Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
My soul.
“Hi, buddy.” It’s in this moment that I know I want to take this little guy home. But where is home? And how can I train him if I’m puking my guts out every day?
“Would you like to hold him?” One of the employees asks. “We have puppy rooms if you’d like one. You can get to know him.”
“Sure, that would be awesome.”
The clerk goes inside the pen and the others start to attack her ankles. She doesn’t seem to care as she scoops up the little guy and tells me to follow her. “He’s a labradoodle,” she tells me when we get into the room. “He’s had all of his shots and is just waiting for his forever home.”
“How old?”
“Three months.” She opens the half door to the room, and I follow, only to see there is no place to sit, other than the floor. She sets the puppy down and he sniffs around. She stays there, almost as if she’s waiting to see what I’m going to do. I smile and lean against the wall and sort of slide down until I’m seated. “Have fun,” she says as she closes the half door.
I reach out and pet his head and he instantly climbs onto my lap and continues to climb until he reaches my face and gives me some kisses and then curls up on my lap. It’s amazing how something so innocent can project their love so easily. I’m sold and I never thought I’d want a dog. I pick him up and snuggle his soft fur and pull my phone out to take a picture of us. I send it to Elle with the caption, “he needs a family.”
“We gotta get Elle’s permission,” I tell him. “But something tells me she’ll say yes. Maybe she’ll come and meet you. I know once she sees your big brown eyes, she’ll put you in her bag and take you home.”
He looks at me like he understands everything I’m telling him. For all I know, he does. We play for a bit until Elle’s text comes in. “Buy him now!”
“Well, would you look at that?” I show him the phone. “She wants you, with no questions asked. Maybe this is a good sign,” I tell him. “Maybe you’ll be the reason we get back together.”
“How’s it going?” the clerk leans on the top of the half door and grins.
“Amazing. I’m in love already. How do I go about buying this little guy?”
Her grin turns into a beaming smile. “Yay, I’m so happy. I’ll start the paperwork. What’s your name?”
“Is this for ownership?”
“Yes, we document who buys each dog or cat.”
“Okay,” I pause and wonder if I should include Elle and then remember she’s in charge of my future offspring so she should have rights to this guy as well.
“His owners will be Ben Miller and Elle James.”
There’s a hint of recognition in her eyes. I smile and ask, “Is there a home visit or anything?”
She shakes her head. “The cost of him pretty much assures us that you can take care of him. Besides, the owner knows Elle’s family. I mean, we all do. I can’t imagine anyone telling her no.” Her eyes go wide. “Oh, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”
I smile and shake my head. “No worries. I rarely say no to her myself, so I get it.”
“Right. I’ll go get the paperwork started.”
“Thank you.” As soon as she’s gone, I pick the little guy up. “Well,” I say to the fluff ball. “I guess you’re going to need a name.” His tongue darts out and licks my nose. “I hope you like the beach because that’s where we live, unless we move back here. I think I’ll teach you to surf. That would be fun, wouldn’t it? Just wait until everyone meets you.” He looks at me with longing in his eyes.
“Yeah, they’re going to fall in love with you, just like I did.”
I start to get woozy and set him down. I can feel him licking my hand or my face, but everything else is fuzzy right now except the ringing in my head.
“Elle,” I say her name as if she’s sitting next to me before everything goes dark.
23
ELLE
Once I lose sight of Ben, I open the door and head up the stairs to FMG Records. Betty Paige sits at the desk and has the phone pressed to her ear and her hand scribbling on a piece of paper. For being a teen, she’s one of the best multi-taskers I have ever met. Liam is damn lucky she’s so detail oriented because since he opened the studio, it’s been packed with artists making demos and hoping to catch his attention, and now mine.
My focus should be on the guy sitting on the stool, strumming his guitar, and singing into the microphone, who’s trying to impress me enough that I’ll want to work with him, but my attention is on my phone, eagerly awaiting another photo of Ben and this puppy he’s found. I have no idea where he is, but from the looks of the image, he’s in a room. I do remember seeing a pet store not far from here, but it’s new and I know nothing about it. I’m going to assume he’s there and has met this most adorable puppy. I never thought we needed a pet, especially a dog, but now I do. The look on Ben’s face, the sparkle in his eyes, tells me he needs his little ball of fur, and so do I.