Tail of Two Hearts. Charlotte Carter

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СКАЧАТЬ blinked. Her cheeks flushed. Had he said fall in love? With who? And why had she zeroed in on that thought?

      “Some of those dogs are pretty lovable,” he continued, unaware of her reaction. “You might want to adopt one or two yourself.”

      She chided herself for misunderstanding what he meant. “Uh, no, I’ll have to stick with Roger and my cat, Essie, for now.”

      “That’s all right.” His eyes glinted with humor. “Chances are good I’ll have another opportunity to tempt you with a puppy or two. I don’t give up easily.”

      She nodded, thinking that was an admirable trait. “I’m sure that’s true. I’ll just have to do my very best to resist your persuasive ways.”

      His brown-eyed gaze softened as he studied her face. “I can only hope you won’t try too hard to resist.”

      She swallowed hard. Chase Rollins was a man who knew how to flirt, and she was reacting just the way he had intended: with a nervous flutter in her stomach.

      She stepped toward the door. “I’ll tell Allison about the shelter, and that you’ll help us out.”

      “Right. I’ll be happy to.”

      Vivian pulled the door open and escaped outside just as the flame of embarrassment heated her cheeks.

      Her recent forays into the dating world had been less than successful. Indeed, they’d been a flop. As soon as she had announced to the men in question that she’d never be able to give them a baby, the guys had dumped her.

      She had always dreamed of having a big family. Apparently God had decided two years ago, when she had had her hysterectomy, that she wouldn’t be able to give birth to her own children. But that wouldn’t prevent her from having the family she wanted. She’d recently taken charge of her dream by putting in her application at several agencies to adopt a baby.

      Since the guys she’d dated had been clear about wanting to have children who carried their own genes, she’d decided being a single mother was the way she would go. Even though she knew some people would not approve of her choice, she was determined to set her dream in motion.

      She had faith that God understood how she had longed for children and would provide when the time came.

      * * *

      Chase watched Vivian until she moved out of view toward the bookstore.

      “Pretty lady. Pretty lady,” Pepper chanted.

      “Yes, Pepper, she is pretty. Nice, too.” In the few months since Chase had arrived in Bygones and had opened the pet store, he’d enjoyed her visits to the shop. He liked seeing her walk in the door with her auburn hair swinging at her shoulders. An eager smile on her face and a smattering of cute freckles across her nose. A bounce in her step.

      She liked animals, too. Vivian gave Boyo a pat or Fluff a chuck under the chin as she strolled through the shop.

      And she was smart. Until the town of Bygones had come on hard times, she’d been a librarian. Which meant she sure had a lot more education than he did. He hadn’t dropped out of high school, but working a night shift at a warehouse in Wichita during his senior year had made his grades tank. He’d been grateful to graduate.

      He’d worked at the warehouse for nearly thirteen years until he had moved to Bygones for the chance to open a business of his own.

      Strolling to the back of the store, he joined the boys around the puppy pen. “Puppies need a lot of sleep, kids. Why don’t you let these guys rest now? You can come back tomorrow.” And bring your moms and dads along so you can talk them into adopting one of these lovable guys, he added silently. “Tell your folks we’ve got some cute puppies down here.”

      “I already have, Mr. Rollins,” one little boy with a missing front tooth piped up. “My mom said she didn’t want to clean up after a puppy.”

      Chase bent down to the boy’s level and looked him in the eye. “You can tell your mom that the animal shelter has dogs who need a home and are already housebroken.”

      “Really?” The boy’s eyes brightened.

      “Absolutely.”

      “Come on, Becker.” He tugged on a younger boy’s jacket. “We gotta get home ’n tell Mom.”

      The twosome plus the rest of the puppy lovers raced for the door.

      Chase smiled to himself. Maybe there’d be one fewer dog looking for a home at Happy Havens Animal Shelter by the weekend.

      He’d like that. A lot.

      And the chance to see Viv again.

      * * *

      When Vivian returned to the bookstore, Allison was helping Oliver Fibley, a regular customer, search on the computer for a new book about stamp collecting. Knowing he was such a devoted philatelist, Vivian imagined he already owned every book ever printed on the subject.

      “Hello, Mr. Fibley.” Her cheerful greeting caused him to lift his gaze from the computer screen.

      In his usual sweet way, he nodded and gave her a small smile.

      Vivian was anxious to tell Allison about Chase’s idea to use shelter dogs for their event, but she could wait until Mr. Fibley left. For now she’d keep herself busy by reshelving the books in the Kids’ Korner section, where children’s books were located. Just as it had been when she had worked in the library, she found young readers often didn’t return books to their proper place.

      She adjusted her casual calf-length skirt so she wouldn’t step on the hem and squatted down to reorder the books.

      A few minutes later, after seeing Mr. Fibley out, Allison joined Vivian in the children’s section. She sat down on one of the child-size chairs. Her pink T-shirt was stenciled with the slogan “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. Aesop.”

      “So what did Chase think of our idea for Doggie Daze?” she asked.

      Crouched down in front of the lowest bookshelf, Vivian smiled at the name her boss had given their event. “He thought it was a great idea. He suggested we borrow a couple of dogs from the shelter.”

      “I hadn’t thought about that.” Surprise raised Allison’s nicely arched brows. “I was just thinking that he always has puppies in his shop. The kids go crazy for them.”

      “True. But Chase thinks the event will go better with older dogs who have some training.”

      “Good point. Then that’s what we’ll do.”

      “Sounds good to me.” Vivian shifted aside the books on the lowest shelf and slipped one into place.

      “Viv? You’re smiling.”

      “I smile most of the time, don’t I?”

      Allison eyed her curiously. “Of course you do. But it’s a different kind of smile. Did something happen at the pet shop?”

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