She stroked her fingers along his shiny coat. “We’ll find your family tomorrow.”
With the puppy asleep on the couch, she had to slip out from behind him to go get some work done. At the desk by the window, she saw that the snowy skies had finally cleared up enough that there were stars out tonight.
She worked quietly, happy with her progress.
The puppy had slept nearly an hour before he woke up and yapped for attention.
“I thought you might sleep all night. I bet you want to go outside.” She put her shoes back on and grabbed a jacket. “Come on.” She patted her leg and he ran right over to her. He bravely ran for the staircase, taking one step at a time. His fat belly skimmed the stair tread as he stretched to the next one.
She passed him and waited for him at the bottom, encouraging him along the way.
Two steps from the bottom he went rolling tail over nose to the bottom.
“Oh no.” She raced to the bottom of the stairs.
He sat there looking around.
She could almost picture the tweety birds circling his head after that fall. “Are you okay, little guy?”
She opened the door and he walked outside, yawned, and then sat down. Vanessa walked out toward the tree line and whistled, wondering if the mother wasn’t bedded down in the thick woods with a whole litter of these little guys, but there were no barks. No whimpers from pups.
Vanessa lifted the puppy into her arms. “Look at all those stars. Isn’t it beautiful?”
He seemed to look to make his own decision, then squirmed. She placed him on the ground, and he ran off to the grass and did his business, then ran back over to the door.
“I guess that means you’re staying the night.”
She opened the door and he started bounding up the stairs, but he was dangerously wobbly. She picked him up and carried him the rest of the way.
Back in the apartment he was full of energy, jumping andplaying, but his teeth were like little needles. “Okay, I need you to play with something besides my hands. I definitely do not have enough bandages for all these bites.”
She’d packed a pair of casual socks in her bag in case her feet got wet in the snow. She pulled them out. They were pretty expensive to turn into a puppy toy, but they’d been in her bag forever and she’d never worn them, so what was the waste in that? She tied the heavy woolen socks together, then swung them in front of her.
The puppy leapt into the air like a crocodile after a bird. She played tug-of-war, and that little puppy was strong. He was going to win this game.
He barked, the socks still in his mouth.
She wrestled them away and threw them across the room.
He went flying after them, then stalked them and pounced on them. Fearless. Barking again, he stomped his feet as if daring the socks to attack.
Vanessa couldn’t resist grabbing them and throwing them again.
“Maybe I’ll become a little fearless in Fraser Hills too. What do you think, little guy?”
He crawled into her lap and started licking her face again.
She screamed playfully. “You’re a suck-up. But adorable.” She put the sock in his mouth and scooted him off. “I need to get some more work done.” She fluffed a towel on the floor next to her feet. “Why don’t you play or settle in there?”
He sat down at her feet and cocked his head.
How could anyone deny puppy eyes?
Without a whimper, he crawled onto the towel and curled up with his chin on her feet.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR
The next morning that little puppy was lying face-to-face with Vanessa when she opened her eyes. She backed up with a start, and the puppy woke up ready to play. “Oh my gosh, what am I supposed to do with you today?”
