The Doctor Who Has No Chance - Victoria Quinn Page 0,90

“Puppy?”

The Australian Shepherd lifted its chin and looked at him.

“Puppy?” Ryan repeated. He slid his hand inside one of the little holes.

The dog got up and walked over, in a defensive stance, clearly terrified, but not terrified enough not to investigate.

“Little Dude, get your hand back outside.” Dex gently pulled it through.

The dog came over and started sniffing.

Ryan giggled. “My puppy.”

One of the employees walked over. “I haven’t seen Riley interact with anyone before. She just stays in her corner.”

Riley continued to sniff Ryan, getting his face close.

“You guys want me to open the door?” the employee asked.

I let Dex decide.

He stared at his son for a while before he gave a nod. “Yeah, they should meet.”

When the door was unlocked and open, Riley ran back to her corner again.

Dex carried Ryan inside and kneeled so Ryan could stand in front of her, but Dex’s arms were there to snatch him up if things took a wrong turn. “Talk to him, Little Dude.”

“Puppy,” Ryan said. “Puppy…”

Riley watched him for a bit before she slowly came over again, eyeing Dex like she was afraid of him but not afraid of Ryan. She came closer and closer, smelled him all over again, and then Ryan fisted her fur.

Riley didn’t run around.

“Puppy!” Ryan circled his arms around her neck and hugged her.

Riley was totally fine with it and even started to wag her tail.

Ryan giggled as he dragged his hand over her fur then lay on her.

Dex watched and gave a deep sigh. “Well, looks like we found our dog. She’s gonna need some work, but I trust Ryan’s judgment, so…we’ll take her.”

We took Riley with us to drop off Ryan. On her leash, she walked with us, always a little tentative but warming up. We knocked, Catherine came, and she stilled when she saw Riley. “Oh…you got a dog?”

I held the leash while Dex held Ryan. “We thought it would be good for Ryan to have a friend.”

“Oh…” Catherine took Ryan from Dex and smothered him in kisses. “I missed you, baby.”

“Mama.” He hugged her back.

Riley tried to walk into the apartment and tugged on her leash to get inside.

“Whoa, honey.” I gave her a gentle pull back. “It’s okay.”

Catherine said goodbye and then took Ryan into the apartment.

When the door shut, Riley started to whine and paw at the door, devastated he was gone.

“Hey, girl.” Dex kneeled beside her and started to pet her. “I miss him too, but he’ll be back.”

She moved away from his touch but kept her snout against the door.

“Poor thing.” I kneeled and petted her. “She’s obviously afraid of men.”

“Yeah, I think so too,” he said with a sigh. “Well, she’ll trust me eventually. Let her take her time.”

I got to my feet again and gave a gentle click of my tongue. “Come on, Riley. Let’s go.”

Twenty-Eight

Dex

Unless Sicily was with me in the apartment, Riley stayed away.

She didn’t sleep with me and chose to sit in corners of random rooms.

I kept her bowl filled with food and water and just let her be. Potty training her was hard because she was already scared, but I understood. She at least went to the bathroom on the hardwood instead of a rug or carpet, so that was easy to clean up. I didn’t punish her for defecating in the house because she was already skittish enough as it was. How could I punish her with negative reinforcement when she was already terrified?

I knew she missed Ryan too.

We all did.

I wished I could keep him all the time, but that wasn’t how life was sometimes.

Just had to deal with it.

I went out for drinks with Derek, the two of us getting a couple beers and a plate of sliders to split. I invited Daisy, but she was running late at the office.

“You got a dog?” Derek asked incredulously. “You?”

“What do you mean, you? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Like a baby isn’t enough work for you? You had to step it up?”

“I’m a man who likes a challenge. You know that. And I did it mostly for Ryan. Thought it would be good for him to have a companion, you know? Teach him how to treat animals, how to be good to others when there’s nothing holding you accountable. We never had pets growing up, and that’s my one criticism.”

“Shit…” He rubbed his jawline with his fingertips. “Now the boys are going to want one.”

“They can borrow Riley—”

“No. Two babies is enough, man. If Emerson and I didn’t work together,