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“Works for me, though in this case, you’ll be pulling a wagon,” Roark explained.

“Wren, sweetheart,” Roark said as he bent to their level. “There are a lot of vendors in here, and rows of aisles that start to look the same, especially from a pup’s vantage point, so hang on to the wagon at all times and don’t go running off, okay? I promise we’ll stop to look at anything that catches your attention, you just have to let us know if you want to look more closely at something. I wouldn’t want to lose you in there.”

“I’ll hold on tight. I don’t want to get lost.”

“Thank you,” Roark said before kissing them on the forehead.

Inside, Logan’s eyes widened when he took in the wall of wide, long wagons, as well as three other racks, with wooden wagons of different sizes, stacked the length of the wall in an intricate maze.

“How am I supposed to get one of them down?” Logan asked as he cocked his head.

“You don’t,” Roark replied and led him to the front of the rack, where one wagon’s handle stuck out. “You pull that one, and the next handle will be waiting when someone needs it.”

“I’ve never seen anything like this anywhere,” Logan admitted as he tugged and the wagon effortlessly rolled free.

“The only other place I’ve ever seen one was north of the border, which was where our engineer got the design from,” Roark explained as they headed in, Wren holding on to the side of the wagon as they slowly headed down the first aisle.

Despite the constant buzz of conversations and ceaseless movement of those around them, shopping here was an orderly affair. The aisles were wide, the booths had space between them to allow folks to pull their wagons past them as they shopped.

“Ro-Ro! Ro-Ro!” A voice screeched, insistently drowning out every thought in his head.

Was it lavender or honey oatmeal soap he was supposed to be grabbing again?

“Ro-Ro!”

“Incoming,” Roark groaned, “and brace yourself for chaos.”

“Your sister?” Logan asked and started looking around.

“Nope, but just as big of a menace, and I positively love him to death,” Roark remarked, snickering as a pink and aqua-haired wolf bounded out from between two stalls, ponytails bouncing as he waved at them.

“Goodness, this place is loud today. I was afraid you wouldn’t hear me,” the colorful wolf said.

“How could I not, with you hollering like a moth was about to land on your nose?”

A dramatic gasp followed as the wolf narrowed their eyes. “You can’t just go around telling people that.”

“Sure I can, when you insist on calling me by my childhood nickname,” Roark replied, narrowing his eyes right back. “Now behave so I can introduce you to my new mate and pup properly.”

“Fine, but in all fairness, I only called you that because Great Uncle Roark is two aisles over and I didn’t want him to think I was calling him. He’d have threatened me with his cane for making him get out of his way for nonsense.”

“You are forgiven this one time, and only because you’re right, he would have threatened you and then threatened me for being the cause of it,” Roark said. “Logan and Wren, meet my brother Emari, who’d better not start telling you embarrassing stories about all the misadventures we had growing up.”

“I love your hair,” Wren said.

“And I love your coat,” Emari said. “Wherever did you find it?”

“At the giant clothing store where Gina works,” Wren replied as Emari knelt, so they were closer to eye level.

“I know Gina, I’ll have to see about special ordering something in my size.”

“Yay, then we can match!” Wren declared. “If you’re Papa Roark’s brother, that makes you my uncle, right?”

“It sure does, and I’m thrilled to have someone to share my love of aqua with,” Emari said before straightening up so he could shake Logan’s hand. “Welcome to you, new brother, who will hear all about my old brother’s mischievous ways just as soon as he’s not around to witness me telling the tales.”

“And I’ll still know who they came from,” Roark pointed out. “Remember that and choose your embellishments wisely.”

“Please don’t,” Logan said, smirking over at Roark. “I want to hear all the juicy details, embellishments and all, so I have an idea of what to watch out for with this one.”