Chapter 22
Hannah was able to give her Saturday shift away, but she still had to work Black Friday, so I agreed to meet her when her shift ended.
Eight p.m. rolled around, and I walked into the pet store.
It smelled like a zoo, and a cacophony of barks, mewls, chirps, and cries sounded throughout the store.
Dogs, cats, birds… I flinched as a snake poked out of its reptile enclosure and struck, thankfully biting the glass tank and not my arm.
Someone laughed at me, and I looked up to find a mousy teenage boy approaching me. “That’s Petunia. She’s pregnant, and a bit of a jerk.”
“Because she’s pregnant?”
“No, that’s just her personality. That’s why no one wants to adopt her. Any interest in her?”
“A pregnant snake with a mean streak? I’m a glutton for punishment, and even I can see that’s a bad idea—no thank you. I’m looking for Hannah. Is she around?”
“Oh, you must be Ryder. She’s back in the pen. Come on—I’ll take you to her.”
The “pen?” Like a bull pen? I followed the boy, dodging another attack from Petunia the Snake.
We went through the store and out the back door, opening onto a patio.
I heard a squeal, followed by yips and… screams?
I looked to the left where Hannah was behind a fence, surrounded by five or six puppies.
The marbled fluffs jumped around her feet.
I was no expert, but my best guess was that they were Siberian Huskies.
I thanked Hannah’s coworker, and he returned inside. It was dark and cold, but that didn’t seem to bother Hannah or any of the furballs at her feet. I leaned over the fence, resting my forearms on the chain link. Only then did Hannah notice me.
“You made it,” she said.
“Have I let you down yet?”
The question held more weight than I realized. Hannah straightened to look at me, something indiscernible in her eyes. She shook her head. “No, I guess you haven’t.” She cleared her throat and gestured to the creatures swarming her.
“Huskies?”
“Husky mix, yeah. My guess is they were supposed to be purebreds, and when they came out like this…” She shook her head. “They’re still after the person who dumped them here. So, which one are we giving a home to?”
“How old are they?”
“Two or three months, no more. We got them a couple of weeks ago.”
“Help me out, then. You know them. Do they have names?”
She picked one of them up. “We’ve been using their collars.” She scratched the yipping bundle behind the ears. “This is Blue. She’s the only girl, and she loves giving her brothers a hard time.”
Hannah went through the herd. Green was the runt, but that didn’t stop him from holding his own. Yellow had to be fed separately from the others because he kept stealing food. Red was the troublemaker who kept instigating fights with the others. Except for Blue—he stayed far away from her.
After going through the roster, Hannah opened the pen and I beelined for Purple.
According to Hannah, he was the only one who hadn’t yet found his voice.
He was skittish compared to the other four, and more than once he tried to hide from all the fuss.
I sat on the ground, and Purple curled up in my lap, only moving to stick his tongue up my nose when I leaned over him.
Hannah laughed. She was being swarmed by the rest of the puppies, who tried to scamper up her legs. “I think he likes you.”
“I’d say so.” I liked him too. “What do you think?”
“He’s perfect,” she said with a smile.
I stood, cradling Purple in my arms. Hannah attached color-coded leashes to the others and corralled them back into the store.
I followed her while she grabbed bags of food and picked out bowls.
I wandered away while she shopped, finding myself among the toys.
I picked up a stuffed bat with wings that crinkled.
The noise caught Purple’s attention, and he sniffed at the object, latching onto a wing the second it was close enough.
I laughed as he growled, lashing out at the toy like he had a personal vendetta against bats.
At least, I think it was a growl. He sounded like the Predator.
I wouldn’t tell James about his aversion to bats.
I picked out a few more toys, including ones designed for teething. After selecting a ludicrous amount of treats, we checked out and I led Hannah out to my car.
I let her get settled in the passenger’s seat before handing over Purple, who was now swaddled in a blanket in case he got carsick. “So, what’s his name?”
Hannah watched Purple sleep. “What about Carlos?”
“Carlos? What kind of name is that for a dog?”
“A perfect one,” Hannah cooed at the small creature. The puppy seemed to approve with a yawn before curling up in his blanket and going back to sleep.
“What will the neighbors think when they hear me screaming out, ‘Carlos!?’” I heard how that sounded as soon as the words left my mouth, and I cut Hannah off before she could say anything. “Don’t answer that!”
