Carolina Moon

a full step back. “I don’t want a dog.”
    “Sure you do.” He plucked the puppy from the bed, then pushed her into Faith’s arms. “Look, she likes you.”
    “Puppies like everybody,” Faith protested, as she twisted her head to try to avoid the pup’s cheerful tongue.
    “Exactly.” With the dimples flickering in his cheeks, Wade slipped his arms around Faith’s waist, sandwiching the puppy between them. “And everybody likes puppies. She’ll depend on you, entertain you, keep you company, and love you no matter what.”
    “She’ll pee on the rug. She’ll chew my shoes.”
    “Some. She’ll need discipline and training and patience. She’ll need you.”
    They’d known each other most of their lives. Just because they’d spent most of their time together between the sheets didn’t mean she didn’t have clues as to how his mind worked.
    “Is this a dog or a life lesson you’re giving me?”
    “Both.” He leaned over to kiss Faith’s cheek. “Give it a try. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll take her back.”
    The puppy was warm and trying desperately to snuggle in the curve of Faith’s neck and shoulder. What was going on? It seemed everyone was hammering at her all at once. First Boots, then Cade, and now Wade.
    “You’ve got my head spinning. I can’t keep up with you today, and that’s the only reason I’m agreeing to this.”
    “To us, or to the puppy?”
    “A little bit of both.”
    “That’s a good enough start for me. There’s puppy food in the kitchen. Why don’t you go feed her while I get a shower? I’m going to be late for dinner at my folks’. Why don’t you come with me?”
    “Thanks, but I’m not ready for family dinners quite yet.” She remembered, all too well, the cool, clear gleam in his mother’s eyes. “Go on and shower. You stink worse than a litter of puppies.” She frowned as she carried the puppy into the kitchen. She wasn’t sure if she was ready for any of this. Any of it at all.

18
    T ory had barely unlocked the door on Monday morning when it chimed open.
    “Morning. I’m Sherry Bellows. I tied my dog to your bench outside. Hope that’s all right.”
    Tory glanced out, saw a hairy mountain sitting docilely on the sidewalk. “It’s fine. He’s big, isn’t he? And beautiful.”
    “He’s a doll baby. We just got back from a morning run in the park, and I thought I’d stop in. I was here Saturday for a little while. You had quite a crowd.”
    “Yes, it kept me busy. Is there something I can show you, or would you just like to browse?”
    “Actually, I wondered if you were thinking of taking on any help.” Sherry flipped back her ponytail, lifted her arms. “I’m not exactly dressed for job hunting,” she said with a smile, and tugged the damp T-shirt down over her running shorts. “But I just followed impulse. I teach at the high school. Will teach. Summer classes starting middle of June, then full-time in the fall.”
    “It doesn’t sound like you need a job.”
    “I’ve got the next couple of weeks, then Saturdays and half days through September. I’d enjoy working in a place like yours and the extra money a part-time job would bring in. I put myself through college working retail, so I know the ropes. I can give you references, and I don’t have a problem working for minimum wage.”
    “To tell you the truth, Sherry, I haven’t really thought about hiring, at least not until I see how the business goes for the first few weeks.”
    “It can’t be easy to run the place solo.” If there was one thing Sherry had learned while pursuing her teaching degree, it was persistence. “No breaks, no time to do paperwork or check inventory or make your orders. Since you’re open six days a week, that doesn’t give you much opportunity to run errands. Do your banking, your shopping. I imagine you ship, don’t you?”
    “Well, yes—”
    “You’d have to close the shop every time you needed to scoot down to the post office, or wait to ship orders until the next morning before you opened. That adds extra hours to your day. Anybody who can put together a business like this, on her own, knows her time is worth money.”
    Tory took another good look. Sherry was young, pretty, damp from jogging. And very direct. And she had a point. Tory had been in the shop since eight, boxing orders for shipping, doing paperwork, rushing to the bank and the post office.
    Not that she didn’t enjoy it. It gave her a lovely flush of