Chapter 4

Chapter

Four

Victor

Mary had warned me. She knew this would happen, and she’d had a nice laugh at my expense when I’d told her what I’d done. Glancing in the rearview mirror, I shook my head at the fifty-pound golden retriever strapped in between my kids.

“I think we should name her Milk Bone,” Jeremy said.

“That’s silly. We should definitely call her Princess,” Marissa responded.

“Why is your name better than mine?” he asked in a whiny voice.

“You can’t just change her name. Uncle Rob’s friends already named her Goldie,” I said, redirecting their attention to me.

Jeremy scrunched his nose, but Marissa wasn’t done. “But they gave her to us, so she’s our dog now. We should be able to rename her.”

“Well, you don’t want to confuse her, do you? How would you like it if I randomly renamed you?”

“Oh. Good point.” From the back seat, I heard both kids cooing over their new pet and telling her they liked her name. That was one crisis averted. I was sure there’d be more tonight as they argued over who got to feed her or walk her or who she’d sleep with. I’d already answered all those questions in my head.

Jeremy would scoop the food, Marissa could fill the water bowl since there was less possibility of spillage, I’d hold her leash since she was a little big for the kids to control, and she’d be sleeping in my room on her dog bed for now. They were going to hate the last one.

As we pulled into our driveway, I said, “Don’t let her out until I come around and put her leash on her, please.” I wasn’t sure if they were listening, so the minute I parked and turned off my truck, I jumped out. It was too late.

Marissa had already thrown her door open wide as she yelled at Jeremy not to unhook the dog, who was already bounding out over her lap and onto the driveway. “Crap. Come here, Goldie,” I said in my sternest voice.

She was a girl on a mission, though, running to the grass and squatting. “Marissa, grab her leash for me, honey.”

As she went to get it, I approached Goldie slowly. The minute she was done peeing, she gave a yip and ran at full speed toward—oh crap, my neighbor. He was halfway up his driveway with the trashcan that had been at the curb. At her playful bark, he whirled in our direction, and Goldie jumped up on his front, planting her paws on his chest and barking excitedly.

“Goldie, no,” I said, running toward them.

Looking utterly terrified, Adrian put his arms up in the air like he was being robbed, which didn’t deter our new dog at all. She was yipping and yapping and looked like she wanted him to pick her up and carry her like a baby. Yeah, she was way too big for that.

“I’m so sorry,” I said as I reached them and grabbed her collar, dragging her away from him. “We just got her. They told us she was a love bug, but I didn’t expect her to charge you like that.”

A breathless Marissa skidded to a stop at my side, holding out the leash. “Here, Dad.”

“Thanks,” I said as I clicked it to the collar. Goldie was still pulling, trying to get to a frowning Adrian.

“You bought a dog?” he asked, sounding repulsed.

“Isn’t Goldie great, Mr. Adrian?” Jeremy asked as he appeared at my side.

Adrian scowled. “She’ll be great as long as you keep her in your yard.”

Goldie was still pulling in his direction. Rob had told me she was fully trained, and his friends had assured me that she was a very good girl. They’d only rehomed her because they were moving out of state and couldn’t take her with them. Based on how she was acting, I wasn’t so sure what I’d gotten myself into. “Goldie, sit,” I said.

She jerked one last time toward Adrian before reluctantly sitting, glancing at me once, then turning back toward him with a pitiful whine. What the heck? “I really am sorry,” I said. “I hadn’t planned to let her out of the car until she was on her leash.”

“You’re going to keep her inside, right? Like, she won’t be outback barking all the time, will she?” he asked, ignoring my apologies.

Marissa gasped. She dropped to her knees and hugged Goldie’s neck. “We’d never leave her outside by herself. She’s our best girl,” she said.

His gaze moved from her to me. “Didn’t you say you just got her?”

I stared into his dark brown eyes, wondering what had made someone so young so moody? Listen, I wouldn’t want an animal I didn’t know jumping up on me either, but it was more than that. It was his reaction to our delivering his box and borrowing sugar. It was the fact that I’ve been here ten days and this was the first time I’d seen him out of his house. I wasn’t sure his car had been driven once since we’d moved in.

“Hello?” he asked impatiently.

“Yeah, sorry. We picked her up tonight as soon as I got off work. We’ll be more careful in the future, I promise.”

He blinked, then glanced at the kids once more before grabbing the handle of his trashcan and pulling it toward the side of his house.

“Okay then,” I mumbled to myself. With a sigh, I gave Goldie’s leash a little tug, and she hopped right up and came to my left side. Okay, so she did know the commands they’d taught me. It would’ve been nice if she’d been this obedient instead of terrorizing my new, grumpy neighbor. “Let’s head in.”

The kids ran back to the truck for their backpacks and then played on the living room floor with Goldie while I brought in the stuff her previous owners had given me, plus what I’d picked up at the pet store on my lunch break. As I hauled everything in, I felt like I needed to have my head examined. I was holding off on doing the kids’ rooms until after we were settled in and the holidays had passed, and now I’d brought home a dog. What was I thinking?

Jeremy jumped up and ran over, wrapping his arms around my waist. “Thank you, Dad. This is the best day ever.”

I dropped down to one knee and hugged him back. This was why I’d taken Goldie. For my kids. “You’re welcome, champ.”

From her spot on the floor, Marissa said, “I don’t think Adrian is like mean Mr. Thompson. We’re going to have to be nice to him.”

“Why do you say that, hon?” I asked, curious why she’d feel that way when he’d really been nothing short of rude.

“He’s kinda grumpy,” she said. “But Goldie loves him, and animals are a good judge of character. My teacher said so.”

“Hm. That’s true.” I understood her reasoning, but I wasn’t so sure Adrian wanted anything else to do with us. I had to admit, I was curious about him, though. There was definitely a story there. He was too young to be home alone all the time. Too young to be so out-of-sorts. Too young for me. Not that I’d assume his sexuality, but that blush when I’d taken over his toilet paper and the way he couldn’t really look at me… No, I needed to stop. If anything, I needed to make sure we stayed out of his way.