Page 21 of The Christmas Lodge
Lacy batted her eyelashes. “Whatever do you mean? I’m over the moon to run errands.”
Derek’s stomach flipped a little, but he covered his reaction quickly by teasing her. “Like it or not, we now have shared custody of a dog, and I’ll thank you to do your part with some grace. After all, she’s going to live with yours truly, so this is really the least you can do, you grump.”
“A grump? Me?” Lacy put her hand to her chest, pretending to be affronted.
“Yes, you,” he teased. “Come on, slowpoke, let’s get this little lady the supplies she needs.”
CHAPTERELEVEN
Once Lacy had managed to climb into Derek’s truck and get situated, she opened her arms for the puppy. Derek lifted it up to her and then closed the door, hurrying around the truck and hopping into his seat with an ease that Lacy envied. The puppy, tongue out as she surveyed her new surroundings with excitement, began wiggling in Lacy’s lap as the truck roared to life. She pushed her wet nose against the window, her tail thumping against Lacy’s legs as she stared at the moving scenery, only to turn around on Lacy’s lap a moment later and sniff at Lacy’s clothes or give her a sloppy kiss on the cheek. Lacy laughed, wiping her cheek off and Derek glanced over with a grin.
“She’s a bundle of energy,” he commented, “but that’s a good sign.”
“Yeah?”
“Yup. The energetic pups usually end up making the best sled dogs. With the proper training, this little lady will learn how to channel all that energy into sledding.”
The puppy stared up into Lacy’s eyes, its own wide and adoring, and Lacy’s heart melted even more than it already had since she found it. It gave a softwoof, nudging her hand with its little nose until, laughing, she gave in and petted it. The puppy wiggled with excitement as Lacy scratched between her ears and under her chin.
“You remind me of Chicken,” Lacy cooed at the puppy, surprising a laugh out of Derek.
“She reminds you of achicken? In what world does a Husky remind you of a chicken?”
“Chicken with a capital C,” Lacy clarified.
“That answers absolutely none of my questions—if anything, I have several more now.”
Lacy couldn’t stop grinning at Derek’s utterly mystified expression. “Growing up I had a dog named Chicken. She was a Boxer and obviously she looked nothing like a chicken, but I was a toddler when we got her. According to my mother, I used to call every animal I saw a chicken, so…”
“So when you met your new puppy for the first time, naturally you shouted ‘Chicken!’” Derek finished for her, a delighted smile growing on his face.
“Bingo.”
“Hey, Lacy?”
Lacy scratched the back of the puppy’s neck. “Hmm?”
“I feel that it’s my civic duty to tell you that ‘Chicken’ is the worst name I’ve ever heard for a dog.”
Lacy gave a mock-outraged gasp, drawing herself up in her seat and pinning him with a glare. “I’ll have you know that Chickenlovedher name, thank you very much.”
“I think she just lovedyou.”
Lacy pursed her lips, then laughed. “Okay, maybe so. Honestly, from the moment I met her, she and I became inseparable. We did everything together, and she would wait by the window for me to get off the school bus every day for years.”
Derek’s eyes were soft when he glanced over at her. “She sounds really special. A good dog makes its home in your heart and stays there long after they’re gone.”
Lacy nodded, her throat suddenly too tight to speak. She swallowed and blinked back a tear, surprised that thinking about her childhood dog could still make her emotional. Absentmindedly, she ran her fingers through the puppy’s thick fur, glad that Derek had to watch the road and couldn’t see her face clearly. She was never too comfortable with people seeing her emotions, especially when she was on the brink of tears.
“Do you have any pets now?” Derek asked, his voice light, and Lacy knew he was trying to lead her to happier thoughts.
“No,” she admitted. “I always wanted to get another dog, but I got so busy with school and then with work. I work long hours, and it just didn’t seem fair to keep a dog cooped up at home without me all day long.”
“Makes sense.”
Lacy looked out the window, her chest tightening now. In the space of a few moments, she had remembered the loss of her childhood puppy and realized how lonely her life was. Having a pet brought a special kind of comfort, and it was a comfort she hadn’t known in years. Sure, with the hours she pulled in every week for her career, she was ill-suited to being a dog owner, but the hole in her life was one she’d always regretted, especially now that she had time to really consider it. She loved her work, but time and again she’d had to sacrifice for it in sometimes unexpected ways, including the simple and beautiful pleasure of having a dog. Feeling Derek’s eyes on her, she glanced over at him and he quickly looked back at the road, but not before she’d seen the softness in his gaze, as though he could sense what she was thinking and feeling.
“What about a cat?”
