She scoffed while picking up Maggie Maye. “A bowl’s a bowl? It’s okay, sweet girl. We will go right now to PetSmart and get you new bowls that are just yours.” She turned back to me with a frown. “Did you also know she had snuck in a stick and wanted me to throw it in the house?”
“Oh, yeah. That’s her fetch toy.”
This time her hand went to her hip while she cradled my dog in her other arm. “Her… her fetch toy?”
I nodded.
“You play fetch with her in the house… with a stick?”
“I’m going to guess you’re not a fan of that idea,” I said with a wink.
She rolled her eyes at me. “Mike, you have to play fetch outside. And you don’t want her chewing on a stick.”
Sydney held Maggie Maye up to her face and put their noses together. “We don’t want her getting an ouchy from eating sticks. Do we? No, we don’t. No, ma’am.”
Smiling, I took in the scene before me. I could get used to having Sydney here every morning.
I stopped short on that thought.
Holy shit, Murphy. Slow it down.
“Want to go to PetSmart with us?” Sydney asked.
“You don’t have any clients this morning?”
She shook her head. “Nope. I’m all yours for the entire morning.” Then her eyebrows pulled in. “I mean, unless you have to work.”
“I’m off today.”
Once again, I was graced with her brilliant smile.
“Then I say we see what sort of trouble we get into today.”
Staring into her sky-blue eyes, I replied, “You’re on.”
Sydney
“Oh, you love your pretty bowls, don’t you, sweet Mags.” I petted Maggie Maye’s head while she drank from her new bowl on her paw-print mat. The pink glitter on the bowl sparkled in the light. It was perfect for this sweet puppy.
I looked at Mike. “See? She loves it.”
“Syd, I just spent three hundred and fifty dollars at the pet store on teething stuff, toys, bed, and treats. She better love it.”
I whispered to Mags, “What your daddy meant to say was that he is so glad no one has claimed you, and he gladly spent all that money.”
So far, we had been lucky and no one had come forward. I had several people in line who wanted her, but if the prior owners weren’t found, Maggie Maye already had a forever home.
Mike grinned at me. “That works, too.”