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She shrugged as she smiled at him. “You’re going to get that dog, aren’t you?”
He held the puppy up and shrugged back. “Just look at this little girl. She’s putting a spell on me. I need to ask your father if it’s okay, though.”
“Eddie will say yes. He loves dogs. He has a border collie named Mitch that he got about three days after my mother and I moved to New York.”
Her father was actually approaching them right then on his crutches. “Dad, can Sullivan keep a puppy at the apartment until he’s back in his house?”
Her father didn't even hesitate. “Sure. Mitch would love a little buddy.”
“Mitch is a thousand years old,” she told Sullivan and Winnie. “He sleeps most of the day but he still has remarkable spunk for his age. He’s probably not the perfect companion for a high energy puppy, but he’ll definitely try to keep up.”
“He’s eighteen and the oldest border collie in Minnesota,” her father said proudly.
That made her laugh. “Dad, how could you possibly know that? Did you knock on every border collie occupied home in the state?”
“Prove me wrong. Show me a twenty-year-old border collie and I’ll admit defeat.”
“That’s ridiculous.” It was. It was also cute. Her father had needed Mitch to fill the hole left when her mother had moved her east.
“Winnie, I’m taking this puppy,” Sullivan said. “I can’t resist these eyes. She’s looking into my soul.”
Finn gave a battle cry of delight.
Winnie climbed over the fencing. “So youcanfall head over heels for a woman,” she said with a grin.
“Haha.” Sullivan glanced over at Edwina. “Under the right circumstances, with the right woman, who knows what I’m capable of?”
She instantly looked away, not wanting to make eye contact with him when falling in love was being discussed, even as a teasing moment among friends.
“Can you take Penelope?” Axl said, interrupting her panicked thoughts.
“Who? Me?” Edwina looked around, but there was no one else available.
“Yes. I need to go tell the MacMillan kid to get off the power box.” Without waiting for a response, he handed her the baby.
Which was the perfect distraction from seeing Sullivan gush over his new puppy.
Edwina shifted and settled Penelope against her chest. “Hi,” she said, softly.
Penelope yawned.
Edwina’s ovaries fluttered.
Axl went to discipline the MacMillan kid, whoever he was, and Edwina happily swayed with the baby next to her father. He was giving her a look she didn’t appreciate. Like he had an agenda, when she just wanted to enjoy the feel of a round baby in her arms.
“Stop looking at me like that.”
“How am I looking at you?” he protested. “She’s a cute baby, that’s all. I wouldn’t mind having a granddaughter some day. You are thirty-three already.”
“I’m thirty-two.” Which he knew.
“I was twenty-five when you were born.”
And look how well that had worked out.
There was nothing to be gained from impulse, from rushing life’s important decisions. Her parents were prime examples of that and apparently, so were Sullivan’s.
“Good for you,” Edwina said lightly. She kissed the top of the baby’s head and pulled her phone out of her pocket with her free hand. It was ringing.
