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“New boyfriend? Just like that, I’m replaced.”
Theo laughs, nuzzling her nose against the puppy’s ear. “He’s not for me. Though, if I hold him another hour, I won’t be able to let him go.”
“Please tell me he’s not for Reese. You can’t have an untrained dog taking care of a puppy.”
“Actually…,” Theo says nervously. “I was planning to give him to Merrick. I was reading this book on addiction, and it said it can help to replace a bad habit with something positive instead.”
“Okay…” I’m slightly concerned about how my dad’s going to take care of a puppy when he can hardly take care of himself. But I suppose I can check in, help with walks or feeding or whatever. It’ll certainly help to distract him and give him some company when Reese and I are out. “What’s his name?”
“Bernie Sanders,” Theo says at once. “Apparently, he only answers to his full name.”
I kind of doubt he answers to anything. This puff ball clearly lives to eat and snooze.
“Where’d you get him?”
“Leanne, the accountant, has a Saint Bernard that got unexpectedly frisky with the neighbor’s dog—poor thing was so old, she hardly thought that was a possibility anymore. She only had the one puppy, but he looks healthy enough.”
“He looks like he ate the rest of the litter.”
“Bernie would never do that,” Theo says, snuggling him with all her might.
Bernie’s lucky he’s a gift to my dad because he’s already hogging way too much of Theo’s attention. I’m mildly jealous.
“What about me?” I growl. “Where’s my cuddles?”
Theo tilts up her chin to give me a kiss over the top of the dog’s fluffy head.
She slept in my bed the last two nights—not that we got much sleep. I could almost thank my dad for getting so sick because there’s been no talk of Theo going back to her own apartment, and I’m sure as hell not going to bring it up.
In fact, with this puppy here, I could see her staying another week at least, just to help Bernie get settled in. I give the dog’s head a nice scratch behind the ears, willing to forgive him anything if he earns me a few more days with Theo.
“Where’s Merrick?” she says, already heading around the side of the house.
“In the pool house with Reese. They just got back.”
I trail after her, taking the opportunity for a long look at Theo’s ass in her work clothes. She’s wearing the dark suit she wore the day she met me at the pizza place, which feels like a hundred years ago.
It’s the same suit, but Theo looks different as she tosses a grin back over her shoulder at me. She’s left her hair down, loose and wild, and even the way she walks has a little more sway in it. Maybe that’s for my benefit because she knows I’m right behind her. I hope it’s for my benefit.
Bernie is coating her in dog hair, but Theo doesn’t seem to care. She’s buoyant and bouncing, bursting into the pool house without knocking, calling out, “Merrick, I brought you a new friend!”
I’ve got to see this. I would not say that my dad is a person who likes surprises or gifts. I’m not even sure how much he likes dogs.
He looks slightly stunned as Theo deposits the huge, fluffy puppy in his arms. “What’s this?”
“Bernie Sanders the Second,” Theo says.
My dad looks down at the dog in bemusement. Bernie responds by enthusiastically licking his face. Not one or two licks but an attempt to wash his whole, entire face.
Reese pouts. “You never letmeget a puppy.”
I remind him, “You couldn’t even keep your goldfish alive.”
“I had George for two years!”
“There were six different Georges,” our dad says.
“What?”
