Page 34 of Irish Thoroughbred
After much pleading and wriggling, she managed to release herself, staggered to her feet, and surveyed the damage. Her shirt and jeans were covered with dirt, her arms smeared with it. She pushed at her disordered hair and stared down at the dog that sat at her feet, his tongue hanging out in adoration.
“We’ll both be needing a bath now. Well—” She let out a deep breath, tilted her head, and considered. “You wait here, and I’ll see what can be done about you. It might be best if you were cleaned up a bit before I introduce you.”
On the way back to the house, she paused on the terrace to brush at the dirt that covered her.
“Dee, what happened? Were you thrown? Are you hurt?” Travis rushed to her, his hands claiming her shoulders, then moving to stroke her face. She shook her head, thrown off balance by the frantic tone of his voice.
“No, I’m not hurt. Travis, you mustn’t touch me—you’ll get your suit filthy.” She tried to take a step away, only to be caught closer.
“The devil with the suit!” His voice was edged with anger as he pressed her against him, one hand cradling her head.
The small intimacy after so many days of impersonal distance swamped her with pleasure, and her arms encircled his waist before she could lecture herself on the wisdom of the action. She felt his lips tarry in her hair, and she thought, with a brief flash of joy, that if she could only have this much of him from time to time, she would be content.
Suddenly, one hand gripped her shoulder while the other tilted her face back, and she saw temper flame in his face. “What in heaven’s name have you done to yourself?”
“I haven’t done anything to myself,” she said with a show of dignity, shaking off his hand. “We’ve company.” She gestured to the lawn.
His eyes moved past her, narrowed, then returned. “Adelia, what in the name of heaven isthat?”
“It’s a dog, Travis, though I wasn’t sure myself at first. The poor thing was half starving. That’s why”—she paused and braced herself for the confession—“that’s why I gave him the roast beef.”
“You fed him?” Travis asked in low, even tones.
“Surely you wouldn’t begrudge the poor thing a bit of food. I—”
“I don’t care a whit about the food, Adelia.” He shook her briefly. “Don’t you have any more sense than to fool with a strange dog? You could have been bitten.”
Straightening, she glared at the censure in his voice. “I know what I’m about, and I was careful. He needed food, so I gave it to him—the same as I’d give it to anyone who needed it. And as for that, he hasn’t a thought in his head about biting anyone.” Glancing over, she watched the dog’s tail begin to thump the ground again. “There”—she pointed triumphantly—“you see.”
“I see it appears you’ve made another conquest. Now,” he said, and turned her firmly to face him directly. “Just how did you get in this condition?”
“Oh, well.” She looked up at Travis, back to the dog, and back to Travis again. “You see, after he’d finished eating, he was overcome with gratitude, and he—well,he forgot himself for a minute and knocked me down and sort of thanked me in his way. He’s a bit dirty—as you can see.”
“He knocked you down?” Travis repeated, incredulously.
At his tone, Adelia hurried on. “He’s very affectionate, and he didn’t mean any harm. Really, Travis, don’t be angry with him. See how pretty he is, sitting there now.” She glanced over at the dog and saw he was smart enough to blink soulful eyes in Travis’s direction. “I told him to wait, and that’s just what he’s doing. He only wants a bit of affection.”
Travis turned back and gave Adelia a long look. “I’m getting the impression you intend to keep him.”
“Well, I don’t know about keeping him, exactly.” She dropped her eyes from him, stared at a spot of dirt on Travis’s jacket, and brushed it away.
“What’s his name?”
“Finnegan,” she responded immediately, then, seeing she had fallen into the trap, looked up frowning.
“Finnegan?” Travis repeated with a sober nod. “How did you come by that?”
“He reminds me of Father Finnegan back in Skibbereen, oversized and clumsy but with much inner dignity.”
“I see.” He moved over, crouched down, and inspected Finnegan. To Adelia’s relief, the dog remembered his manners.
When Travis returned to her, she moistened her lips and launched into her campaign. “I’ll take care of him, Travis; he won’t be any trouble. I won’t let him come in the house and get in Hannah’s way.”
“There’s no need to use your eyes, Adelia.” At her bewildered frown, he laughed and tugged her hair. “Lord help the world if you ever realize what you’re doing. You’re perfectly free to keep him if that’s what you want.”
“Oh, I do! Thank you, Travis—”
“There are, however, two conditions,” he interrupted before she could finish being grateful. “One, that you teach him not to knock you down; he’s every bit as big as you are. And two, that he has a bath.” He glanced over at Finnegan and shook his head. “Or several baths.”
