Page 58 of Open Season

“All right, but you don’t have to—”

“Yes,” he said, his tone more grim than he’d intended, “I do.”

He didn’t have to sound so glum about it, Daisy thought as she hung up. She wasn’t clinging to him, demanding his time. She’d been very careful not to ask when she would see him again, though she’d been certain she would. A man didn’t spend all afternoon and most of the night making love to a woman if he didn’t really like what they had together.

One good thing about living on Lassiter Avenue: no one was likely to care who spent the night with her. Since she had just moved in, no one knew her, or knew which cars were normally in the driveway. For the first time in her life, she didn’t feel as if a hundred pairs of eyes were on her. She had felt free with Jack, free to be as uninhibited as she liked, to make noise when she climaxed, to stand naked in the kitchen eating peanut butter and crackers for quick energy. She could carry on her affair with him without the entire neighborhood watching to see what time he left her house, or clucking their tongues if his car remained in her driveway all night.

All in all, she was very satisfied with the way things had turned out, though one of the things on her to-do list today was buy more condoms—regular ones, without a hint of flavor. She was tempted to go back to Clud’s Pharmacy to buy them; let Barbara make what she liked of that! Jack’s stock with the women in town would certainly go up when Barbara spread the word that he’d used up six dozen in one week.

At lunchtime, Daisy drove to her mother’s house, picked up Evelyn and Aunt Jo; then they all went to Miley Park’s house to pick out her dog.

Mrs. Park lived several miles outside of Hillsboro, on a pretty section of land with a huge fenced yard around her small frame house. She came out to greet them, wiping her hands on her apron and smiling, accompanied by a grinning, tail-wagging golden retriever bouncing along at her side.

“Sadie, sit,” she said, and the dog obediently sat, but she quivered with eagerness to greet the visitors. Mrs. Park opened the gate and said, “Hurry, so I can close the gate before they get here.”

“They?” asked Evelyn as they obediently hurried through the gate. Mrs. Park quickly closed it just as a tangle of puppies came bounding around the corner of the house.

“The little devils are fast as greased lightning,” said Mrs. Park, bending to pat Sadie’s head. “As soon as they hear the gate open, they come running.”

Sadie got up to check her brood, nuzzling each of the puppies in turn as if counting noses. The puppies couldn’t seem to decide what they wanted to do first, jump Mama and try to get some milk or check out the newcomers. They pounced and bounced back and forth, little tails wagging so hard their entire bodies seemed to be waving.

“Oh,” said Daisy breathlessly, sinking onto the grass. “Oh!” There were only five of them, but they were so active it seemed as if there were a dozen. As soon as she sat down, they decided to check her out, and abruptly she had a lap full of puppies, puppies climbing over her legs and trying to lick her face, bite her hair, gnaw on her shoes.

Three of them were a mellow gold, and two were such a pale cream they were almost white. All of them were fat, bright-eyed balls of fur, with big, soft paws that seemed way too large for their bodies and baby fuzz so soft she just wanted to sink her hands in it.

“They’ll be seven weeks old on Thursday,” said Mrs. Park. “Sadie started weaning them two weeks ago; I’ve had them on just puppy food for a week now. They’ve had their first round of shots. That was a fun trip to the vet’s, I can tell you!”

“They’re beautiful,” Daisy said, already in love. Her eyes were dazed. “I’ll take them.”

Everyone laughed, and she realized what she’d said. “Well, maybe just one would be better,” she said, blushing and laughing at herself.

“I don’t let Sadie’s babies go unless I’m sure they’ll have a good home,” said Mrs. Parks. “Goldens are lively dogs and need a lot of exercise. If you don’t have a safe place for it to run—”

“The backyard is fenced,” said Daisy hastily, suddenly afraid she might not be allowed to buy one of these adorable babies.

“Is it a big yard?”

“Not huge, no.”

“Well, that’s fine for a puppy; when it grows, it’ll need more exercise than it can get just playing in a small yard. Will you be able to take it for long walks, throw a ball for it, take it swimming?”

“Yes,” promised Daisy, willing to promise anything and do anything.

“They like human companionship. No, they love human companionship. Will someone be home with it during the day, or were you planning on leaving it by itself in the yard all day while you’re at work?”

Her thoughts hadn’t gone that far at all; she turned a beseeching look on her mother.

“We can keep it during the day,” said Evelyn.

“Do you have a lot of patience? The little devils can get into more mischief than you’d believe. If you leave something lying around, you can bet it’ll be chewed on, especially during teething. On the other hand, they’re eager to learn and please you, and I’ve never had one that was hard to house-train.”

“I’m very patient.” That was true, or she would never have waited thirty-four years to get a life. She picked up a puppy and laughed as its little pink tongue began madly licking in an effort to reach her face.

Mrs. Park smiled and folded her hands. “They’re four hundred dollars each.”

“Okay,” said Daisy without pause. Mrs. Park could have said a thousand and she probably still wouldn’t have hesitated.

Sadie came over and licked her baby while Daisy held it, then licked Daisy. She settled down beside Daisy’s legs and was immediately swarmed, fat puppies trying to root under her in search of a teat, but Sadie had learned how to protect herself and they were frustrated in their efforts.

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