Page 83 of There Are No Words

The girl shook her head. “Sorry. We sell purebred or specialty dogs. I’m not sure what that dog would be—a setter and greyhound. Are you sure you couldn’t find a mutt at the shelter?”

Walking around, I bent down to pet a small black poodle. “I need a puppy,” I said for what felt like the tenth time this afternoon. “What about a purebred Irish setterorItalian greyhound then?” Imagine what Angelo would say if I got an Irish dog. I almost laughed at the irony.

But as I got to the back, a man came out, and it was obvious he was the store’s owner. “Amy, you doing okay out here?” he asked who I could only imagine was his daughter, the girl who was looking at me like I had eight heads.

She shook her head. “I have homework to do. He’s looking for an Iggy,” she said and promptly walked to the back.

“Pat,” the man said, approaching me.

“Nice to meet you, Pat. Name’s Brady. I’m looking for a puppy for a gift.”

He nodded and bent over a playpen in the back, scooping a dog up. “I heard. Iggy, huh?”

I shook my head, not sure what this guy wasn’t understanding. “No, a puppy.” What was the matter with people? I wanted apuppy.

He smiled. “Yeah, an Italian greyhound, right? That’s an Iggy. Got a litter of them two weeks ago, and this girl’s the only one left.” He held the puppy out for me to take.

Another female.I narrowed my gaze, looking at her all-gray face. I would be the odd man out—literally. “Any boys?”

He shook his head. “One, but he sold. It was a small liter. Two girls and a boy. This girl’s the only one left. She’s ten weeks, blue-gray and pretty calm. Shouldn’t get bigger than ten pounds. Who’s she for?”

Stuffing my hands in my pockets, I looked at her. Even I couldn’t deny how adorable she was with her big eyes. The moreI looked at her, the more I began warming up to the idea of another girl in the apartment. “She’s for my. . . girlfriend,” I said, hearing the way the word rolled off my tongue for the first time. It wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t exactly right. Allegra and I had never talked about labels. We didn’t really need to. As far as I was concerned, she was my girl, and we were going to be a family. Hell, I was having a baby with the woman I couldn’t stop thinking about. It seemed pretty obvious to me.

But this guy didn’t need to know any of that. Hence the girlfriend comment.

He nodded, trying to pass the dog off to me. I wasn’t ready to take my hands out of my pockets yet, though. If I was still a little worried about being a dad to a baby, then being anything to a puppy was just as concerning. I was doing this for Allegra, I reminded myself. I was doing this to help Allegra. It would be good for her. Taking care of this little girl would make her realize she was more than ready to take care ofourlittle girl. And maybe I’d pick up a thing or two, as well. But really, this was for Allegra. Yeah, my hands were staying in my pockets. “I’m good, thanks,” I said, acknowledging his gesture.

Pat cleared his throat. “Will she be stopping by to meet her?” he asked.

“No. I’ll take her,” I replied. No reason to hem and haw, I supposed. She was an Italian greyhound. She was adorable. She was perfect, exactly what I’d wanted for Allegra. And Allegra was going to be so happy I did this. Yeah, this was a no-brainer.

“You didn’t hold her,” he countered, eyeing me quizzically.

I shook my head. It didn’t matter. I didn’t need to hold her, or take her out for a test drive, or whatever it was people did with dogs before they bought them. She was the one. “It’ll be okay. She’s cute. Quiet, you said?”

He corrected me—“Calm.”Same thing.

“Good, that’s perfect. Yeah, I’ll take her and whatever else we’ll need for a dog.”

Pat grinned. “Why don’t you go do something around here for an hour? We’ll bathe her, call our vet to get her checked out, and get you everything you’ll need.”

Pat made it all sound so easy. All right, then. Allegra and I were going to be dog owners. I didn’t know why people made such a big deal out of a decision like this.

I nodded. “You’ve got yourself a deal. I’ll be back. But she’s mine, right?”

He nodded. “Consider her sold. Your girlfriend’s going to love her.”

Feeling good about my idea and decision to get another Italian (and a girl, no less) to add to the Morelli clan, I practically danced out.

Allegra was going to be so happy, and she was no doubt going to be head-over-fucking-heels for me and my brilliant mind. What’d she say before? She wanted our daughter to have my smarts?

Ha! I was a goddamn genius.

A dog for a mom-to-be. Man, I just loved the idea.

Feel free to give the idea to the schmuck you know who didn’t know what to get the woman carrying their child. She hadn’t even pushed yet, and I’d gotten her the perfect present.

Chapter Twenty-Six

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