“Well, a dog isn’t a bad way to start,” Mr. Barnes continued. “Follow me, I’ll show you the puppies we have at the moment. You can pick whichever ones you want.”
“Oh, that would be lovely. Thank you.”
He leads her over to the pens where countless tiny puppies milled about, playing, sleeping, and stumbling over their own limbs.
“I’ll give the pair of you a few minutes to look around and get to know them. Let me know if you find one that catches your eye.”
“We will. Thank you,” Christopher said, but Veronica was already gone.
She made her way along the pens, touching every single dog that got close enough for her to try.
“Are any of them catching your eye?” Christopher asked, startling her.
She jumped up, turning to look at him, a giant grin grew on her face that made his breath catch in his throat. “Honestly, all of them are so lovely. I would take all of them if I could.”
He chuckled. “I think that might be a bit much.”
She opened her mouth to reply, but before she could, one of the dogs grabbed her reticule, taking it and running off.
Christopher scooped the excited pup in his arms and tried prying the fabric from its jaws, but froze when she laughed. “I think we have been chosen.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, watching the small golden puppy chew on and paw at the bag.
“I couldn’t be more sure. He’s perfect.”
“Alright I’ll go let-” Christopher abruptly stopped talking.
Veronica turned and followed his gaze to see the man from earlier walking along with a small cage.
When she saw the dog inside, her heart lurched. It was a small, shaggy black and white thing, lying motionless on its side. One damaged ear flopped over its forehead.
“What’s going on with that one?” she asked.
Thomas sighed. “This one got into a fight with one of the bigger, wild dogs in the area. Poor thing got hurt. He won’t last long if I’m honest. I just don’t have the resources to care for him.”
She looked back to Christopher “I know we only talked about getting one dog, but ...”
“You want that one?” he asked in surprise.
“I do,” she said with determination.
“He might be aggressive after the attack,” Christopher shook his head. “I’m not sure if it’s a good idea. He could try to hurt you or the other dog.”
“He won’t.”
“You can’t know that.”
“If he starts to show signs of aggression, we can deal with that, but I need to try.”
Mr. Barns hesitated. “That’s very kind of you, but you should know that even with proper care, he might not make it.”
“Perhaps not, but I want whatever life he does have to be as good as possible. He still deserves to feel loved.”
Christopher stared at her with an unreadable expression.
Suddenly, Veronica couldn’t help but feel like they were no longer just talking about the dog.
Before she could say anything else, the man spoke.
