Page 18 of A Beach House Beginning

Jenna whirled around and found her upstairs neighbor walking through the pet store with a bag of cat food.

“Oh. Hi.”

She hadn’t seen Wes since pizza night, nearly a week earlier, except for a few brief waves of greeting in passing. She had somehow forgotten how big and tough and intimidating he looked.

And gorgeous.

She hadn’t forgotten that part.

She could feel her face heat and hoped he didn’t notice.

“Wow.” He looked down at the gangly dog. “Looks like you’ve got a new friend.”

“This is Theo. He’s the best dog ever. And he’s our very own dog now! He gets to come home with us.”

“That’s very cool. Hi, Theo. Nice to meet you.” Wes crouched to the same level of the dog and reached out a hand, which Theo investigated with a sniff followed by vigorous tail wagging.

“I think he likes you,” Addie said, beaming.

“Hey, bud.” He scratched the dog’s ears and under his chin, which seemed to earn him Theo’s instant adoration.

“I didn’t know you had a cat,” Jenna said, gesturing to the food bag.

“I don’t.” He straightened. “But we’ve got a couple of strays that hang out at the shop. They’re good mousers but I still like to leave a little food for them. Plus I guess I’ll be cat-sitting for a couple weeks as Brie is bringing along Murphy when she comes to stay with me.”

“That’s nice of you.”

He shrugged. “If I have to take a bad-tempered elderly cat as part of the package in order to hang out with my daughter, it’s worth the sacrifice.”

He looked back at the dog. “You say his name is Leo?”

“Theo,” Addison corrected. “The nice lady at the shelter said his real name is Theodore because he looks like a teddy bear but they didn’t want to call him Teddy so they call him Theo.”

“Nice name.”

“I hope he doesn’t bother everyone at Brambleberry House,” Jenna said. “The shelter said he’s not one to bark a lot.”

“He’ll be great, I’m sure. I’m not worried. I hardly ever hear the neighbors’ little poodle.”

She decided not to point out that Sophie lived two floors below him and had been gone for a week, where Theo would be just downstairs one flight all the time.

“Fingers crossed,” she said.

He glanced into their cart. “Looks like you have everything you need to take the dog home.”

“And then some, right? I’m afraid we’ve gone overboard.”

“You can never have too many tennis balls when it comes to dogs. I can help you load your supplies into your car after you check out.”

She was a tough, independent woman who had been forced by circumstance to learn how to stand on her own two feet. Still, it was nice to have the option to lean on someone once in a while.

“That would be really helpful. Thank you.”

As he only had one item, he checked out first, then waited while she did the same. The final tally made her gulp. Having a pet was not a cheap undertaking.

When her items were bagged and she had paid for them, all three of them walked outside.

“When is Brielle coming to stay with you?”

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