A New Leash On Love. Melissa Senate

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      Uh-oh, Claire thought. She’d have her work cut out for her there. Did any of the puppies fit the bill? Certainly not the springer spaniel, who’d peed right on Claire’s foot this morning while she’d been fluffing her blanket. Though she was expected to be medium-sized. And the three other contenders were housetrained, but two would be huge, and a consistent “sit” was still beyond all of them, in spite of lots of training with high-value treats.

      “Your date is waiting for you,” Matt practically growled, gesturing toward the door.

      Her sister was still furiously head-gesturing for Claire to get the hell away from Matt Fielding and join the present and possible future—not be stuck in the past.

      Awk-ward, she thought again as she smiled at everyone and dashed toward her group.

      But as her date held the door open for her, she dared a glance back at Matt.

      And he was looking right at her, his expression more readable now. He was angry-jealous!

      He’d dumped her, remember? To live his own life on his terms.

      “So, that nightcap?” her date asked, helping her into her coat.

      Do not look over at Matt, she ordered herself, aware that he had to be watching right then.

      “To be honest, I just saw a ghost,” she said, surprising herself with her candor. “I think I’d like to just call it a night.”

      Her sister rolled her eyes and shook her head so imperceptibly that likely only Claire caught it.

      Her date looked confused.

      “An ex,” her brother-in-law explained to Andrew.

      “Ah. I get it,” Andrew said. “Happened to me just last night while on another blind date, and crazy as it was, I ended up with the ex for the rest of the night.” A salacious expression lit his face. “One-time thing,” he rushed to say, seeming to realize he’d said too much.

      At least Claire wouldn’t have to feel too bad about ditching him.

      As they headed to her sister’s SUV, she could still see Matt’s face so clearly in her mind. How could she not be over him? How? Eighteen years later?

      He was coming to the shelter tomorrow. She’d see him again. He had a purpose and so did she, and then he’d leave and that would be that.

      Yeah, right.

       Corporal McCabbers was telling Matt about his girlfriend back home; Penny was her name, with long red hair and green eyes. He and McCabbers sat in the back of the vehicle, headed for a broken-down US Army truck that they had to get running pronto.

      Ten more days and I’m home, McCabbers was saying, and Matt envied his buddy’s ability to lose himself in his memories and hopes for the future—because his woman was still his woman. Matt had a string of hookups and failed off-base, short-term relationships. There’d been women over the years, but Claire Asher’s face was always the one he saw in his dreams, his fantasies.

       And home? There’d been no home for almost two decades. Home was wherever Matt was.

       “There’s the truck,” he heard the driver call.

       He and McCabbers waited for their vehicle to stop, for the all-clear from the driver to duck out toward the truck under cover of night.

       No sooner had their boots hit the dry, dusty ground than a burst of flame erupted before Matt’s eyes, the explosion throwing him back hard.

       The pain in his left leg was unlike anything he’d felt before. “Fielding!” he heard McCabbers shouting. “Fielding!” And then he’d felt nothing at all.

      Matt bolted up, a trickle of sweat running down his chest, his breath ragged and coming hard. He glanced around, and then closed his eyes.

      He was home. His sister’s house.

      Letting out a breath, he dropped back down on the soft sheets and pulled the comforter up to his chest.

      He didn’t have the nightmares as often as he used to. In rehab, where he’d woken up after being unconscious for two days, he’d had the dreams every time he’d fallen asleep. But as his wounds healed and his leg strengthened, the nightmares had lessened. The memories remained though.

      He could still picture dragging himself over to McCabbers and tying his shirt around the wound in his buddy’s leg, which had looked a hell of a lot worse than Matt’s own. The driver of their vehicle had been able to get back to them, dragging him and McCabbers into the truck and booking it out of there, saving their lives. McCabbers had gone on to marry his girlfriend six months later in Las Vegas, on one crutch but otherwise alive and well.

      Matt had a hell of a lot to be grateful for. And Claire Asher deserved to be happy. Wasn’t that why he’d broken up with her all those years ago? So she could have a better life than the one he’d be able to share with her?

      Still, he couldn’t stop speculating about how Claire’s evening had progressed. If it had progressed. If she’d invited Slick home. If he was still there.

      None of your business, he reminded himself. Help your niece find the perfect puppy, then pack up and find a place where you belong.

       Chapter Three

      “That very good-looking man and a little girl are out front,” Bunny whispered with a smile as Claire came in the back door of Furever Paws on Monday afternoon. Claire returned Sunshine to her kennel and secured the door, noting the time of the walk on the big whiteboard on the wall. The year-old rottie mix had been at the kennel for two days, and was slowly warming up to walking on a leash. “Says he’s here to see Claire Asher about adopting a puppy.” Bunny smiled slyly.

      Claire shook her head at Bunny’s expression. “Well, he is.”

      “I can’t wait to hear about your date,” Bunny said, her blue eyes twinkling. “Find me later and tell me everything.”

      Do I want to be reminded of any of it? No. “There’s nothing really to tell. No chemistry, even if he was great on paper.”

      Bunny nodded. “I get it. A blind date, no matter if he’s Pierce Brosnan, can’t compete with a first love on the brain.”

      Especially when that first love is in the same restaurant.

      Claire glanced at the clock. It was exactly three thirty. She’d practically raced here after finishing up at school, grateful that her last period of the day was monitoring a study hall. She’d wanted to get to the shelter with some time to spare before Matt arrived so that she wouldn’t be flustered. So, she’d taken Sunshine out, grounded herself on her turf and was ready by the time she got back inside.

      Claire left the dog kennels and headed to the main lobby. She almost sucked in her breath at the sight of Matt, looking as good as Bunny had noted. СКАЧАТЬ