Page 32 of Merry with a Single Dad

“I don’t mind.”

“No, no. We’ll do this a little more and take them for a walk down by the water before we go to dinner.”

Evan came closer with Turbo’s ball in his hand. “Yeah, please. I’m embarrassed enough as is.”

This time I did laugh when Evan groaned and rolled his eyes because Turbo decided to try and hump Vinnie.

“He reminds me of my boyfriend’s dog,” I sputtered, remembering Luke when I first met him.

“Off. Turbo, off!” Evan said, getting his attention while simultaneously pushing him off Vinnie.

“You’ve got this,” I said, praising both human and dog.

“Thank you,” Evan said, doing his best to hide his embarrassment.

Grateful my nausea had cleared, I packed up my gear and headed out. My brain was still in a hangover kind of fog, so I had to do a doubletake when I got to my car and saw Cassie waiting for me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“Where are the boys?” she asked, dodging my question but genuinely surprised that Moose and Rufus weren’t glued to my side.

“With Chris. I didn’t have the energy to deal with them when I got back. Plus, Hudson promised to work with them and Luke this morning. I think we might have a future dog trainer in our midst.”

“How was Gigi this morning?”

“She was still sleeping when I got home. She woke up before I left but went right back to her bed. She’s loving her naps.”

“That’s a normal part of pregnancy,” she said.

“True. But part of me secretly thinks she’s just trying to avoid the boys.”

“Dr. Gray said she’d deliver before New Year’s, right?”

“Yeah, and Celine’s coming back this week. And she’s bringing her sister back with her.”

“I wonder what Elodie’s like,” Cassie said.

“If she’s anything like Celine, she’ll be full of glitz and glamour.”

“Right?”

“I’m sure Gigi can’t wait to be back in her own space. She’s had about enough of a house full of boys. I swear she looked at them the other day and rolled her eyes. But I’m going to misshaving another girl around the house. Plus, she’s so cute with her little belly. I felt the puppies move the other day.”

“So,” Cassie said, helping me load everything into the back of my car, “I had a thought.”

“Yeah?”

“And you’re either not going to like it or you’re going to completely freak out.”

“O-kay.” Neither of those sounded like great outcomes.

“Well, I was thinking. And doing a little math.”

“You and math—dangerous combination.”

“Well, here.” She shoved a package into my now empty hands.

“What is it?”

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