full of new smells and new things to see. His master was, for the moment, invisible.
“Cooper. Heel,” Luke shouted, charging around the front of the truck.
Cooper stopped, and for a brief moment Luke thought all those dog obedience classes might have sunk in.
But the woman bending over the flowerpots had caught his attention. A potential playmate. And with one burst of exuberant energy, Cooper jumped on top of her just as he always did to Luke.
Only, this woman wasn’t as big as Luke and she went down like a rock, taking the flowerpots with her.
The woman managed to push Cooper off her and scrambled to her feet just as Luke ran up. Cooper cavorted on the lawn in front of her, ready to play.
“Sit, you dumb mongrel,” she snapped.
Cooper tilted his head, as if studying her.
“I said sit.” She sounded really ticked now.
And to Luke’s surprise, Cooper did. Right on the flowers that had spilled out of the pot, effectively squashing them.
“I don’t believe this,” she said, turning her startlingly blue eyes to him as he grabbed Cooper’s collar. “This is like a nightmare.”
Even though her mouth was pulled tight with disapproval, she couldn’t hide the fullness of her lips or the delicate tilt of her cheekbones. He couldn’t rightly say she was cute when she was angry, but he wanted her to smile again like she was when she had walked up the sidewalk.
Of course, he wasn’t going to be the recipient of that happy occasion anytime soon, judging from the depth of her frown or the way her hands were clenched into tight fists.
“Sorry about that,” Luke said, trying to sound apologetic without sounding obsequious.
“Could you please get your dog to get off my flowers?”
“Of course.” He didn’t apologize this time. That was getting old, and more apologies wouldn’t change the destruction his dog had created. “I own the house next door,” he said, trying to make conversation to bridge the awkwardness between them. “My name is Luke. Luke Harris.”
“Janie Corbett,” she said in a clipped voice, still glaring at Cooper, who was staring at her.
“I’ll pay for whatever damage he’s done.”
“That’s not necessary,” Janie Corbett said. “And besides, these plants can’t be replaced. They’re very unusual.”
“How unusual can flowers be?” Luke couldn’t understand what she was talking about. Flowers were flowers, right? You buy some more, stick them in the pots and you’re done.
“I started them myself from seed,” she said bending over to salvage what she could from the mess Cooper had made. “And your dumb dog just ruined five months of work. Five months I can’t reproduce.”
Was that a hitch in her voice? Was she really that upset over a few lousy flowers?
Then the door to the house slammed open and the little girl with the brown curly hair bounced onto the deck, clutching her bear.
“Mommy. You’re home,” she called.
Distracted by this new person, Cooper leaped to his feet, barking and tugging on the collar.
“Luke, hang on to that dog,” Janie cried out.
“Mommy. The dog.”
Autumn’s frightened voice caught Janie’s attention and, it seemed, that ludicrous dog’s. He barked again and took a step away from his owner, his focus on her daughter standing on the porch.
“Hold on to him,” she shouted at Luke. It couldn’t happen again. Please not again.
“Mommy.” Autumn’s voice grew panicky as the dog responded to her cry with unrestrained gusto.
Janie watched the creature pull free then rush toward Autumn, who had dropped her bear and now stood frozen on the porch.
“Cooper. Down. Now,” Luke yelled in a feeble last-ditch effort.
Autumn’s hands were pressed against her eyes, as if bracing herself for what might happen. Again.
But the dog came to a halt, then dropped to a squat on the sidewalk below Autumn, head cocked to one side.
“Luke, if that dog hurts her…” Janie couldn’t finish the sentence; her voice was trembling too hard.
“I think he’s okay,” Luke said, edging closer to him.
The terror circling Janie’s heart with an iron band eased as Luke reached for the dog’s collar. Then the front door opened, and Todd stood in the doorway. Thankfully, both Todd and her elder daughter Suzie had been gone that horrible day. They didn’t have the same reactions to dogs that Autumn did.
“Hey. Neat dog,” he said, grinning.
Cooper, suddenly distracted, charged up the steps, past Autumn and through the open door behind him.
Janie ran to Autumn’s side. She knelt, touching her daughter’s face looking for any sign of trauma. “Are you okay, honey?”
Autumn looked puzzled, as if surprised that nothing had happened this time. The trembling smile she gave her mother made Janie’s knees weak with relief.
Janie scooped up her daughter into her arms and gave her a quick hug just as she heard her own mother’s outraged voice from inside the house.
“What is going on in the bathroom?”
Janie heard a bark, then the sound of water being lapped up. Oh, my goodness, was that dog drinking out of the toilet?
“I’m sorry, Mom,” Todd said as Janie held Autumn close. “I didn’t think he would come in the house.”
“That’s okay, Todd.” Janie needed to go inside and see what that dog was doing, but she couldn’t leave Autumn outside. She caught her son by the hand and led him and Autumn to the porch swing. “Sit here and don’t move.”
“But I want to see the dog,” Todd complained.
“You need to stay with Autumn. You know why she’s afraid of dogs.”
“I’m not afraid of dogs.” Todd offered, putting his arm around his sister.
“What’s going on?” Now her own mother was outside and the dog was barking inside. “How did that creature get into the house? You must get him out. Immediately.” Then Tilly saw Autumn and swooped down. “Is she okay, Janie? Did that dog hurt her? How could you let this happen?”
Janie felt like clapping her hands over her ears and retreating somewhere. Anywhere but here.
She’d spent most of the afternoon making coffee for her customers and trying to balance the books of her coffee shop.
