Page 20 of Making New Plans

“Ha!” Owen slapped his thigh. “I knew it! Just wait until you read the next one. Oh, man…”

Hunter held his hand up. “No spoilers!”

Owen clutched his chest as if stricken and rolled his eyes upward. “Dude, I would never. Trust me. Anyway, I brought you a copy in exchange for…”

Hunter produced a leather book from his back pocket and exchanged it with a thick paperback Owen held out. Owen stroked the leather cover fondly as if he’d missed it while Hunter tucked his new book in his pocket.

I shook my head at the whole scene. Hunter had been up all night reading? What the hell kind of books were these?

Before I could ask, Owen seemed to remember that his brother and I were still there as well. “Oh, Louis, wanna give them the spiel while I check on the store?”

Louis nodded and, with a slight pink to his cheeks, launched into a well-practiced rundown of the events. He concluded by asking us to wait. He wandered around the dog pen for a moment, weaving between dogs of various sizes, breeds, and ages. He patted and spoke gently to each one as he went. The adoration looked mutual.

Finally, he hooked a leash to the collar of a black, gray, and white spotted pup with bright blue eyes and led it over to us.

“This is Arwen,” he announced, holding out the leash. “Could you walk her around for me?”

“Oh,” I spluttered. I knew we could hang out with the animals but wasn’t expecting one to be handed to me.

I gaped as Hunter took the leash from Louis.

“Sure, I’ll walk her around for a bit. Love the name,” he added with another minuscule smile.

Louis beamed. “Thought you might.”

Well, who could say no to that face? If he kept that up, he’d have an empty rescue. I let Arwen sniff my hand then stroked her head gently. She immediately leaned into it.

“She’s perfect,” I sighed.

“Sure is,” Louis agreed. “Thanks again for the stickers, Chloe. They turned out amazing. If you two will excuse me.”

He swooped in on an elderly couple with their grandkids looking at a litter of kittens. I grimaced. Hopefully, those kids’ parents were okay with new pets coming home.

I looked back at Hunter only to see him squatting next to Arwen. His deep voice murmured to her as he stroked her ears and gazed into her eyes. Chills that had nothing to do with the cool breeze rose along my arms. Dear lord, if that’s what he was like when he let his human side out, I’d be as helpless as the sweet puppy who tried to burrow into his arms.

Clearing my throat, I asked, “You sure you don’t mind walking her around today?”

“Not at all,” Hunter said, pressing a soft kiss on Arwen’s head.

I nearly sighed out loud in swooniness but caught myself. I cleared my throat again. “What’s with the name, you think? And what were you and Owen talking about?”

I expected a brush-off, but the dog must have special powers because Hunter stood up and ran his hand through his wind-tousled hair. I much preferred his natural floppy hair to the rigid mousse look he’d had when he’d arrived.

“Funnily enough, they both have to do with the same thing. The Lord of the Rings.” A frown appeared between his eyebrows at what must’ve been a dumbfounded look on my face. His gaze returned to Arwen. “Owen lent me a copy of the first book, and Arwen is one of the characters in it. An elf, very beautiful.”

I smiled. “Then it’s the perfect name for this little lady.”

Another slight upturn of his lips, but he turned away before I could really see it. Awkwardness had me shifting from boot to boot. I was glad Owen hadn’t outed me for not inviting Hunter myself, but I still didn’t like being surprised with his presence. Everything that had happened yesterday and the day before that made me feel like I was losing my sense of gravity or something. Like I couldn’t tell which way was up or down anymore because they’d ceased to exist. Should I be friends with this guy? Should I keep my distance? Did he care either way?

“Would you like to walk with us?” he asked, gesturing to Arwen, who gazed at me with the most soulful puppy eyes.

“Sure.” Well, I guess that was a step in a friendly direction.

We took a slow stroll around the park, conversing very little but not in a bad way. Hunter overpaid for a cup of Monty’s chili, and I nabbed a few bags of Cheryl’s winter trail mix and a dog treat for Arwen. The line for Rose’s drawings snaked around several booths, and by unspoken agreement, we skipped it. Probably wouldn’t have been appropriate anyway.

We were on our second loop when I stopped dead in my tracks. Several yards away my parents were talking to my ex-boyfriend, Davis. A trifecta of people that I dreaded talking to the most. My mother had never forgiven me for Davis ending our relationship. Confused? Yeah, me, too.

I whipped around and dragged Hunter and Arwen into some nearby hedges.

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