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“It’s the way I like it.”
“Just you and them.”
She told herself not to read too much into that matter-of-fact statement, even though it sounded like he was judging her. “Uh-huh. People suck.”
He grunted. “No wonder you get along with Dad.”
She felt her hackles start to rise, just like Aleu’s did when something annoyed her. “Dr. Will loves these dogs. He comes around the kennel most days to help out and often stays with them while I’m out on a race.”
Silence fell like an ax between them, severing the conversation. Ellis got very quiet and his shoulders tensed up as if he was readying for a fight. Talking about his dad in such a casual way seemed to make him uncomfortable.
Good.
She wanted him uncomfortable.
Or, no, that was her annoyance talking. The more uncomfortable he was, the more of a drag he’d be on her search.
She never should have brought him along.
Bree inwardly sighed and then took the higher road and broke the silence. “Right now, I have a neighbor watching the dogs I left home. Bones. No other name, just Bones. He’s an odd man—a real sourdough and a bit of a hermit, but he’s good with the dogs and doesn’t bother me.” She tilted her head toward her pack. “These guys are my core team.”
His shoulders relaxed a fraction and he smiled down at Norte, who had eased forward to rest his head on her thigh. “I met Norte and Aleu last night. Who else do we have here?”
“Moonbeam and Mozart are my red and white twins. They’re two of Norte’s grandpups.”
Ellis twisted in his seat to study the two dogs.
She could tell he was trying to decide who was who and added, “Mozart has the brown eyes and pointy ears. Moonbeam’s eyes are blue, and her ears are rounder.”
“Ah.” He slid her a sideways glance. “How’d you come up with their names?”
“Usually, I pick a topic of each litter. My newest pups are the National Park litter, so we have Denali, Zion, Acadia, Rainier, and Glacier. Mozart and Moonbeam were the musician litter.”
“Granted, I’m not up on my musical history, but I don’t recall a musician named Moonbeam.”
Heat rushed into her face. “It’s a techno band.”
“Huh.” He grinned. “You like techno?”
“So what?”
“Nothing,” he said oh-so-casually. “I just didn’t peg you as a rave kind of girl.”
“I’m not. I—” God, why was she so flustered? “I like a lot of music. I just happened to be listening to the band when the twins were born, so I named her after them.”
He cocked his head to one side in a move that very much reminded her of her dogs when they were curious about something. “Can dogs have twins?”
“Not sure,” Bree admitted. “All puppies in the same litter are technically fraternal twins or triplets or quadruplets or whatever. Identical twins? Probably, but I don’t know if it’s ever been confirmed through genetic testing. I call them the twins because they were the only two puppies to survive in their litter. I had an outbreak of parvo in the kennel and lost a lot of puppies that summer.”
He winced. “I saw parvo a couple times when I helped out at Northern Rescue as a kid. It’s brutal. You’re lucky you didn’t lose them all.”
“I would’ve without Dr. Will’s help.” Which she didn't want to think about because it still made her tear up even two years later. She hurried to continue, not allowing herself to dwell on that summer or let Ellis brood over the mention of his father. “So, anyway, those two are Mozart and Moonbeam. The gray and white boy with the bandana is Nugget. Keep an eye on him. He’s mischievous. He’ll steal food right out of your hand. The mostly black guy with the bright blue eyes—”
“The scary one who looks like a wolf?”
“Yeah. That’s Indigo. Don’t let his looks fool you. He’s a giant baby, afraid of his own shadow. And next to him, the pretty red and white girl with the whisky eyes is Chilly.”
He reached back and gave Chilly a scratch between the ears. She leaned into it and he grinned. “Chilly, huh? Let me guess, you call her that because it’s cold as fuck up here?”
