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“What kind of dessert do you think I should make?” she asked.
“Brownies,” Josie said. “And we’ve got ice cream and chocolate syrup.”
She laughed. “That is what you wanted this weekend.”
“It’s a good dessert for anyone,” Josie said, bobbing her head again.
“I think you’re right. Do you want to make them for him?”
“Can I?” Josie asked.
“We can do it together right now. We’ve got an hour before Carter shows up.”
She grabbed the box of brownie mix, the eggs and oil, then the bowl and pan. The oven was preheating and she let Josie do all the work while she supervised.
Once the brownies were in the oven, Josie said, “That was fun. Can we do that again sometime?”
“We can,” she said. “I thought it was fun too.”
The time moved by fast, some of it with excitement for her knowing that there would be a guy in the house, the other that she was entertaining and meeting people.
Sort of. Wasn’t that part of building a new life on the island?
“He’s here,” Josie said. She’d been looking out the front window and waiting. “It’s so funny watching them jump out of the back of that big car.”
Must be the SUV again. Josie opened the door before Carter could knock and she was right there to see him standing in the doorway, Doc on a leash, Dopey sitting nicely.
Josie was so excited she was ignoring Betty, who Avery had in her arms. They had to introduce them slowly.
“Hi,” Avery said. “Come in.”
“I’ll keep Doc on the leash. Tell me how you want to do this. That’s a small dog.”
“Betty likes dogs. She visits with them at the clinic all the time.”
“I didn’t think of that,” he said.
“Let’s try Dopey first since he’s so mild mannered.”
“I feel like my dogs are going to destroy your house if they start playing.”
“As you know it’s not my house but a rental. I think it will be fine, but we can go on the deck.”
They moved through the house and got to the deck. Carter was keeping Doc close to his side, while Dopey was sitting politely like he always did. Avery brought Betty close to Dopey and let her puppy get comfortable more than anything else.
Dopey didn’t do much more than let himself be checked out. At least Betty wasn’t afraid of the massive dog that was bigger and weighed more than Avery did.
“That was easy,” he said.
“Doc will be different,” she said.
She brought Betty closer to Doc who was sitting nicely on Carter’s commands. Betty wanted to be put down and then was jumping around and getting Doc excited in the process.
It took about twenty minutes, but Betty eventually lost interest and was sleeping on her bed in the shade next to Dopey. Actually Betty was curled against the big dog and Josie was playing with Doc in the fenced-in yard. The two of them ran around and chased each other.
“Doc is going to sleep well tonight,” he said.
“Maybe I needed a more energetic dog for Josie, but Betty is perfect.”
