Page 31 of Finding Noah
Speaking of… My girl sat in the heel position by my leg and waited patiently. She’d been so excited to go for another car ride. We had a tether system for her so she could see out the window. We had two crates to bring the puppies home in.
When the nice other lady, whose name I totally missed, brought the two puppies out, my heart exploded.
They were smaller than the lab puppies, even though they were a couple of weeks older. They had light-brown-and-cream fur with weird markings.
The woman handed one to Noah.
His face immediately relaxed and transformed into the biggest, brightest smile. “Hello, Sable.” He pressed his face to the dog’s. “I’m going to give you the best home ever.”
She licked his nose.
Stormy pressed against me.
I petted her. “You’ll get your turn.”
Noah pivoted to us and slowly crouched. “Stormy, this is Sable. Be gentle.”
The warning was a nice touch, but my girl didn’t need it. She nosed the little dog and then licked her nose.
Sable let out a tiny yelp.
My heart melted.
Noah repeated the process with River.
Pam looked on with approval.
Forty minutes later, with the puppies secure in their crates, we headed for the pet store.
Dollar signs flashed before my eyes.You still haven’t told him about the money.Right. He had no idea I’d squirreled away every penny I’d earned basically since the day I went to work at the family firm as an intern.
Mr. Frankston insisted all employees—even family members—be paid a living wage. So, I’d been earning decent money since I turned sixteen. More, when I’d been promoted to a junior executive role upon graduation from business school.
I might’ve let my parents think I was frittering the money away. In truth, I’d opened a bank account at a branch of a big bank in the next town over. Quietly, every two weeks, I transferred most of my money there. I’d invested conservatively, but wisely. Almost ten years of hard work had earned me a nice nest egg. And I’d sort of neglected to tell any of that to Noah.
He’d had to pay for much of his stuff over the years. He could have the pets—as long as he took care of them and paid for them. Vet bills were high, and anytime he managed to get something saved, one of his animals would get sick. That was the peril of owning pets. “I got my first paycheck on Friday.” I had Stormy on a short leash as I pushed the cart through the store.
Noah had a puppy under each arm and, as I’d silently predicted, every single person we’d run into wanted to see the puppies.
One woman had brazenly asked Noah over for apuppy playdate.
I didn’t have anything against great Danes, but that dog could’ve squished one of the pups.So could Stormy, so watch out.
Noah gently declined the offer.
“I’ve got enough money. I haven’t spent my entire last check from the credit union, and I have the tuition money from the lab puppies as well as the three private clients.” He fingered several collars. “I don’t want to do traditional blue and pink.”
“Agreed.”
“So navy-blue for River and purple for Sable?”
I eyed the two bundles. “Well, we definitely need a way to tell them apart. What did the vet say she thought they were?”
“He. Dr. Malcolm Jones. We have an appointment in two hours at his Fluff & Tuff Animal Clinic back in Foggy Basin. Pam’s best guess is a terrier mix. I’m thinking there’s some Japanese Chin.”
Although I tried to keep up, many of the breeds eluded me. I trusted Noah to prompt me if any knowledge was crucial. Knowing what these two were would be somewhat important.
He grabbed two collars as well as two matching leashes before tossing everything into the cart. “Why did you lie to Pam?” He tossed the question off casually, as if asking me if I wanted more sweetener in my coffee.
