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“She does…”
I drift off into my thoughts of how special we felt together last night and this morning. Damn, it just gets better and better.
Fred’s tail draws my attention back to him, and I almost apologize for drifting during our conversation.
“Maybe I do spend too much time with animals,” I mutter.
Fred’s head jerks to face me, his smile dropping as he stares at me.
“I didn’t mean it. You know I didn’t mean it. Sorry, Fred. You’re my man. Best boy in the world.”
His tail starts its rhythmic thwack against the door again and I smile all the way home.
It smells like pasta and garlic bread when I walk into the house. I come up behind Sofie as she stirs the pasta sauce, pushing the weight of her hair off of her neck so I can press my lips against her skin.
“Hi,” she says softly.
“It’s quiet in here.”
“Marlow took Dakota over to Pine Community…”
“Oh no. Is she worse?”
“I don’t think so. But she wanted to make sure it hadn’t turned into something more serious since Dakota’s still having a fever. I tried to go with her, but she insisted that I stay here. She was excited about my spaghetti.” She smirks and then frowns. “But she’s been gone for over two hours. I feel bad—I told her she could probably get in and out over there since it’s offseason.”
“Did you text Wyatt at all?”
“No, Marlow didn’t want me to do any special favors. She’s funny about that with people she doesn’t know. Honestly, if Dakota wasn’t sick, she’d probably have already figured out another place to stay.”
“But you’re her best friend and you went all the way to Texas to drive her back.”
“But we’re inyourhouse,” she says.
“Your house now,” I tell her.
I almost get on my knees right then and there, but the door opens and Marlow walks in holding Dakota.
“How did it go?” I ask.
“She has an ear infection,” Marlow says, her voice sad. “I can’t believe the doctor didn’t see it when he looked the other day. Dr. Landmark…uh, we saw your brother, Theo…he said it looked like it had been brewing for a while. Good news is we started antibiotics tonight, so hopefully you’ll be feeling all better soon,” she says against Dakota’s hair.
“Poor peanut,” Sofie says, going over to rub Dakota’s back. “Makes me so sad to see you miserable.” She looks at Marlow. “And dammi-dalmatian…uh…dalmatian, I wanted to be there when you started meeting all the siblings.”
“Dammi-dalmatian?” Marlow says, snorting. “That’s a new one.”
Sofie giggles. “It’s been a while since I’ve had to censor my words. I’m out of practice.”
“I love dalmatians,” Dakota says, perking up.
“Me too,” Sofie says.
“What are dammi-dalmatians?” she asks.
Sofie laughs again. We’re all three looking at her, waiting to hear what she’ll come up with.
“Just an expression I used. I got a little tongue-tied,” she admits.
That appeases Dakota and I put my arm around Sofie, tickling her side to hear her keep laughing. It works.
