Page 54 of Puppy Love

“Then I guess that’s where she sits,” she said cheerfully. “If it makes you nervous, though, they do make doggy seat-belt harnesses that work just like ones for humans. I bet if you put one of those in, she’d wear it with pride.”

Harrison’s only response was a grunt, but Sophie didn’t let it bother her. Why would she? Grunting was one of his primary methods of communication. He could lose the capability of speech altogether, and she’d still be thrilled to sit next to him as his truck rumbled in the opposite direction of home.

Thiswas what freedom felt like. Sweet, rebellious freedom—the kind that most people enjoyed in their teens, sure, but she wasn’t in a position to cavil the opportunity. She might be a decade too old for this kind of behavior, but that didn’t mean she regretted it. In fact, she was enjoying herself. Derek had driven off in his own car while she made arrangements with her family, leaving her to Harrison’s sole care. She’d left behind a worried mother, an oddly supportive Lila, and a winking Dawn—all of whom she loved to pieces and didn’t want to look at for another minute.

“No offense, Mom,” she’d said, “but I’m sick to death of you acting like I need to be taken care of all the time. Lila could decide to move to an off-grid remote island, and all you’d do is remind her to take sunscreen. Dawn once dated that cult leader, and you invited him to Christmas the next year. But not me. I sneeze one time, and all of a sudden it’s like someone ordered my headstone.”

“For the last time, he wasnota cult leader—” Dawn protested, but Sophie had cut her off.

“I’m a fully functioning adult human being whose bill of health has been clear for years,” she’d stated, simply and with a stern look that would have made Harrison quake. “Unless you’d like to hold me hostage in the basement, you have no choice but to bid me a cheerful farewell.”

And it had worked.

Well, mostly. Her mom hadn’t beencheerfulabout her goodbye, but that went without saying.

“We’re going to have so much fun this weekend, aren’t we, Bubbles?” she asked the puppy now, her enthusiasm overflowing to the animal seated next to her. “All those tents and fishing poles and marshmallows…”

Harrison grunted again. “Can you name one other thing associated with camping?”

“Um.” She scanned her vast childhood reading list for any and all mentions of the great outdoors. Most of what she’d read involved children hiding in train boxcars and rafts barreling down the Mississippi, so there wasn’t much to go on. “Cans of beans?”

This time, his grunt was closer to a laugh. “You weren’t kidding when you said you don’t get out much, were you?”

“Alas, no.” She heaved a mock sigh. “My life has been much smaller than you realize. Although, to be fair, I did go to Disneyland once with my parents and sisters.”

She didn’t add that it had been part of the Make-A-Wish program, and that the trip had been overshadowed by the deep but unspoken fear that it might be Sophie’s only chance to see the Magic Kingdom. There was something altogether depressing about riding through the Haunted Mansion when you had more in common with the ghosts than the passengers.

“You’ve got one over me, then,” Harrison said. “I’ve never been to a theme park of any kind. My dad wasn’t big on family vacations.”

“But you camped?” she asked, a determined note of optimism in her voice. “Together, I mean? You had no pets and you had no trips to Disney, but you did that much, right?”

He cast her a sideways glance. “Yes, we camped. It’s one of the only things I can remember doing with my dad. One of the onlygoodthings at least.”

That was one of the saddest things Sophie had ever heard, but she knew Harrison well enough to realize that showing him pity would only shut him down. “Well, now you have a pet—kind of—so that’s something. I know you think I’m being silly, insisting on this trip when Bubbles is still so new, but if you spend half your life outside, she needs to get used to it. The tents, the people, the atmosphere—all of it. And the timing is perfect. We can introduce the pouch.”

The truck lurched as Harrison touched the brakes. “What did you just say?”

“We can introduce the pouch.” She reached into the bag at her feet. Fortunately, Derek had said there were more than enough camping supplies to go around, so she hadn’t had to pack much more than her clothes, toiletries, and her newest stage of the Harrison-Bubbles training routine. “I know you’ve been worried about how you’re going to carry her around on the job, but I wasn’t kidding when I said her size is more of an asset than a drawback. I have a plan.”

“You have a plan?” he echoed.

“Of course. And it should be easy once you get used to wearing it. I found it online. I think you’re going to like it. It’s not bad, as far as pouches go.”

The truck lurched even more, this time grinding to a halt on the side of the highway. Sophie barely had time to lift a hand and brace herself on the glove box, but Harrison was on top of things, his arm shooting out to prevent Bubbles from cascading to the floor.

He didn’t even realize he was doing it either. Like a mom protecting her kids from an oncoming accident, he was all instinct. And his instinct was to keep that sweet little dog safe at all costs.

Sophie’s heart swelled in her chest. It was impossible to feel anything but admiration for someone so un-self-consciously, heroicallygood.Protecting Bubbles came as naturally to him as breathing. She felt, down to the tingle in her toes, that those protective urges extended to all the living creatures lucky enough to cross his path.

Of course, getting him to admit that…

“Say that word one more time,” he said.

“What?” she asked. “Pouch?”

She wasn’t able to stifle her giggle in time. Yes, Harrison’s thunderous look was dark, but he’d scooped up Bubbles and was holding her against his chest. It was impossible to be scared of a man clutching a Pomeranian puppy like a shield.

Poor Harrison. Bubbles was a great dog, but she wasn’t a miracle worker. Even she couldn’t save him from himself.