Page 34 of Light My Fire

“Sorry. I had to dig.” He bends down and plugs it into the wall without looking at any of us.

“You missed the first two,” Brooke tells him. “A boy and a girl.”

“No kidding.” He glances in the box. Then his expression softens. “Well, damn. Look at that.”

“Both Henley and Brooke are actually rock stars right now,” I tell him.

“I can see that.” Luke squats down and rubs Henley behind the ears. “Good job, girl.”

“If you rub my head next, I won’t object,” Brooke says with a smile.

Luke ignores that.

Her smile falters.

Wyatt leans over and ruffles her hair a little. He clearly means it to be flirtatious and compensate for Luke, but she doesn’t react much to his touch. I don’t exactly know what to make of that but maybe she’s just concentrating on Henley.

We spend the next five hours on the floor by the box, playing cards, snacking, and casually chatting. Henley has three more puppies and Brooke says she thinks she might be done.

“Three boys and two girls.” Brooke shifts the boy we’ve named Tank—because he’s way bigger than the other four—away from Henley. “Tank is hogging. We need to let the little guys feed first.”

I’ve named my puppy Nugget. Wyatt named the first girl born Licorice and Brooke the third boy Henry, because she said he looks serious. We’re all hanging back waiting for Luke to name the other girl but so far he’s kept his mouth shut. He seems to be enjoying this more than I expected, though, so that’s good to see.

“I should take Henley outside to go to the bathroom and we should change out the box bedding while she’s going potty.”

“I can do that.” Wyatt is practically falling all over himself to be helpful to Brooke.

I’m fighting the urge to cradle Nugget. Instead, I go one better and pull Brooke in for a hug. “Great job, Dr. Wilder.”

She laughs and hugs me back. “Thanks. I had amazing support staff. Henley did all the hard work, though.”

Wyatt also hugs her, before she bends down to help Henley up and out of the box.

Once they’re out on the deck, I sit down to just watch the puppies, who are wriggling and making noises of discontent. I adjust the heating pad that is wrapped in a towel.

“Hey, you okay?” I ask Luke.

He nods. “I’m fine.”

“You sure?” Wyatt has taken a few steps in the direction of the stairs to get more towels, but he pauses.

“Yes.” He gestures to the back deck. “Looks like the neighbor is here.”

A man is down on his haunches, petting Henley.

“Just the man I want to talk to,” I say. “Luke, watch the puppies.”

“Don’t be a dick,” Luke tells me.

“That’s classic coming from you. I just want to tell him this little family is all staying here until we leave. That’s all.”

“Brooke has probably already told him that.”

“Then I’ll let her know I have her back.”

I yank open the sliding door.

CHAPTER 8

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