a car out on the road and thought Kayla was finally back, but then a car door slammed and the sound of the engine faded.
“Probably someone who’s been out partying too much and lost their supper,” she muttered. In a few minutes she heard faint crying sounds coming from the backyard and went to investigate. The whimpering got louder with each step she took, and all she hoped was that, surely to goodness, no one had left a baby on their back doorstep.
When she rounded the corner, she saw Noah sitting on the porch step with a puppy in his arms. He caught her gaze and pointed at the dog. “Look what found us this evening. I imagine someone dumped it out on the road, and the little thing went to the first light it saw. Think we should take her to the pound up in Sulphur Springs or keep her?”
Teresa sat down beside him, and the puppy licked her hand. “I don’t think we have a choice. She found us. We didn’t find her. She wants to live here. Man, she’s got some big feet.”
“If we keep her, she will have to be an outside dog,” Noah said, “because she’ll grow up to be half the size of a Shetland pony. She looks like a cross between a yellow Lab and one of those big old white sheepdogs to me, with maybe a little plain old mutt thrown in for good measure.”
“Why would anyone throw something like her away?” Teresa asked, then wondered the same thing about herself and Kayla.
“Who knows.” Noah shrugged. “But their loss will be our gain. I’ve always wanted a pet, but I want one we can keep inside. Will talked about a dog. Think he’ll adopt her?” He hugged the puppy and let it lick him in the face. “I’ll go into town tomorrow and get her some good dog food and some bowls, but she’ll have to make do with leftovers tonight. She looks pretty well fed, and she’s got teeth, but I imagine she was nursing her mama this morning. We might keep her here until Will can get moved in, if he’ll take her.”
Teresa had often thought of getting a pet, too, but she hadn’t wanted to leave even a cat alone, as many hours as she worked. This puppy would be one more thing she’d have to leave behind if things didn’t pan out for her and Noah. She decided right then that she wouldn’t get attached to the animal. Then it looked up at her with big, sorrowful brown eyes, and she lost a piece of her heart.
“Can I hold her?” she asked.
Noah passed her right over, and the puppy licked her face until she giggled and put it down on the grass. Then it chased fireflies and stalked crickets for the next hour while Noah and Teresa laughed at its antics.
She couldn’t help but envision their children playing on a summer evening—little dark-haired children with Noah’s blue eyes and maybe her high cheekbones. She had never wanted children with Luis, but now the thought of having babies with Noah put a smile on her face.
Whoa! Slow this wagon down! The pesky voice in her head shouted so loudly that it hurt her ears. She shook her head to get the visual out and laughed when the dog came running over to plop down in front of her and then promptly fell asleep. Noah scooted over next to her and draped an arm around her shoulders. When she looked up at him, he lowered his lips to hers in a fiery kiss that raised the temperature of the already-hot night by at least ten degrees. When that one ended, he deepened the next one and picked her up to settle her on his lap.
They were so lost in one another that if the dog hadn’t jumped up and barked, neither of them would have heard someone walking across the kitchen floor.
Teresa jumped out of Noah’s lap and was standing three feet from him out in the yard when Kayla came through the back door.
“You said you’d wait up and you did, but Noah didn’t have to stay up, too,” she said.
“I couldn’t sleep,” Noah said. “Look what showed up. We’ve got a puppy.”
“It’s cute.” Kayla yawned. “I’ll get excited about the new baby tomorrow. Right now I’m going to bed while I’m still in a state of eutopia . . . No, that’s not right . . . It’s