chose her.”
“Okay, that’s incredibly sweet.” Still looking unconvinced, Hope said carefully, “It’s just that I always assumed you’d somehow keep her.”
“You know I’d love to, but Maurice wouldn’t like it. He’s always hated dogs. And since I’d have to leave them there alone when I worked, I’d spend all my time worrying.”
“I guess.” Hope pursed her mouth. “What about the puppies? Have you found homes for them yet?”
“No one that I’ll actually let have one.” And that was a problem. “I still have a few weeks to figure it out.”
“If nothing comes up, we could just keep them here. Like little mascots.”
Not a bad idea. “What about you? Are you allowed to have pets in your new place?”
Struck by that thought, Hope opened her mouth only to close it. Finally she said, “I don’t know. I could ask, though, right?”
“Absolutely. Corbin is a super nice guy. If he doesn’t want you to get a puppy or two, he’d definitely tell you so.”
“Two?”
Trying not to laugh, Ivey headed back to the office to get her purse. “If you took two, they could keep each other company.”
“There is that.”
Delighted that Hope didn’t sound against the idea, Ivey asked, “I could bring it up with Corbin, if you want.”
“Thanks, but I have to be able to deal with him. Might as well start with something easy like this. So far he’s not hard to be around.”
Karen stuck her head in the doorway. “Unless either of you need anything else, I’m heading home.”
“We’re on our way out now, too.” Ivey hitched her purse strap over her shoulder and turned out the light. As they all stepped out together, she said, “As always, Karen, we couldn’t get by without you.”
“Just don’t forget it,” Karen teased, and hurried along her way.