"Oh no, Brownie," Riley said and hugged the little dog protectively.
"It will be over quick," Sam reassured him.
"You're gonna come with us?" DJ asked him.
Wyatt turned to Sam too. "You don't have to get back to work, do you?"
As Wyatt and the boys looked at him pleadingly, Sam thought about it. Magda was saving up for a down payment on a car. She wanted to pick up more hours. She would be happy to take his shift.
"I'll have to text a coworker to make sure, but I think I can go with you if you like," Sam said.
"You're going on a drive to Ashbury with two kids and two dogs? You are quite a man," Wyatt told him. He looked so pleased that Sam was going, and the boys were already telling the dogs the good news.
They set off for the Hayes' house to get Wyatt's car. Wyatt carried Brownie so she wouldn't run away again. Brownie turned out to be a girl, which made the boys wonder if they had to change her name.
"Brownie works either way," Wyatt told them.
As they walked to the Hayes' house, she was snug in Wyatt's arms. She seemed to have really taken to him, but she also let Sam scratch her little head. Barney had insisted on sniffing something and the boys were a few steps ahead with him.
"So you're just going to adopt this dog," Sam said while Brownie looked over at what the other dog was doing.
"I have no say. They already did," Wyatt said and nodded toward the boys.
"That's really nice of you," Sam told him. He was such a caring guy. It was clear that he would do anything for those boys.
Wyatt didn't seem to think he was doing anything special. "I need all the allies I can get to keep those boys in good spirits. That's where you come in too. Plus you're good in a crisis." Wyatt turned to him and there was a gleam in his eyes that left Sam breathless.
But then he realized what Wyatt just said. "I'm good in a crisis?"
"Is that a shocking thing to say or something?" Wyatt wondered since Sam reacted so oddly.
"If you knew me better, you would know it was," Sam told him. It was so far from the truth.
"Oh. What don't I know?" Wyatt asked and sidled closer to him. "I want to know everything."
"It's not exciting." Feeling embarrassed, Sam frowned and looked down at the ground. He hated to tell him this, but he wasn't going to hide it. "I have panic attacks," he said in a whisper.
"Thanks for telling me," Wyatt whispered back. "Here, Brownie needs some petting." He handed her over to Sam, who smiled at him. "And if she has fleas, now you have them too."
"Thanks," Sam said and he laughed. It was still nice to hold Brownie and to spend all this time with Wyatt. Sam didn't know what it meant, but it filled him with warmth and an almost painful happy feeling.
Chapter 9
Brownie had been with them for two days now, and she was adjusting nicely to being an indoor dog. They had to be quick to take her outside at the first sign of trouble. The boys were eagle-eyed when it came to that. But the outdoors were always her bathroom, so Wyatt was sure she would catch on fast. The best part was how happy the boys were, and the two dogs were getting along with each other as well.
"We have two dogs," DJ said to no one in particular just that morning as he watched the dogs drinking from their water dishes. It was like he was in awe of that fact, like it was some kind of miracle that two dogs would come into his life. But for Wyatt, it had been an easy decision. Both boys needed all the good things he could bring into their lives.
If only Wyatt had gotten a chance to see Sam some more. These days Wyatt had plenty of work to keep him busy, and he was trying to feed the boys from their own kitchen too. In fact he was finishing up some work, and contemplating lunch when he got a call from Sam.
"Nice to hear from you," Wyatt said as soon as he answered. Maybe for the first time ever, he was glad someone was calling instead of texting because this way he could hear Sam's voice.
"I'm taking Mr. Jasper an order a little later, and I was wondering if maybe I could burrow Barney and maybe Brownie too," Sam said. "Hannah said that Mr. Jasper liked it a lot when Barney and the boys visited with him. She said it really cheered him up."
Wyatt paused for a thoughtful moment, then he asked, "So you want to borrow Barney and Brownie, but not the rest of us?" Wyatt made sure to sound deeply hurt.
"You want me to borrow you?" Sam said and Wyatt could hear the smile in his voice. "I wasn't sure if the boys were home yet."
"I'll be picking them up soon. We'll come with you for that visit and have lunch at the café too. Does that work?" Wyatt asked.
