Page 63 of Good Girls Don't Date Rock Stars (Rock Canyon, Idaho 2)

Travis laughed as Dolly huffed. “Charlie, why would you say something so hateful?”

“Because that’s what Uncle Mike says. He says when you call a cat, they’ll ignore you until they want something, but dogs will follow you anywhere.”

Dolly shook her head. “I’ll go start that paperwork.”

“Dad, come on,” Charlie said insistently.

Travis followed Charlie into the dog room, and the noise was deafening. Charlie went to the first cage and pointed at a black-and-white dog jumping vertically in his kennel. “This is Taylor. He’s a border collie mix and he can catch the ball in midair.”

“How do you know that?” Travis asked.

“’Cause they let me take some of the dogs into the play area when they have time. I told Mom about him, but he chases cats.” Charlie moved on to the next cage and the next, naming the dogs and their attributes. Travis was reminded of his childhood again, dying for a home or even a pet, something that was his. A couple of his foster homes had had animals, and he remembered a chocolate lab named Rex he’d played with every day. It had broken his eight-year-old heart to leave Rex behind when he’d moved on.

When Charlie got to the last cage, he stopped. “Who are you?”

Travis came up behind Charlie and pulled down the name card. “Annie Oakley. Bloodhound. Owner surrender. Loves kids and other animals.”

Travis looked down at the big dog with soulful brown eyes and the longest ears he’d ever seen. “I think she could fly away with those ears.”

“She’s beautiful,” Charlie said in awe.

Travis looked down at his son, mesmerized by the dog. Annie trotted forward and whimpered, sticking her nose against the gate, and Charlie reached through the chain link to rub his hand over her nose. Travis watched Charlie, his heart squeezing at the wide grin that spread across Charlie’s face.

In just a day, Travis had realized that the difference between himself and his son was that Charlie still had the innocence that had been torn from Travis after too many disappointments. There had been no one in his life to protect that part of him, and he had lost it early on.

But Charlie had been well cared for not just by Gemma but by Mike and Gracie, too. No doubt the rest of Rock Canyon had had a hand in raising his son as well.

“Hey, girl. How you doing?” Charlie’s soft coo brought him out of his musings, and he smiled as the dog licked Charlie’s hand and he giggled.

Dolly poked her head in and smiled. “I was wondering if you would notice our newest addition.”

“Can we take Annie into the play yard?” Charlie asked, bouncing from foot to foot. Travis saw that the woman didn’t seem surprised and wondered how many afternoons his son spent here.

“Sure. Let me get a leash.” Dolly grabbed a red leash off the peg. “She’s a trained hunting dog. Her owner died and his daughter couldn’t keep her, so she turned her over to us. She won’t be here long once people find out about her.”

Dolly went inside and slipped the leash over the dog’s neck, leading her out of the kennel. Annie went straight for Charlie, automatically sitting in front of him, her tongue lolling out of the side of her mouth.

Charlie wrapped his arms around her neck, and seeing the look of pure happiness on his face, Travis was lost. He’d missed out on so much, but he could do this.

Taking the leash from Dolly, he said, “We’ll take her, too.”

Charlie pulled back, his eyes shining. “You mean it?”

“You heard Dolly. She’s a special girl. And she likes cats, so your mom will like her, too.” And be less likely to kill me.

With a whoop, Charlie released Annie’s neck and launched himself at Travis. Squeezing his waist hard, he said, “I love you, Dad.”

Travis eyes burned with tears as he held Charlie close. “I love you, too.”

Chapter Seventeen

* * *

GEMMA STOPPED OFF at Hall’s Market to get a few groceries on her way home and walked past the row of magazines on her way to check out. Stopping, she backed up and pulled Talking Nashville out of its holder. It was the first time she’d seen the image up close; the grainy quality of the photo of Travis leading her into the chapel made it hard to make out their faces. She glimpsed the article and read: An eyewitness says the couple left a little after three in the morning, and the mystery woman was sporting quite a rock on her hand.

Gemma wanted to gather up every copy and destroy them, but what good would it do? If someone decided to call up a magazine and tell them who she was, there was nothing she could do to stop it. The thought of someone she knew betraying her and Charlie made her sick to her stomach, but anyone was susceptible for the right price.

How could she protect Charlie from the locusts that would eventually find them? It would be bad enough to have him see what they wrote about his dad and her, but if they followed him to school . . .

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