Man's Best Friend (The Dogmothers #5) - Roxanne St. Claire Page 0,30

wash over her. Friends. He was offering an olive branch, and she should take it. Maybe not the offer of her dreams, but with twenty years and a million miles between them, it was better than nothing.

“I’d like that, too,” she said.

“Friends?” He reached out his hand, holding it palm up.

She hesitated a second or two, then put her hand in his. “Friends.”

They clasped each other’s hand, and he came down the last stair, and she took a step closer, and without another word, he guided her against his chest, folding his arms around her.

As soon as she felt his heart beating against hers, she knew that, deep down, she wanted more, but probably wasn’t ever going to get it.

Chapter Seven

On his way to pick up Judah and Evie for their appointment at the college, Declan made a stop in town at Bone Appetit, the dog treat and accessory store his sister owned and ran with their mother. Judah would probably love something from Ella’s array of organic dog treats, and Declan could use…someone to talk to.

His brothers were his usual go-to for advice, but Connor and Braden weren’t exactly neutral on the subject of relationships anymore. They were both up to their eyeballs in love, and that colored everything from their perspectives. He needed to talk to someone who’d agree that the idea Max Hewitt had planted was dumber than dirt.

Not that Ella was an actual foundation of stability, but she was the only one of his siblings and cousins not yet married or involved. She was thirty-two now, ran a successful business, and her wanderlust appeared to have toned down over the years. He couldn’t remember the last time his kid sister had the sudden urge to backpack through Patagonia or go mushing in Alaska. Plus, he loved the hell out of her sassy self.

After the sleepless night he’d had, he could use the company. And coffee, and Ella always had that fancy by-the-cup stuff at the store.

When he pushed open the glass door to Bone Appetit, he heard the bell, a dog bark, and then the musical sound of his sister’s laughter as she finished up with a customer.

“Declan!” Her whole face brightened when she saw him. She came around the glass case that displayed her latest pet toys and trinkets to give him a hug. “Hello, my favorite brother!”

He nodded to the customer and a shaggy sheepdog who stepped out before he stepped in. “You say that to all the Mahoneys, Smella.”

She rolled her eyes, having lived with enormous grace under the unfortunate nickname that one of her three brothers—they all tried to take credit—had hung on their baby sister when she was still in diapers.

“But this time it’s true.” He accepted her embrace with one of his own, unable to resist giving her short, spiky hair a rub, tousling it even more.

“You are in so much family trouble,” she announced. “Why did you run off with Evie yesterday and deny us all a chance to see her?”

“We didn’t run off. We took the dog back to her house, and by the time we finished getting him settled, I…” Needed to be alone. “I had dinner at home.”

“Boring.” She wrinkled her nose, which somehow only made her pixielike features even prettier. “Grannies were crushed, you know.”

“Don’t even get me started on those two.”

She giggled and gave him a playful jab in the shoulder. “You’re next, so accept your fate. Thank you so much for taking the heat off me.”

“Next for what? That’s the question.”

“Love!” She swooped around him, returning to her perch behind the counter. On the stool, she rested her chin on her knuckles and blinked her enormous brown eyes as if that could distract him from the four-letter word she’d just exclaimed. “They are positively high on their success with John and Summer.”

He threw his hands in the air. “Would you stop? You act like they created some kind of arranged marriage. No force of nature could have stopped that relationship, and if anyone deserves credit, it’s Summer’s little girl when she claimed John’s puppy as her own. Can I have some coffee?”

She pointed to the station at the front of the store that had cups for customers and free kibble for their dogs. “Say what you will about the Dogmothers.”

“Starting with how inane that name is.”

“They sent Sadie off to run against Connor for mayor—”

“They sent her to manage his campaign, but then she ran against him.” He poured a full cup of