“As it should be.” Her phone rang. It was Randy, but she let it go to voice mail.
“Was that your new man friend?”
“Is anything a secret in this town?”
“Only my house.”
“Goodness gracious. I feel like everyone is so suspicious. I don’t even know if it would turn into anything, but witheveryone talking about it, it makes me feel like I’m doing something wrong. Something I have to explain.”
“But maybe it could be something very good. You can’t stop living your life.”
“But I had the perfect love already. You know how that is.”
“And maybe there will be a second one for you.” He looked at his watch. “You better get home before it gets dark. That road to the cabin is tricky at night.”
“That’s true.”
“Why don’t you take one of those puppies with you? Jesse has a habit of rescuing abandoned hunting dogs. A little beagle would be good company for you.”
“Really? I hate to separate them.”
“Take the one torturing that dastardly duck. They’re going to get split up eventually anyway. We have to find them homes.”
They walked out, and Paul gave a whistle. The puppies, white-tipped tails in the air, came running.
She picked up the little boy pup and snuggled him. “I’ve never had a dog before.”
“Nothing to it. I’ll give you a bag of dog food. They are already house trained.”
“Hey, little guy. You want to come home with me?” She stooped down, petting him. He climbed up against her body and licked her chin, making her giggle. “I think he likes the idea too.” She picked him up, and he quit squirming. His little heart pounded, but he seemed happy, and she felt happier just holding him. “Thank you.”
“Thankyou. One less mouth to feed for me. I’m more the horse and chicken kind of man.”
A big red rooster strutted right out the front door, seeming to say,That’s right,in his cock-a-doodle-doo way.
They both got a kick out of that.
“Laughter is good for the soul, Natalie. You’ve had me smiling more than I have in years these last few days.”
“You’re so sweet. It’s been good for me too.” She opened the door and let the puppy climb in. He circled and settled into the passenger seat.
“You have family now.”
She could hardly contain the emotion she was feeling. She looked at that little tricolor pup in the passenger seat. “You might just be right.”
She drove home feeling connected in a way she never had before. Resting her hand on the little dog’s body as she drove, he slept the whole way home.
Once they got home he had more energy than she was prepared for. He raced ahead, and then, scared, came back and circled her.
“You’ll learn your way around here. I have,” she said to him. His ears set back, then he took off running again.
She sat on the porch and let him run and wear himself out. She mused over all the things she’d seen today. The duck, these pups, a horse in a house. It was beginning to sound like all the makings of a children’s book.
There’d been something simply comforting about it all, though. Sure, it was a little off-the-wall, but in a good way. Like living in a fairy tale.
She went inside and grabbed the gel markers she’d bought recently. She hadn’t experimented much with them but hadseen some work by an artist who used them in watercolor fashion, and she’d been dying to try it out.
Soft watercolors matched the mood today. She couldn’t wait to translate her experience today into a new set of note cards. She worked on the duck first, then one with the duck and puppies.
