“It works when Kai does it.”
“She’s my wife and she’ll kill me if I bring home one of these puppies.”
“I won’t let her kill you,” Sophie promised him.
He cleared his throat. She knew she had him. “So, you’re taking one home?” He asked. “Without talking to Josh,” he added.
She gazed at the dog. Never in twenty-three years had she and Josh gotten a dog. The kids were always active in sports. They were running a business together. There never seemed to be a good, time.
When she was younger she had a dog named Samson. A mutt, her dad brought home. She should talk to Josh, she knew but something about this dog nuzzling her
, looking in her eyes, with her big, hazel ones spoke to her. They needed each other. “I need this Roman,” she whispered to him.
“Come on, let’s get you home,” he said giving Sophie a hand up.
She nodded. Once she was on her feet Roman picked up the second puppy and sighed. “I think you and Sophie are about to get me into trouble with Kai.”
She laughed at him. Roman took Sophie home with the puppy that she had already named Delilah before Roman reached her driveway. Josh’s truck was already there. She slipped out and thanked Roman for the ride.
“Good luck,” he told her.
“Thanks, you too.”
He smiled at her, and Sophie headed towards her front porch. She looked back and waved as Roman drove towards home. Sophie opened the front door and glanced around. She didn’t see Josh right away, but he could be anywhere in the house. “I’m home,” she shouted.
“Hey, where have you been? I was worried when you weren’t here,” he called back to her. She heard him walking down the hall coming towards her. She went through the living room ready to face him, puppy in her arms, rubbing her soft, floppy ears.
Her husband’s eyes, widened. He stopped at the entrance to the living room when he saw what she was carrying. “Where did you get that?” He asked.
She told him about feeling restless all afternoon. She thought the walk would clear her head. Josh was frowning. His eyes kept traveling between Sophie’s face and the wiggling puppy in her arms. “I heard it whimpering in the drainage pipe. There were two of them.”
He started looking around for the second one, thinking she had brought them both home. Sophie laughed at him. “Roman got them out of the pipe for me. He was on his way home from work when he saw me peeking in the drainage ditch. He took the second one home with him.”
He rubbed his hand across his face. He was so uncertain right now. She knew what he was thinking. There was a lot going on right now with her treatments starting in a few days. She stepped closer to him. “I know it’s a lot, but I need her.”
Gazing down at his petite wife, he shook his head. Then, Josh sighed. “I guess I need to head to a pet store to get food and a bed. It doesn’t get in bed with us,” he warned her.
She nodded. “Her name is Delilah.”
“Fitting. You take it easy while I run out and get things for her.”
“I will,” she promised.
Sophie headed for the backyard to let Delilah outside for a few minutes. She praised her when she did her business then she headed back into the house and snuggled her in a warm blanket while she sat in the recliner with her. She petted her head. The puppy nuzzled her nose against her cheek.
“Yeah, I love you too. Never thought this would happen. Neither did Josh,” she informed the dog. “But you’re a good thing.”
Her phone rang from somewhere in the house. She laid the puppy on the chair while she searched for it. The whimpering started as soon as Sophie left the room.
“I’ll be right back,” she shouted.
On her nightstand, the phone was plugged in and charging. She had a missed call from Kai, she noticed when she picked up the phone and glanced at the screen.
“Hoo boy.” She had to call her back, right? If Roman was in trouble she had to face the music and help him out. She pressed send to re-dial Kai’s number and waited for her to answer.
“Hey, puppy is adorable. She could stay but.”
“Oh Kai.” Sophie didn’t get any further.