Page 102 of Housebroke

“Love you, bro.”

“Love you, too. Later.”

They hung up and Linc put his phone back in his pocket, smiling as he thought about the possibility of Eugene living close by.

He and his brothers rarely saw eye to eye—on anything. They all had distinct personalities. But in the end, they were family. Andfamily was everything. The idea of having Eugene here, of building something permanent here?

Yeah, that appealed.

The day was really looking up.

He glared at the ceiling fan. “And you are going to start fucking working, or I’m taking you apart and burning you in the driveway, got it?”

He grabbed the remote, clicked the on switch, and the blades started rotating.

“That’s what I’m talking about.”

One disaster averted.

Now he felt really damned good about the rest of the day.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Hazel had amused herself all day with the pups. They’d gone for a long walk this morning, though Mitzi and Gordon’s walk had been shorter and then they’d finished off in the stroller.

Currently, Lilith was on a roll trying to micromanage all the dogs. Gordon and Mitzi ignored her, preferring the company of each other—which mostly consisted of napping together. Penny was adorably in love with Linc and followed him everywhere, so she didn’t pay much attention to Lilith’s attempts to herd her back to where Freddie was busily trying to dislodge a rock from the grass.

Freddie seemed to be the only one who toed the line where Lilith was concerned.

“At least one of them listens to you, girl,” Hazel said as she washed down the walk around the pool.

Lilith looked up at her, her skinny little tail thumping wildly as she followed Hazel around the yard while Freddie had found a bug to bark at.

Her phone buzzed. She thought it was Linc since he’d been out all day running errands, and they’d made plans for her to gowith him to look at a couple of houses he was interested in purchasing for his next project.

It wasn’t Linc. It was a text from Sandy.

Awesome news! I think someone wants to adopt Freddie.

Her heart clenched. She punched the call button and Sandy answered.

“Isn’t it exciting? They’re an amazing couple. They already have a dachshund, and they’re so excited about the idea of adopting another. I’ve already run background and done the home visit. I think Freddie would love them.”

He loved her, too.

Hazel flopped down to sit right there on the grass, Freddie crawling into her lap, followed by Lilith. She swallowed, though her throat was dry. “Great.”

“When can you arrange to bring him for a meet and greet?”

How about never? She shook her head. Keeping these dogs wasn’t her job, no matter how much she loved them. “Um... can I get back to you after I check my schedule? I was just about to run out.”

“Oh, sure. Just let me know. I gotta run, too. Later.”

Hazel clicked off and tried to breathe in, but her chest felt tight. She looked down and smoothed her hand over Freddie’s soft back, her eyes filling with tears.

Dammit, she sucked at this.

Shaking her head, she pushed all thoughts of Freddie to the back of her mind. He was still here, for now, and he was still hers.She needed to get ready to head out with Linc, who told her he’d be back around three o’clock, and it was already two thirty. Since she’d spent time in the pool with the pups today, she was kind of a wreck, not to mention the tears.

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