study. Don’t open the door.”
“It locks from the inside,” I say. “But… do you have to hide? We’ll have to tell him eventually.”
Nick pauses with one hand to the door of my study. His eyes tell me everything I need to know about his emotions on this score. “Never would be too soon,” he says darkly, shutting the door behind him. A second later, I hear the sound of a lock turning.
Right.
Splendid.
The doorbell rings. “Hurry up!” Cole calls.
“I’m coming, I’m coming…” I open the front door. “What was the hurry? Is that—oh! Cole!”
He laughs at my expression and gives the floppy-haired puppy in his arms a little bounce. The dog looks from him to me, black eyes roaming. “He couldn’t wait.”
“Oh, he’s adorable. Come in, come in.”
Cole sets the small Golden Retriever puppy down on the center of my carpet, and he instantly starts sniffing around, tail wagging.
“You bought a puppy?” I can’t keep the happiness out of my voice. Sitting down cross-legged on the carpet, I put my hands out for the dog to sniff. He instantly pounces, giving small, puppyish nips.
“It’s a surprise for Skye. I just went to pick him up and I thought I’d stop here first. I figured you’d like that.”
“You figured right. Oh, stop it, you.” The last is to the puppy, who is now on his back and clawing at my hand. I pull it away only to return to his tummy, stroking the soft fur.
“He’s beautiful.”
“Eight weeks old,” Cole says. “He was the runt of the litter. I think Skye will like him.”
“I think she’ll love him. But… have you spoken about this with her? Are you sure she’ll be happy?” There’s no bite behind my words. It’s impossible to keep up any form of resolve in the face of a puppy, especially one so cute as this one. He’s given up his attack on my hand and is now crawling into my lap instead, sniffing at my robe, my hair.
“She’ll be convinced as soon as she sees him,” Cole says. “She mentioned wanting company while she writes from home. The house is big, as is the property. Besides, we have staff that can help look after him if she’s busy.”
I smile into the soft fur. That’s so like Cole—big gestures and zero thought behind it. It’s a trait we share. “She’ll love it.”
Cole’s answering grin is tinged with just a bit of relief. Perhaps I was the first test, then. “Why a Golden?” I ask.
“She saw one on the street once and said it was cute.”
“That was your sole data point?”
“Yes. It’s a good family dog, too.”
We watch the puppy as he leaves us to explore. He laps around the living room table twice, sniffing at every nook and cranny.
“He’s making me want to get a dog, too.”
Cole chuckles. “Right, with your lifestyle?”
“You think I couldn’t?”
“I think you’d have to get up earlier than ten in the morning if you do,” he says, eyeing my robe.
“You could at least try to keep the judgement out of your tone,” I tell him, but my voice isn’t the least bit offended. This is my role in the family. Cole is the successful, responsible one. I’m the social butterfly. He swam for the school team in high school. I was on the prom planning committee.
“I’ll try,” he says. “Did you have fun yesterday?”
“Yes. The opera was beautiful, although I’m not sure how I felt about all the modern changes.”
“Me neither,” Cole says. “At least they took a risk with it.”
“Classics are classics for a reason.” I pat my hands on the carpet and the puppy looks up immediately. He stares at my hands with an obvious thought in mind. A challenger?
He pounces and we roughhouse a bit, Cole joining in. “He reminds me of Pratt.”
I laugh. There’s absolutely nothing about this little puppy that is reminiscent of the pug our mother had when we were teenagers. “No, he doesn’t.”
“They’re both dogs,” Cole points out. “But yeah, that’s perhaps the only similarity.”
“What did Skye say when you left this morning? She wasn’t suspicious?”
“She thinks I’m swimming.” His hand stills over the puppy’s stomach, fingers scratching. “Blair, how has working with Nick been? Really?”
I smooth my fingers over the dog’s soft ear. How soundproof is the door to my office?
“I’ve enjoyed it,” I say. “We don’t see each other a lot at work, actually. We sort of have a separation of church and state going on.”
Cole nods, and when he speaks, his words are measured. “I