Page 59 of Open Season

“Which one do you choose?”

All the other questions had been easy; this one was agonizing. She stared at them, trying to decide.

“There are three males and two females—”

“No, don’t tell me,” said Daisy. “I want to pick a personality, not a sex.”

So she simply sat while puppies played around and over her. Then one of the pale-cream-colored ones yawned, its little mouth open wide, and its dark eyes with the absurdly long blond eyelashes began to close. Clumsily it climbed over her leg and turned around until it found a comfortable position on her lap, then settled down in a sleepy little ball.

“Well, I’ve been chosen,” she said, picking up the puppy and cuddling it.

“That’s one of the males. Take good care of him, now. I’ll be calling and checking on him, and bring him back to see Sadie anytime you want. I’ll just go get the paperwork to fill out so you can register him.”

“What are you going to name him?” Evelyn asked as they drove back to town. Jo was driving, while Daisy sat in back with the puppy asleep in her arms.

“I’ll have to think about it. If the size of these feet are anything to go by, he’s going to be huge, so I want something macho and tough.”

Jo snorted. “He looks macho and tough. Fuzzball would be a good name.”

“He won’t be fuzzy forever.” Already she felt sad at the thought of him growing out of his puppyhood. She stroked his little head and suddenly realized the enormity of the responsibility she had taken on. “My goodness, I haven’t bought anything! We’ll have to stop at Wal-Mart so I can get some puppy food, his food and water dishes, toys, a bed for him, and those house-training pads to put down. Am I forgetting anything?”

“Just double the supply,” said Evelyn, “since we’ll be keeping him during the day. There’s no sense in carrying his things back and forth.”

“I’ll be late getting back to the library,” said Daisy, and for the first time didn’t care. She had a lover and a dog; could life get any better?

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