“You’re taking two?” Donna Marymore asked with a confused glance down at the generous amount on the check.
Riley gave a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure Sam was out of earshot. “Yup. This girl and the little boy there that the man in the jeans is holding.”
“Oh yes, that’s a good one.” Donna’s eyes went a little dreamy and Riley wasn’t entirely sure it was due to the male puppy who’d been identified as the “pick of the litter” when they’d arrived.
The older woman’s eyes dropped to Sam’s backside.
Yup, definitely nothing to do with the dog. Time to go.
“Thanks so much. Your dogs are lovely,” Riley said.
“Send a Christmas card! We always like to see the extended family,” Donna called before turning her attention to the uniformed teen who’d just entered the enormous “dog room.”
From the way the teen’s eyes rolled, it was evident she was part of said extended family and not entirely thrilled about it. Such was a teenager’s lot in life, Riley supposed. God knew she’d spent part of her teen years hating her sisters, avoiding her parents, and mooning over her brother’s best friend.
The very same best friend who was about to become a hopefully proud dog owner.
“You ready?” she asked, hiding her smile at his wistful expression.
Sam didn’t move.
Riley shifted the fussing puppy to her other arm. “I want to get to the pet store before it closes.”
He shifted as though to put the boy puppy on the floor but couldn’t seem to bring himself to do it. “You sure you want the girl? I think this guy here’s where it’s at.”
“I’m sure he’s going to be a great dog when he grows up.”
“He’s a great dog now,” Sam said with a glare in her direction. The “great dog” was gnawing on Sam’s knuckle like it was rawhide.
“Well, you’ll have lots of time to convince me of how great he is,” she said, muffling her words against the puppy’s soft fur.
Sam froze. “What was that?”
“Um.”
“Riley. What the hell did you do?”
“Oh come on, Sam. You can’t leave him. Look at that face. Also … because I kind of already paid for him,” she said, words coming out in a rush.
“Well unpay for him.”
Riley was already moving toward the door. “You’ll thank me later. Women love guys with dogs.”
“Riley!”
He caught up with her on the sidewalk. The good news? He was still carrying the boy dog. Bad news?
He looked pissssssed.
“Riley, you can’t just go buying people dogs they don’t want.”
She pointed at the puppy. “But you do want it.”
He rubbed his eyes with his free hand. “This is over the top, Riley.”
It was. It really was. But …
She lifted her chin and pointed a finger at him. “Thanksgiving, two years ago. Megan and Brian were contemplating adopting a dog. And you said you’d always wanted a dog but didn’t have room in your current place.”