Page 23 of Housebroke

About ten minutes later the door slid open and Hazel steppedout, having changed into dry clothes, though her hair was still damp.

“Oh, sure, Penelope. Play all sweet and innocent. You know what you did.”

Penny immediately ran over and parked her butt in front of Hazel, her tail wildly moving back and forth.

Linc leaned back in the chair. “What happened?”

“I was walking past the pool and Penny threw me in.”

He arched a brow. “She threw you in.”

“Well, obviously, she didn’t throw me. More like barreled into me like a linebacker. Next thing I knew I was in the water, with my clothes on, and there was Penelope looking down at me all innocent. But it was totally deliberate.”

Penny looked utterly clueless and totally happy. “I don’t think she feels guilty.”

Hazel sighed and reached down to pat the dog on the head. “Of course she doesn’t.”

“Hey, you had a dip. That had to be refreshing.”

She slanted a look at him. “Sure. Nothing like tumbling headfirst into the pool with all your clothes on when you’re not expecting it. You should try it sometime.”

“I’ll pass. It’d take a week for these work boots to dry out.”

“Then I’d advise you to keep your eye on Penelope. She can be very enthusiastic when she’s in the mood to play.”

“Oh, you want to play, Penny? Do you?” He had a minute to spare, so he got up and threw the ball around the yard. Boo and Freddie got involved, too, and Lilith barked at them like a coach,letting them know they were doing it wrong. Gordon was content to monitor the activities from his favorite spot under the palm tree.

After about fifteen minutes, Linc had worked up a sweat and the dogs’ tongues were hanging out, so he gave it up and headed over to grab his drink. The dogs did the same, going over to lap up water from their bowl.

The doorbell rang.

“I’ll grab that,” Hazel said. “You take a break from your... play.”

He laughed. “Okay.”

She was gone for a bit, and he wondered who had been at the door, so he went inside. Hazel was in the living room pushing boxes from the entryway into the room.

“You got quite the delivery,” she said.

He looked at the return address on the boxes. “Oh, those are actually for you.”

She frowned. “For me?”

“Yeah. You can open them.” He pulled the knife out of his pocket and sliced them open.

She kneeled and opened the first box, her eyes widening when she saw all the dog toys, then looked up at him.

“Keep going.”

The second and third boxes contained dog food.

“I don’t understand. Why would you do this?”

He shrugged. “Their current toys are crap, and I’m sure food is expensive. Thought I’d help out.”

She shifted, sitting on the floor. “This is a lot, Linc. I wish youhadn’t... You didn’t have to... I don’t know... Wow.” She dragged her fingers through her still-damp hair, then looked up at him. “I don’t know what to say other than thank you.” And then she got out her phone and made notes.

He kept wondering what kinds of notes she made.

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