Page 69 of Ruff and Tumble

Wordlessly, Hailey took another of the carrot sticks held out to her and returned her attention to the screen. She was no stranger to old, outdated games, since her dad had enjoyed replaying football footage from the seventies and eighties almost as much as he liked watching it live. In addition to going by an entirely different rulebook, the players weren’t as big or as fast—a thing that might have given them a disadvantage in modern ball but that made for a much more interesting game.

However, size and speed weren’t an issue here. Julian Bennett—how had she never heard that name before?—was both big and fast, and he handled the ball with an ease that looked ingrained. Hailey could feel herself straining as he prepared a trick play that would either end in an incredible score or disaster for the team.

The disaster won out in more ways than one.

“Good God!” She leapt from her seat and held a hand to her mouth as Julian took a blunt-force tackle from the side. The visuals weren’t so detailed that she could see the bones breaking in his body, but there was no doubt in her mind that something had been shattered.

Somethinghadbeen shattered, she realized—and not just in a physical sense. That looked like the end of a dream.

“I’m so sorry,” she murmured. “That looked awful.”

“It was. I sprained both knees and damaged my back so that it never worked the same again.” Cole’s dad spoke without emotion as he lifted the remote and switched the television off. “A damn shame, really, but what can you do?”

Hailey didn’t have an answer for that, so it was for the best that the skitter of puppy claws on hardwood provided a distraction. Nala darted into the room with a speed that made Hailey feel incredibly smug for having chosen this puppy for her own team. The beagle might be small, but she was fast and she was sneaky. Hailey could respect those qualities.

“You little monster.” She scooped Nala up before the puppy could make a leap for the carrot sticks. “You’re not supposed to misbehave until after I leave. That way, they won’t give you back.”

“Give herback?” Cole’s dad made a grunting sound and extended his arms for the puppy. “Why would we do a thing like that?”

Because puppies were a lot of work. Because their cute little faces lost some of their appeal after the tenth late-night bathroom howl. Because Hailey had no real right to ask anything of these people.

“Oh dear.” Paula came in, wiping her hands on a dishrag. “That’s one fast doggy.”

“I’m sorry.” Hailey winced. “If she’s too much work, I can—”

“Nonsense.” Paula came forward and handed the rag to her husband, who laid it out on his lap like a bed. “We meant it when we said we’d be happy to do anything you need. If you think that animal is quick on its feet, you should have seen Cole at that age.”

“He was fast,” Julian said with a nod at the black screen of the television. “Not as fast as me, obviously, but we knew he had something special.”

Paula gave a cluck of her tongue. “Have you been showing her old footage of your glory days?” She turned her attention to Hailey. “Don’t pay any heed to it. To hear him tell the tale, he was the greatest quarterback to touch a football. Balderdash, I call it, when Cole outstripped your yardage by the time he was eighteen.”

“They measured things differently back then.”

“A yard has always been a yard.”

Julian pointed a finger at his wife in warning, but his expression was one of affection. “Woman, don’t contradict me when I’m trying to show off for a pretty girl.”

Hailey’s blush started to mount. “Oh, you don’t have to—”

“I was good,” Cole’s dad said with a nod. “Probably one of the best. I was devastated when I took that hit, but if there’s one thing all those months of convalescence were good for, it was to lay me flat on my back. There’s no better position for—”

Paula swatted at him. “Julian! Don’t you dare.”

He dared. With a wink, he turned to Hailey and said, “That boy being born saved my life in more ways than one. He’s everything I was—and more, because he doesn’t quit when he’s down.”

“Oh geez. Are you talking about Cole again?” Regina appeared in the doorway, her daughter on her hip. As soon as Mia saw the puppy, she dashed into the room with a squeal of excitement. “You’ve got them started now. You’ll never hear the end of it. Mia, love, you have to be gentle.”

“Iambeing gentle,” Mia said as she settled herself into a comfortable position on the floor and began twirling her fingers at the puppy. “Ask the puppy lady.”

The puppy lady watched Nala and Mia closely and, finding nothing amiss with the way the girl handled the animal, nodded her approval. “She has a very natural way with dogs.”

Regina rolled her eyes in Hailey’s direction with a warning glance. “Don’t start. I cannot and will not add a puppy into the mayhem that is my house.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“That little puppy you have earmarked for Mia is cute, but we’re a strictly dog-free house.”

“Of course you are. I won’t mention it again.” Hailey made the motion of a zipper over her mouth.