“Where are you going?” he asked.
“I just need to make sure...”
“Daisy, it’s not your problem—”
But she was already hurrying toward the alley, following the sound. There had been a newspaper story just the month before about a baby abandoned in an alley in New Jersey. Thankfully that child had been found safely, but Daisy couldn’t get the story out of her mind. If she didn’t investigate this, and something bad happened...
She followed the sound down the alley and was only vaguely aware of Leo behind her. She saw a burlap bag resting on the top of a dumpster. The sound seemed to come from that. It was wiggling. She heard a weak whine. Then a whimper.
“Daisy, don’t,” Leo said sharply behind her. “You don’t know what it is.”
But she was already reaching for the bag. It weighed almost nothing. Setting the burlap bag gently on the asphalt, she undid the tie and opened it.
It was a tiny puppy, a fuzzy golden-colored mutt, maybe two months old, wiggling and crying. She stroked it tenderly. “It’s a dog!” Sudden rage filled Daisy. “Who would leave a puppy in a dumpster?”
“People can be monsters,” Leo said flatly. She looked back at him, bemused. Then the puppy whined, weakly licking her hand, taking all her attention.
“She seems all right,” Daisy said anxiously, petting the animal. “But I’d better take her to the vet to make sure.” She looked up at Leo. “Do you want to come?”
He looked grim. “To the vet? No.”
“I’m so sorry. Could we maybe get together later? You could show me your apartment tonight?”
“Tonight?” His jaw set. “I’m having a party.”
She brightened. “How fun! I’d love to meet your friends.”
“Fine,” he said shortly. “I’ll send a car to pick you up at seven.”
“I told you, a car’s not necessary—”
“Wear a cocktail dress,” he cut her off.
“All right.” Daisy tried to remember if she even owned a cocktail dress. Carrying the puppy carefully in her arms, she reached up on her tiptoes and kissed Leo’s scratchy cheek. “Thanks for understanding. I’ll see you at your party.”
“Daisy—”
“What?”
She waited, but he didn’t continue. He finally said in a strangled voice, “See you tonight.”
And he turned away. She watched him stride down the street, his hands pushed in his pockets. Why was he acting so weird? Was he really so embarrassed of where he lived? Embarrassed of his friends?
She looked down at the puppy in her arms, who whined weakly. Turning on her heel, she hurried down the street, going to the veterinary office owned by one of her father’s old friends.
“Dr. Lopez, please,” she panted, “it’s an emergency...”
The kindly veterinarian took one look at the tiny animal in Daisy’s arms and waved her inside his office. After an exam, she was relieved to hear the mixed breed puppy was slightly dehydrated, but otherwise fine.
“Someone must have just wanted to get rid of her. She must have been dumped sometime during the night,” Dr. Lopez said. “It’s lucky the weather isn’t colder, or else...”
Daisy shivered. It was heartbreaking to think that while she’d been snuggled warm in bed in Leo’s arms, some awful person had been dumping an innocent puppy in the alley, leaving her to die in a burlap bag.
People can be monsters. Leo was right. All Daisy had to do was remember those awful lawyers who’d vindictively harassed her innocent father into prison on those trumped-up forgery charges. Her tenderhearted, artistic-minded father had collapsed in prison, surrounded by strangers. He’d had a stroke and died—
“What are you going to name her?” the vet asked, mercifully pulling her from her thoughts. Daisy blinked.
“Me?”
“Sure, she’s your dog now, isn’t she?”
Daisy looked down at the puppy on the examining table. She couldn’t possibly own a pet. She didn’t even rent her own apartment. Franck Bain was due to return from Europe soon, and she’d need to find a new place to live. With her meager income, it was unlikely she’d be able to afford an apartment that allowed a pet. Just thinking of the cost in dog food alone—
No. Daisy couldn’t keep her.
But someone had left this puppy to starve. A sweet floppy mutt who just needed a loving home. Could Daisy really abandon her?
Uncertainly, she reached out and softly stroked the dog’s head. The animal’s big dark eyes looked up at her, and she licked Daisy’s hand with a tiny rough tongue.
No. She couldn’t.
“You’re right. I’m keeping her.” She pushed away the worry of expensive vet bills and dog food. “I’ll think about a name.”
Dr. Lopez tried to wave off her offer of payment, but she insisted on paying. She couldn’t live off the charity of her father’s friends forever. It was bad enough she’d lived in Franck’s apartment for so long, even if he insisted she was the one doing him a favor by house-sitting.
She wondered if the gray-haired artist would still think so, after he discovered she’d brought a puppy home.
Leaving the vet’s, she went to the nearest bodega and bought puppy food and other pet supplies. Passing another aisle in the store, she hesitated, then furtively added a pregnancy test into her basket, too. Just so she could prove her fears were ridiculous.
After Daisy got the puppy back home and fed, she stroked her fur. “How could anyone have thrown you away?” she whispered. “You’re perfect.” Finally, gathering her courage, she left the tiny dog to drowse on the fluffy rug in front of the gas fire and went into the elegant modern bathroom to take the pregnancy test. Just get it over with, she told herself. Once she took the test, she would be able to relax.
Instead, she found out to her shock her fears were right.
She was pregnant.
Pregnant by a man she loved, though she barely knew him.
Pregnant by a man who would never marry her.
Daisy didn’t have any money. She didn’t have a permanent home. She didn’t have a family. Soon, she’d be raising both a puppy and a baby, utterly alone.
She couldn’t do it alone. She couldn’t.
Could she?
She had to tell Leo at the party tonight. The idea terrified her. What would he do when he found out she was pregnant? What would he say? Fear gripped Daisy as she looked at herself in the bathroom mirror.