We drove home in silence, which left room for my nerves to kick in.
This would be the longest we’d spent around each other, and to say I was nervous was an understatement.
I wanted it to go well. Not just for me, but for her too.
All the drama over the last year had to be taking a toll on her, and I didn’t want it to have been for nothing.
The first night with the new puppy was fairly uneventful.
I awoke before Hannah, ushering the impatient creature outside.
I paced the back porch while he painstakingly inspected every inch of the backyard before bounding back up the stairs with the prize he’d claimed: a stick that was too big for him.
He looked so cute, though, that I let him keep it.
Morning routine and breakfast finished, Hannah and I settled on the couch for our reality TV/movie marathon, surrounded by just about every brand of junk food I could think to buy.
We started with the latest season of 90 Day Fiancé, but with only a couple of episodes, we quickly got through it.
Then we switched to a classic horror movie: Evil Dead—my choice.
Hannah retaliated by finding a 90 Day Fiancé spinoff that was so awkward, I barely made it through the first episode before I begged her to turn it off.
For three more episodes. Blegh. There were some things that the general public just didn’t need to know about someone.
“What’s next?” she asked, holding down the button, wheeling through things on Netflix. My stomach answered for me, grumbling loud enough that even Carlos noticed, tilting his head at the strange noise—then growling back at it. He almost got a bark out. Almost.
“I think real food is in order. What are you up for?” I asked her.
We went back and forth, and finally settled on Chinese.
I glanced at her while I was placing the order; she was curled up in the opposite corner of the couch, Carlos in her lap.
He chewed on his stick from that morning, decorating the blanket Hannah sat under with shreds of bark.
She scrolled through her phone, sucking on a spoon from the pint of ice cream she’d finished a couple of hours earlier, oblivious to my scrutiny.
I was surprised by how natural everything felt.
I’d been terrified to learn that I had a kid out there, but the more I got to know her, the more…
saddened I became. I’d missed out on so much—her entire childhood.
Erin and Ben had done an amazing job raising her.
I had no way of knowing if she would’ve turned out the way she had if I’d had any say in her upbringing.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Hannah asked, snapping me out of my trance. She’d dropped the spoon, watching me with narrowed eyes.
I chuckled. “Carlos is making a mess out of that stick.”
She looked down and smiled at him. “He’s a puppy, and he’s teething. Better the stick than your skin.” I could vouch for that—I’d been on the receiving end of that bite when I was too slow with his food bowl—it wasn’t pleasant.
“Food is on the way,” I said, setting my phone down on the table. “What do you want to watch next?”
“How about the one where the guy who fell in love with his hot boss tells his daughter all about it?”
I raised a brow at her, choosing to feign ignorance. “I’m not sure I get that channel—ow!” I rubbed at my thigh where her foot connected with it. “What was that for?”
“I’ve let you get away with your secrecy for a week. Now spill.” She shifted into a sitting position, a disgruntled Carlos holding on for dear life. “What’s going on with you and James?”
I sighed and turned to face her on the couch, patting the cushion in front of me to lure Carlos my way. “Nothing I want to put a name to yet.”
She perked up at that. “So are you two and that other girl something now?”
“What? No! That was… James and I—”
“Yes?”
I rolled my eyes. “—won’t be discussing the details of our private lives with my teenage daughter!” Hannah bit back a smile and sank into her seat. “We’re seeing what happens. I’ve never really been the commitment type.”
“You seemed pretty committed to Mom back in the day.”
“I’m ignoring that ‘back in the day’ comment,” I told her.
“That was a long time ago, and all it got me was a broken heart.” I reached over and tugged the blanket.
Carlos growled and attacked my hand. “And missing out on seventeen years with you.” Even in the low light from the TV, I could see Hannah blush.
“Probably for the best though. Your parents did a good job with you.”
Hannah opened her mouth to say something else, but my phone rang. James’s name flashed up.
“Aren’t you going to answer him?” Hannah asked.
I shrugged. “I’ll call him back later. This is our night.”
“You should answer it.”
I considered. James did know it was my weekend with Hannah. Maybe it was important. “It’ll only take me a minute.”
Hannah gave a dismissive wave of her hand, picking her cup off the table. “I need a refill anyway.”