Chapter Twenty-Four
Letty’s phone rangthe night after she saw Riley at the library.Shocked, she saw the caller ID said it was Riley.
“Are you going to be home for a while?”he asked.
She hadn’t talked to him since he’d told her they were over, and he had to move on.Of course, she’d been torturing herself thinking of all the women who would be happy to date Riley.“Yes.Why?”
“Tell you when I get there.”
Luckily he must have been nearby because it wasn’t long before she heard a knock on the door.She opened the door and there stood Riley, holding a small…dog?“What—”
He walked in and handed her the dog.Letty took it, looking from Riley to the dog in confusion.“What is this?”
“It’s a dog.Her name is Babette.”
“I can see it’s a dog, but why are you handing her to me?”
“Because you need a dog, and I didn’t think you were going to get one.So I did it for you.You’re welcome.”
“I can’t have a dog.”
“Why not?”
She had no good answer.“Because I just can’t.”
“You like dogs.”
“Of course I like dogs.”
“You live alone.Wouldn’t it be nice to have some company?”
“I suppose, but—”
“Babette is very sweet.See?”
Letty looked down at the little dog, who was gazing at her with adorable sad puppy eyes.“She’s awfully cute,” Letty said, rubbing the little dog under her chin.Babette gave a blissful sigh and snuggled closer.
“She needs a home, and you need a dog.”
“But I work.I’m gone a lot.”
“You aren’t gone that much.You don’t live far from the library.You could easily come home at lunch to take her out.”
“You’re determined to squash all my objections, aren’t you?”
“Yep.”
“What if it doesn’t work out?”
“Then I’ll take her.She gets along with my dogs.I picked up another one at the shelter when I picked her out for you.He’s a German shepherd who’d been there a year, and I couldn’t stand for him to be at the shelter any longer.Rex needs a place where he has room to run.”
“Good Lord, Riley.How many dogs do you have now?”
“Technically nine, although I don’t really count Sergeant since he’s my mom’s dog now.So, eight.”
“You are such a soft touch.”
He shrugged but didn’t dispute it.How could he with eight, technically nine, dogs?
