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‘Uh-huh.’ His lips twitched. Parker the seven-year-old was all kinds of cute.

A woman walked down the path from the corner of Salt Creek Flats Road, a tiny figure in steel-capped boots and faded overalls that had been ironed with the same military precision as Parker’s jeans. ‘This your mum?’ he asked.

Parker shot a glance over his shoulder. ‘Yep.’

Josh blew out a breath. Here goes, he thought. He walked over and held the tarpaulin back so she could step into the carnage that had once been the Cody and Cody Vet Clinic, then held out his hand. ‘Josh Cody.’

She had a clear, no-nonsense look about her. ‘Sonya,’ she said. ‘I’m Parker’s mum. I’m sorry it’s taken me this long to get to town, but we’ve had some transport trouble.’

‘So Parker’s been telling me.’

She looked around at the burn scars still visible on the walls. ‘Seems like you’ve been having some trouble of your own.’

‘Yeah.’

She frowned at Parker. ‘Hey. How about you save some of those jellybeans for the other people who come visiting. How many have you had?’

He pulled his hand out of the jar and his shoulders wilted. ‘Just a couple, Mum.’

Sonya surprised Josh by shooting him a wink. ‘Okay then, why don’t we see this dog you’ve found, Dr Cody, and we can get out of your way.’

Josh cleared his throat. ‘About that.’

Sonya looked up at him. ‘There a problem, Dr Cody? Because if this is about boarding fees, we pay our way, don’t you be getting your knickers in a twist about that.’

‘No, Sonya. That’s not it.’ He rubbed his forehead. ‘The answer sort of depends on your definition of problem. We’re going to need to walk a block over to the Hanrahan Pub, if you don’t mind. We had to clear all the animals out of here during the fire.’

It became clear within a bizillionth of a second that Parker and his mum had differing views on what constituted a problem.

‘Puppies,’ breathed Parker, on a long drawn-out ecstatic breath, before he dived over the low gate and buried himself in the pyramid of plump, squirming fur.

‘Puppies!’ winced his mum.

Josh unclicked the latch on the gate and Jane Doe tottered over to him with her usual expression of feed-me-love-me-feed-me. Parker had dropped a casual pat on her head as he raced past to the furballs. ‘Mum,’ he said, and Josh could have sworn he heard tears in the kid’s voice. ‘We’ve had baby doggies!’

‘I can see that, Parker.’

He met Sonya’s eyes and shrugged. ‘I delivered them by C-section. I didn’t know your dog’s name, so I’ve been calling her Jane,’ he said.

‘Rosie, you fool dog,’ Sonya said, without heat, as she bent down to stroke Jane’s ears. ‘Ran off in a storm. Parker nearly cried the freckles off his face when she didn’t come home.’

He nodded. ‘A farmer found her in his barn, her fur full of fleas, and her belly full of pups. She’s had some adventures, all right.’

Sonya sniffed. ‘And not all of them PG-rated.’

He chuckled. ‘So, what do we do now? She’s still feeding the pups. I’m happy to keep them with me until the pups are weaned, maybe another couple of weeks … unless you want to take them all?’

The woman let out a breath. ‘That’s kind of you. Thing is, Dr Cody, I’m in a bit of a bind.’

‘How’s that?’

‘My husband’s laid off with a back injury. He can’t drive. He can’t seem to do much more than lie on the couch in front of the television snapping out orders for beer and party pies. I’m working nights down on the highway resurfacing project, and I don’t think I have any more to give at the moment, if you see what I’m saying.’

‘I understand. What about Parker?’

They both looked at the boy, who had all eight pups on his lap. He was busy telling them a story about how their brave mummy dog didn’t get snacked on by drop bears after all.

‘I’ve got an idea,’ he said. ‘Why don’t we convince Parker that Jane—I mean, Rosie—is needed here a little longer so she can feed her pups. You bring him back in a couple of weeks when the pups are on solid food, and maybe you’re a bit less busy, and we can both make a better decision. I’ve had plenty of takers for these pups, so don’t feel you need to worry about them, too.’